Bring on Pikes Peak

Yesterday I was minding my business at work when all of a sudden I get am email from a friend saying along the lines of "Hey you want to run up Pikes Peak?". I must have had a weak moment and after a few minutes I decided, yeah, that would be a good idea. So this August I will be making my way to Colorado Springs to run 13.1 miles up the tallest mountain in Colorado.

From the website

The Pikes Peak Ascent® and Pikes Peak Marathon® will redefine what you call running. Sure, they start out like a lot of races on Any Street, USA. But your first left turn will have you turning in the direction of up! During the next 10 miles, as you gain almost 6,000 vertical feet, your legs, lungs, heart and mind will be worn to a ragged nothingness. But it won’t be until your last three miles, with still over 2,000' of vertical to go, that you will realize where the Marathon got its moniker—America’s Ultimate Challenge.

There’s a reason trees don’t bother growing above 12,000' on Pikes Peak. They can’t! Makes one wonder if trees are smarter than runners. Above treeline most runners take 30 minutes or more, some much more, just to cover a mile. What little air remains can’t satisfy the endless stream of zombies hoping only to survive their next step—a death march right out of a scene from Dawn of the Dead. Adding insult to injury, it might start to snow!

What was I thinking?