Me and Twin Peaks

The Twin Peaks Ultra is less than one week away.  It’s the same old story with me, except this time much worse.  I am in NO WAY prepared for this event.  My summer training went badly.  To begin, I started off with twenty extra pounds (that’s extra upon extra).  My lofty ideas of trimming down and getting in tip-top shape did not materialize.

Sure I had some terrific times on the trails this summer. But that heat really, really wiped me out.  Right now, I would say that it demoralized me.  Then I had the emergency helicopter incident.  My plantar fasciitis flared up.  And I had to run those rugged, scorching hot trails by myself. 

So, it’s done.  Training’s over.  I can’t prepare myself anymore than I am for Saturday’s race (which may not occur if the federal government does not open).  I assure you that I’m going to drag myself out of bed and get to the start line for a 4:30 AM start, and make my way up and down that mountain.  I’m not even going to try for the 50 miles.  Instead, I’ll take the 50k option at about mile 21.

I’m not even tempted to DNS Twin Peaks, even with the sometimes excruciating pain radiating from my heal.  Fortunately I’ll have a good ten miles without that pain, hopefully more since I’ve been treating the PF at home.

Why not consider a DNS (Did Not Show)?  Because I love Twin Peaks.  I really do.  I now have a short on-going relationship with Twin Peaks that I just don’t want to break.  From the moment of my first experience with this race, I knew that it was something grand – something that I wanted to be a part of, even if it was as a spectator.  Those runners, they were all heroes to me.  And the volunteers, they were like angels.

My first experience with Twin Peaks was in 2010.  I volunteered and worked the Indian Truck Trail aid station.  The experience absolutely blew my mind.  I had never been in the midst of such an event.  Seriously, I thought, that I wouldn’t ever be able to even consider running such a thing.  Still, after Twin Peaks 2010, I wanted more.

In 2011, my friend, Hank, asked me to pace him for Twin Peaks.  I trained on those trails like crazy all summer because I was so afraid to fail him.  I got to run the last twenty miles of the fifty mile course with my friend.  The experience was awe-inspiring.  Still, I knew that I could never attempt such a wondrous thing as Twin Peaks.  I did know that after Twin Peaks 2011, I was not finished with this event!

Finally, in 2012, on a whim, I registered or Twin Peaks.  I had a terrific time training, met new friends.  I developed my first case of Plantar Fasciitis.  Still, I felt pretty strong leading up to Twin Peaks.  I went into the race with the attitude that I was going for the 50 miles; I would not take the 50k option.  It was 50 miles or DNF.  Turned it, it was not my day for the 50 miles, and I relented and opted for the 50k option.  I earned my medal and I met more new friends, one of them, a continued friend, Emmett Rahl.  (Emmett and I would later go on to attempt the Old Goat 50 together).  I think that Twin Peaks 2012 sealed my fate – somehow, someway, I was going to continue to be part of of this crazy thing. 

So, here I am now, 2013, I really had no intentions of running Twin Peaks earlier in the year.  I had just lost too much conditioning to consider it. But then predictably, I could not let it go.  So once again, on a whim, I registered.  And so I wait, my Twin Peaks 2013 story still unwritten.