Six Peeps

December 21, 2007

My first * in years!

For this coming Sunday I decided it’s time to get another * and I will be running with the Incline Club out near Pike’s Peak. This Sunday they have a 2-3 hour run up through plenty of hills, so maybe that will earn me a plate of my Dad’s Christmas Eve LOBSTER FRA DIAVOLO!!!! Mmmm! I am not splurging on Sunday, either because last week in NY that’s all I did and I am back up to 185 from 183. I’m OBESE! Anyway, they give you a “*” on a chart for showing up. That’s it. But that * represents a hard 2-3 hour run up some mountains which makes it a very cool *. I used to try to run with this club every Sunday. I’d like to try to get a nice collection of *’s again this year. It means driving an hour and a half to Colo Spgs in the early AM but it’s worth it!

I used to run with them all the time back when I ran the Pikes Peak Marathon / Ascent. The past few years I have missed out on that race due to wedding season. this season I decided I would not book a wedding on the date of the Ascent for ‘08. Well last week I booked a wedding for that Saturday, before I got a chance to find out the date of the Ascent. Doh’!

So I decided that I will register for the Pikes Peak MARATHON again… and I will run the Ascent portion, which starts at Manitou Spgs (around 6,000 ft elevation) and ends at the summit of Pikes Peak 13.36 miles later at 14,115 feet… and maybe if I am feeling frisky, I’ll subject my knees to the torture of running back DOWN to complete the 26 mile marathon. Hmmmm. Frisky or not, I am committing myself to another Ascent and I hope to beat my PR.

Here’s a map of the course! Exciting! They are now sponsored by EAS.

I used to run this with Terence, Jonny-A and Jim Wonhoff, who was a pioneer in Grappling, now known as ULTIMATE FIGHTING. I shot Jim’s wedding. I used to have a photo of him choking some guy in a tournement, but it’s no longer online. Anyway, Jim is a real nice guy in person, but a monster in the ring, 4X U.S. National Welterweight Submission Wrestling / Jiu Jitsu Champion.

So anyway I asked Terence if he’d do it with me again and he said it’s “too painful” which is weird, coming from the guy who thrives on self-torture! I bet I can convince him to join me. Jonny-A, I KNOW I can get him to do it with me again and Jim can’t be convinced to do anything, but his tradition for the past few times we have done it, is to not register, show up on race day, find someone who changed their mind about racing (last time it was a girl, so his time was recorded as “nancy” or something) and run.

So it’s a lot of fun. I am actually lighter now than I was the day I ran it last, so who knows, maybe I can beat my record!

December 21, 2007 |