Thanks everyone for your replies, they help a lot.
I would love to squeeze in White, but I don't think I can get somebody to take the time to do it with me with the 6 hour drive. (I'm skittish about going alone.)
It sounds like my training will be good enough, except for finding out about AMS. Although I take it you don't train for AMS, correct? You can acclimate, and train at higher altitudes though, correct? I will definitely talk to my doctor about getting the Diamox pills. I'm not much of a pill taker, but I'm more than willing to do so if it increases my chances of summitting.
I did my first training hike yesterday (the 11.6mi tram to SJ Peak), it was totally fun, I still had plenty of energy left. I ran about the last 1/2 mile and could have kept going. My average pace was 24:17 min/mi (spee 2.47 mi/hour). I do need to work on pacing myself, went a little too fast at first but I'm learning to pay attention to my breathing/heartrate and using those to slow me down. From what I understand, it is okay to be a turtle and not a hare.
I think 2 of the guys doing Whitney with me are concerned I'm going to be too slow. But one of them hiked with me yesterday, and he said at the end of the hike "well, I guess I'm going to have to let them know you kicked my ass up here." They are all marathon runners, I'm not. But just because I did better than he did yesterday (in terms of perceived exertion) isn't a predictor of how I will do on longer hikes. Therefore I am going to stick to my plan. I hope they join me on the future hikes. I worry if they don't do training hikes, but I'm a worrier. One is 48 years old, the others around 60 years old.
Another friend said that you shouldn't try to go fast, go slow and steady.
