time to get high in the sky

they say be careful what you wish for; it just may come true. well, after 5 anticipation-filled weeks of wondering, hoping, and thinking about every what if in the book...... IT has happened. the participants of the 2008 Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike "Race Across the Sky" has been announced. AND.... I MADE THE CUT!!

jeramie called me at work to congratulate me. i really had no clue what he was talking about at first...then i was jumping up and down in my cube at work. (they all think i'm crazy anyhow.) i thought we had a decent chance to get in - there's actually a group of us from Chatt that turned in our applications as a team. it's great that i'll have local folks with the same goal to train with. but what's even cooler is that my cousin Amanda, who lives in leadville, got in as well! (i recognize the names of several of her friends too).

to make sure i stay on task, i do have a coach that will be whipping me into shape and keeping me focused. this is the first time i've had one, but i'm super excited about his plans for me. (he's a pretty kick ass athlete too... his focus on off road endurance events of many disciplines is what made him attractive to me. while my focus is the L100, i don't want to stop running and plan to still do some adventure races and duathlons.....)

if you have any altitude tips, please send them my way (the race is between 9000 & 12,600'!!). i'm trying to figure out when to head out there for the race (maybe 8 days before??).. and possibly planning an early summer training weekend out there with some locals.

(now to figure out how to actually fall asleep tonight!)