There's no denying that I'm now officially nervous. In three days, I'll be somewhere on Pikes Peak--hopefully at or near the summit. Otherwise, I will have been right to be nervous. I can't fathom what possessed me to sign up for a race up a 14,110 ft. mountain. Trees won't even grow above 12,000 ft. That might lead one to ask if I'm smarter than a tree. Actually, I'm asking that right about now.
That said, I've trained hard this summer, and if it weren't for the rarefied air and the 8000+ feet of elevation gain over 13.3 uphill miles, I would be looking forward to this race. But, I've spent the summer running among the corn fields here in Hog Heaven, not where the trees don't grow. So, I'm naturally a bit apprehensive. But, we'll know soon enough.
The Ascent is Saturday, August 18. I'll be staying in Colorado for a few days of hiking following the race. So, I won't be home to post my post-mortem until the middle of next week. Stay tuned.
I'll actually be peaking/tapering for two goal races in the next month (the Ascent and the North Face Endurance Challenge on September 15), so I'm paying particular attention to tapering strategies. Here's one that's interesting: http://running.competitor.com/2012/08/training/the-art-of-peaking-for-a-goal-race_7837/1
In the last major track & field competition at the London Olympics, Ugandan Stephen Kiprotich captured the marathon Gold in 2:08:01. American Meb Keflezighi finished just off the medal stand in fourth. The other Americans, Ryan Hall and Abdi Abdirahmen dropped out with injuries. For an account see here:
http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/track/story/stephen-kiprotich-uganda-wins-mens-marathon-gold-medal-081212
And, finally, here's one last look back at the 2012 Olympics as Runners World picks its top ten track & field moments: http://www.runnersworld.com/olympics/top10/
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