The Adventure Journal...desk jockeys guide to aimless wandering

The Beacon Rock Challenge

A mixture of fine deluxe mixed nuts, empty salsa con queso rolling on the floorboard and a milk container-turned-spittoon and a solid left arm tan, mark our travels as rolling hills of golden grass and asphalt lead us to the starting line of the Beacon Rock 25 and 50K trail race. 

"Are you nuts?" was how the conversation about the race began, as Scotty, a hardworking desk jockey/casual runner, projected his concerns about yet another overzealous idea by myself. My sole defense was that adventure is the goal for the summer, as I work the desk as an intern with the Grant County PUD. One month of nudging finally broke Scotty’s resolve and he committed to the event, the Beacon Rock 25k near the Bonneville Dam in southern Washington.

"Training" had turned from that thing you did so you could justify the beer you drank afterward, to that thing where sweat was a currency deposited into a bank of preparation. I'm not saying that beer is not a vital aspect of proper training, as the photos show, stopping at an awesome freezing cold swimming hole requires carbo-loading with beer!

Distance has never been a factor for us as runners because distance has never factored into the equation. Maintaining a high standard of healthiness has always offered Scotty and I the ability to hunt in far-off places with relative ease, even as Scotty nursed a long-lasting achilles tendon issue. The prospect of pushing our physical abilities finally presented itself in the Beacon Rock race and, because we aren't too bright, the training mileage ramped-up immediately to near-dangerous levels.

So here we sit, stale coffee sloshing in the cup holders, Bush’s' "Glistering" being blared through the speakers as a leaky cooler threatens the back seats upholstery and a looming question, "did we train enough?"