pikes-peak-road1If you’ve been following my tweets these last few weeks, you’ve seen that I’ve been getting in shape for something. Well, here it is. Here is why I’ve been in the gym 3-5 times a week.

Depending on the weather, Sara and I are going to climb Pike’s Peak on September 15th or 16th. Pike’s Peak is one of the 52 “Fourteeners” in Colorado with an Elevation of 14,110 feet. It’s a 13 mile hike from the trail head to the top of the summit (we’ll have someone pick us up from the top). We’ll hike up over 7,000 feet of elevation. Because afternoon thunderstorms are such a menace, we’ll begin our hike by 4:30 in the morning and hopefully summit sometime after lunch.

It’s going to be a beast of a climb. I did this climb almost 15 years ago and I’ve always have wanted to do it again. In a few weeks I will.

Last October, Sara and I climbed a small mountain in Banff, Canada and it almost did us in. Seriously, I thought Sara was going to beat me up for dragging her up this mountain. It was a 3 mile hike with a 2000 foot change in elevation. The positive thing here though is that we weren’t in any kind of shape at all last October. This time around we’ll be ready. We’re spending 45-60 minutes on treadmills or stair climbers to build our leg muscles as well as getting our heart/lungs in shape (especially for the high altitude air).

So, this is a big deal in my life right now, a mountain I’m excited to conquer. I look forward to sharing the story after it’s done.

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