How do you prepare folks for their first peak climb? Turns out I’m not the person to ask. Seems I’m a better teacher than I am a coach.

That’s what I told our Finishers hikers about a week ago when I confessed I had not prepared them for the trip up Wheeler. And I thought I knew why.

Few budding distance runners attempt a marathon (about 23 miles) before running a half-marathon. The shorter race prepares for the longer. It lets you know how your training is working (so you can adjust if need be) and it gives you a good idea how the longer race will feel (so there are no discouraging surprises).

And the problem is, though we had done training laps up and down the Palo Duro, the distance and difficulty didn’t match half of a major peak climb.

So I sat down with Donna, Mauricio and Christy (the three who have been most faithful with the training), and, as we enjoyed the burgers at Smokey Joe’s, they decided what we should do.

Which I’ll tell you in tomorrow’s blog.