Jupiter Peak Steeplechase

Well, after little deliberation I decided I may as well run Jupiter Peak. I figured, how tough could it be, it's only 16 miles with 8 of the 16 being down hill. Oh boy...was I wrong. Thankfully, I have a boss, whom is even more masochistic than I am, so one mention of the race, and he was on board. Neither one of us had any idea what to expect, other than we had to climb 3000 feet to the top of a 10000 foot mountain. I had no idea how high 3000 vertical feet was. The first 8 miles were a constant ascent, and then when we were almost to the top, it got really interesting. The slope increased to what seemed like an 75 degree angle. I swear the last 1/4 mile was the steepest grade a person could do without using climbing gear. Well, we finally made it to the top, which took almost 2 hours. Then, we start the descent, and all of a sudden, to make things more fun, there is another damn mountain to climb. So, when I finally made it to the top of this second mountain my legs are telling me that they are going to call it quits if there's a third ahead. By this time my hips and glutes are screaming, and all I can think is shit... I still have 8 more miles. We finally start the actual descent I am just cruising, making up for the previous 2:15, which was covered in a pace just quicker than a snail. All was going well, until about 3 miles remaining. By this time my quads are now screaming, coupled by the numb glutes and hips. This is the steepest and farthest I have ever run down, and now all I can think about is how much I would like to take a break and go back up hill for awhile. How sick does that sound? Yes, the down hill ended up causing me surprisingly more grief the the up. Finally, when I feel that I cannot take much more punishment, and the blister on my heel is ready to burst, I brake through the dense foilage and see that I am within 1/2 mile of the fini
sh. At this point there is nothing left to do but let gravity carry me the rest of the way. So, when I made it to the end, there was my family cheering me on, and my little boy ran up and gave my a huge hug - now that was one great day!!