When it's still 80 degrees and sunny in late September, it's as if the world is presenting you with an invitation to explore.  By "explore," I really mean run up mountains.  After the sense of accomplishment mixed with humbling quad pain and 10 days of slow running that I experienced after my last adventure above 14,000', I was eager to do it again.  When a friend decided to go run Mt. Yale yesterday, I obviously jumped at the idea, like any normal person would when presented with the notion…

Last Thursday I was first introduced to the notion of the Kite Lake Triple, which calls itself "a race amongst friends" and takes runners up four 14ers in the span of 8 miles. On Saturday morning at 4:55am I was on my way to the race start in Alma with friends. Today, the following Friday, I can walk downhill and only wince a little as quads remember what last weekend put them through.

The moment you get out of the car on the rocky road that leads to the trail head you can feel the…