Linda and Nicole - we made it!

Today I had the opportunity to train with an amazing woman. Meet Linda Quirk. A woman with a friendly and cheerful personality who has been involved in endurance sports since the late 1980s. Like most endurance athletes who've been around that long, she's got a lot of events checked off her "list." Multiple marathons like Chicago and Berlin, and even Ironman distance triathlons. Like not as many others she's even got some high-end races checked off. Long Course Worlds, Ironman 70.3 World Championships, and even the Ironman World Championships in Kona. Now let's move to what most people DON'T have checked off their list (or even on their list for that matter!). In 2008-2009, starting with the Boston Marathon, Linda ran 7 marathons on all 7 continents (yes, that includes Antarctica!) She did this to bring awareness to a cause that is deeply important to her heart, Caron Treatment Centers. These are substance abuse centers that helped her stepdaughter overcome a meth addiction. While she might not have met her original goal of raising a million dollars, she is still out there training and racing to bring continued awareness to this cause. In 2010, she ran all four desert races, which are multi-day ultra marathons, each race being about 150 miles in total distance. I'm in awe! I know I race and train people for a great cause, but Linda is literally taking it to the extremes!

I was introduced to Linda by GenerationUCAN last year and I followed her success through the four deserts. When I learned she was coming out to Colorado to train with her Coach, Bob Seebohar, in preparation for the SpeedGoat 50k, I asked her to let me know if she was going to make it down to Colorado Springs. And sure enough, Coach Bob (you may remember he is the one who did my metabolic efficiency test), was bringing her down her to train on the incline, so I asked if I could join in on the fun (since I've never actually been up the incline before today!)

So straight off the plane from Florida, Bob drove Linda from Denver down to Manitou Springs, where I met them at the Barr Trail Parking lot. And up we went, one step at a time. And I was honored to share my training with this amazing woman and her coach. Take a look at what she's done and please make a donation to her cause. I know that today's high-altitude session with this fantastic woman will motivate me for a long time to come.

Linda and Bob take the final steps to the top

Coach Bob as we enter the Incline

Linda taking a picture of what she's about to experience