A break for the Present: Pikes Peak Rocks!

I missed an important detail on the last day of the Gathering in one of my previous posts...

At the meet and greet with Mike Peters, he mentioned an event called Pikes Peak Rocks, the symbolic climbing of this 14'er to raise funds for Love Hope Strength, the charity he co-founded with James Chippendale.

Mike has twice beat cancer and currently lives with the knowledge that although he is in remission (again), he will need to find a bone marrow donor match to completely beat the disease.

I did not realize how easy it is to join the bone marrow donor registry, nor did I understand the nature of Love Hope Strength until I was educated at the Gathering. After learning about this cancer charity and their efforts to build cancer centers, provide screening equipment that saves lives, and build the bone marrow registry, I was also excited to find that their HQ is in Denver.

At the meet and greet, Mike mentioned that Pikes Peak Rocks would be happening in July and encouraged me to participate. Well, I'm a sucker for that kind of encouragement, and I think Randy nearly passed out from shock when I said I would do it.

I have never climbed a real mountain--well, I drove up Mount Evans last year, but that doesn't really count. I'm a very sore sport about exercise in general. I cannot touch my toes and complain about long flights of steps. BUT...2010 is the year of new challenges.

Since returning home to Denver, I have become a volunteer for LHS and I am committed to climbing Pikes Peak. I wil try to be accountable to train by means of this blog. Deep breath!