For the 2 days before the Aon race, i let my body rest, taking only a yoga workshop friday night, and doing easier versions of a few poses. Saturday, i stayed in, tidied the house, and caught up with a few e-mails. Roxanne showed up around 4, and we hung out, then went to visit some very cool friends of hers, then headed out for dinner. We were near amitabul, my favorite restaurant, so we went there. I had over-eaten there before my previous race, so i was very careful with my food choices this time, ordering soup, and only eating ½ of that. That being said, their bowls of soup are utterly ginormous, and half of that was plenty of food for me. We each brought ½ of our meals home, and snacked a bit. I had a few of the dark chocolate peanut butter cups roxanne got at trader joe’s. I could have eaten half the container, i had to work hard to stop myself at two. There is a good reason why i don’t keep things like that in the house!
My clock was set for 6am, but i woke up at 5:30. Unable to grab any more sleep, i went to dunkin donuts to get our per-race coffees. I always have a big coffee pre-race, not only because the caffeine provides some extra energy, but ( this gets a tad graphic here ) because it gets my insides moving, and with any luck i can leave few pounds behind that i would otherwise have to carry up the stairs. Every little bit helps! And it did that morning.
We dressed and got ready. I was anxious, but not overly so. The drive to the race was non-eventful and the guard at the lot waved us by without checking our race materials, saying “You look like those athletic types”. Very funny. We checked in, got our bibs and chips, and said hi to old friends. I had to pee, but i was pretty early. I could stretch a bit, then go, then check gear, then line up.
Then i noticed a problem. My bib number was 16, but my chip was 15! My bib had my name on it, so my chip was wrong. What to do?!? I contacted a volunteer, then got led around to different race personnel as they tried to figure out what to do. Time was ticking, and i still hadn’t checked my gear or gone to the bathroom. I started to get really nervous. They started to lead me to the start line, but i told them i had to check my gear. A volunteer kindly took my gear to the check for me, and then i was led to the timing table, through the rapidly gathering crowd. They started to make a new bib and chip for me, but it was going to take a while, and make me miss the start, more than likely. I was bummed out, with the probability of missing the elite start i had worked so hard for, and likely therefore not making my goal time.
Then someone pointed out the runner that actually HAD bib 15. I went over to him, and, amazingly, he had my chip. We quickly switched chips, and i told the timer what had happened, and he complimented me on being a solver. But it was time to start, and he started sending up runners. And i still had to pee. Well, i was hoping to finish in 13 minutes, could i hold it that long? Probably. I has no idea what was going to happen, but i was wired, anxious; i hadn’t gotten a chance to warm up, and my bladder was full. Mentally, i kissed my sub 13 minute goal goodbye, but i decided i was just going to go do my best. Karen lined up right behind me, and roxanne just after her. Karen had been with me at both sears tower and US bank, finishing faster than me both times, but providing me a lot of inspiration in the steps. And, she’s been encouraging and boosting me tremendously, so i was glad to have her there. Before i knew it, it was my turn, and i crossed the timing pad and headed up the stairs.
As i crossed the pad and heard the beep of my chip registering, i pressed play on my ipod. I make mp3 tracks that have music themed for the parts of the race ( for example, starting with relax, to remind me to start slow ) , as well as a synthesized voice that counts off floors and times. My goal was to do the first 69 floors at 10 seconds a floor, then the last 10 at 9 seconds floor, for a small closing sprint. Again, much of that now seemed unlikely, but i was going to do my best.
Right away, i was behind, presumably because the first few floors were taller than the others. Also, with the stress and distraction of my bib situation, i forgot to tuck my headphone cord into my shirt, so i promptly knocked my headphones off and nearly tripped over the cord. Idiot. I had to let go of the handrail and deal with this situation, but kept climbing as i put the headphones back on and looped the loose cord around my neck, hoping it wouldn’t somehow tighten and cut off my air. I was nearly a floor behind, but put on a surge and caught up. I had decided beforehand not to let myself fall off my pace unless i was physically incapable of keeping it up. Maybe i would burn out at 15, but i didn’t want to be cursing myself at 70 for being 5 floors behind with fresh legs.
I focused on my step pattern. Aon is almost 10 and turn all the way up, and i had figured out the most efficient step pattern. Single step with the inside foot, two doubles with each foot, then a long single step with the outside foot so the left could skip the landing entirely and go from the 9th step from the staircase behind me to the 1st step of the one in front. You can do the reverse, pivoting on the inside foot, and a few times during the race, i did that for a little while, but i was focused on only putting one foot on the landing whenever possible. Many racers take 2-3 steps on a landing, and also double step every step, which means one leg is doing 2 steps and the other 3, leading to a more tired leg. Also, by mixing in single and double steps, you utilize different muscle fibers helping to keep the legs fresh. I figured it was better to do my efficient step pattern slowly and deliberately, and conserve energy. And i was still moving at a very good clip.
But someone was catching up to me! Karen was quickly on my heels. I peeked back to see if she looked as if she wanted to pass me, but she seemed to be ok, using me as a pacer for a while. I must have misread that, though, because soon she passed me on the outside. I felt bad, it was very poor etiquette on my part to not get out of her way so she could pass on the more efficient inside. She started to pull away from me, and i resisted the urge to go after her, but my pacing track kept reminding me of my 10 second a floor goal. Soon karen was a floor ahead and almost out of sight, on floor 15 of a 80 floor race!
But not quite! She remained a floor ahead for a few floors, and then my predetermined pace gradually caught me up to her. I knew i was not going to ask her to let me pass, but she stepped aside once i got close, and i again felt bad for making her go around me. She settled in behind me, and i just focused on sticking to my pace. She had gone a little too hard at the start, and i could keep both of us on track.
That worked from about 20-30, but then she started to drop back. By 35 or so, she was out of sight, and i was sorry to see her go. But i was still feeling great, still periodically slowing myself down so as to not get ahead of where i wanted to be. From 35-50 i didn’t see anyone but the volunteers thrusting cups of water towards me. I wondered if they were feeling bad no one was taking water, but i knew none of the elites would.
At 50 i saw a large figure obscuring the light from above, and realize it was Sid, another friend of mine from the races. He looked back, smiled, stepped aside, and said “Good going dave” as he slapped me on the back. I said something back, but i forget what. That was quite a boost for me, and i felt re energized seeing him. I was still on my pace, and still feeling good, now starting to wonder if my goal was achievable after all.
My legs were starting to feel tired, but i started to play a game i often played in the gym. When i have a workout planned, say 140 steps/minute for 18 minutes. Often at only 5 minutes i find myself thinking i can’t keep up my pace for as long as planned. So what i do is say “Ok, maybe i can’t do 10 more minutes, but i can do 2 more and see where i am.” Often i can keep doing that until i hit my original goal. In this case i had 30 floors left, and the last ten were going to be at a faster pace than what i was doing now. I wasn’t sure i could do it, but 5 more seemed like no big deal, so i focused on going 5 floors, and reassessing. at 55, i felt exactly like how i felt at 50, so i just focused on keeping the same pace to 60.
At 60 i saw someone else ahead. It was Scott! Soon i was on his heels, and he stepped aside to let me pass, saying something along the lines of “Doing great, Dave”! Again, it was a huge boost to see a friendly face in there, and i felt re-energized.
Then i decided to employ a bit of race planning i hadn’t expected to be able to make use of. I had decided in the extremely off chance i still felt good at 60, i was going to pick up the pace a little, so i had some time in the bank when i hit 70. It was hardly much of an increase, but i started to hit the landings a second ahead, then 2, then 3. By the time i hit 70, where i was supposed to go to 9 second a floor pace, i was a whole floor ahead. Automatically, i picked up the pace a little more.
Then i was almost 2 floors ahead at 73 and it hit me: i had the race in the bag: 7 floors left and i was almost 20 seconds under my goal. I could take it easy and still be under my goal. Even if i lost 20 seconds over the next 5 floors, i would be on track, and with all that rest, i could easily sprint the last 2 and still come in under. If i kept pushing it, who knew, i could face plant or black out or just trip over my feet and screw up.
So i backed off, still double-stepping but focusing on good form, deep breathing. I started to lose a few seconds, but before i knew it, i was on 79, and i popped up the last staircase and across the mat. I stumbled out into the ballroom, and several seconds later heard my timing track count off “13 minutes”. It was over, and i had crossed the mat about five seconds before my timer had counted off 13 minutes. I had succeeded!
I looked around for a group of people, but everyone seemed far away in corners and along the wall. And, the room was pretty empty. I realized i had probably been only the 12th or so person to emerge from the door into this giant ballroom, and that was why it was eerily quiet and empty. I walked towards the center, and thought that even though i could probably walk it off, it was a perfectly fine to go to the floor. I laid myself down, and doubt much could have gotten me off the floor for the next few minutes. I had spent most of the race feeling pretty good, but as i lay on the floor, waves of exhaustion washed over me.
About 2-3 minutes later, though, i felt fine, and more of my friends were emerging from the stairs, or had already emerged and were recovering themselves, so i mingled and checked in how everyone had done, getting some photos. Kristin had apparently won the women’s, possibly tying her course record, which was great, as she had been very pessimistic about her training. Sproule had apparently won the men’s. When people asked what my time had been, i told them i estimated 12:55, and since i had been declaring my goal was sub 13, i got a lot of hearty congratulations.
We went back down, and several of us climbed again, but i went to look for my cousin, kyle, so i could pace hm up ( he’s 11 ). Kristin went with me, and we waited in line to go up again. Kristen took off at her torrid pace, and one of the climbers behind me and kyle saw i was a pacer, and stuck with us. I watched the clock to keep kyle on or under his goal time of < 25 minutes, slowing him down a few times to avoid burn out. The woman stuck with us until 70, where despite my encouragement, she slowed down. Her goal had been 23, and i thought she was in danger of missing it, but i wished her luck and kept on. At 75, kyle sprinted, and we were at 80 before we knew it! We had gotten a little under 22:30, several minutes faster than the previous year. Even better, when we had hit the top in previous years, all the food was gone, but this time there were tons of cookies. We took the elevator down after getting some pictures, and there were great muffins at the base; i took two cinnamon crumbs for myself. Nice reward after two 80 floor climbs!
We gathered the team together, and decided that instead of driving distance for a pancake eating contest, we’d go next door and have a regular meal. We had a great time, and scott purchased food for us. Rox and i drove scott to the airport, but because we were stuck in the Aon parking lot for 30-40 minutes, we missed scott’s flight. Fortunately, he was able to get on the next one. We had a great time, even given the adversity. I drove rox to my place, and she quickly packed and left, hoping to beat the ice storm.
Soon the results were posted, and i saw that my time estimate had been spot-on at 12:55. That was good for 23rd place, both tremendous accomplishments for me! Kyle had gone 22:18, surely placing him highly in his age group.
I went to a yoga class that evening, and did most of it, except for a few of the squats where i had to hold my weight up. It was my favorite teacher’s last class, and i couldn’t miss it. Afterwards we went out for beer and pizza, and i had a little of both, though i made sure to fill up on the protein bars i brought.
All in all, a fabulous day!!
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Friday, November 9, 2012
Storm the stadium 2012
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| Focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. |
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| Go team! |
This race was not heavily attended by my regular race crew, so the dinner the night before was only Michael Karlin, Ariel Khnoe, and myself. We had not met before, but soon were talking like old friends.
The next morning, I drove to pick up Karen Geninatti, who had also come to town for a wedding. She had already been a super athlete, but had followed the paleo diet strictly in the offseason, and had lost 20 pounds, which seemed impossible. She was lean and looking younger than ever when i saw her. Maybe the paleo diet had something to it! She and her husband drove in with us; this was the first race her husband would be able to be a spectator at, as we’d be racing in the open, not an internal building staircase.
We quickly arrived at the race, meeting Mike and Ariel, and Bob Towes, another racer and facebook friend. The line didn’t move for a long time, and we were getting cold, but soon we were able to move to a place where we were at least undercover.
There were obvious problems with the race organization, and getting bibs to racers took forever. Worse yet, there was no protested area to store our bags ( with our coats, wallets, etc ). Fortunately, we were able to hand much of the gear to Karen’s husband.
We stood at the starting line, in our racing gear, for a long long time. In our shorts and tees, in the shade, we were freezing! 25 minutes past race start time, Michael went to use the bathroom, and the timing crew, having gotten no communication from the race organizers, simply told everyone to go... No elites first, no staggering to alleviate staircase crowding, a made start just like the old empire state building race. Most of the people who went early were not the elite runners; we had huddled back to get out of the wind. I hung back, and almost went to get Michael, when he rounded the corner and ran across the line. I think perhaps I got timed as starting as soon as the timer started, as i was near the pad, because my result was a minute or so slower than I thought. I’m not sure, but it hardly mattered.
The first few sets of steps of steps up and down seemed ok, but my legs started to complain early... I’m not sure what the issue was, but to some extent i was physically, and maybe more, psychologically, out of the race pretty early. I was there, however, so i kept my legs moving, focusing on maintaining a reasonable pace for the long grind ahead. Michael was moving very fast, putting a lot of distance on me. Karen and i were close for awhile, but at the point where I began to feel out of it, she started to pull away.
One of the reasons I may have felt out of it was the course and direction. It was very easy to take shortcuts, and many racers were doing exactly that. Some seemed to be doing it by accident, but in many cases it was intentional. I wasn’t about to start doing that, but it made me feel disinclined to work very hard when someone else could pull ahead by simply skipping a set of steps.
Towards the end of the upper deck, the course was not at all well marked, and hard to follow. I went the wrong way, and hard to retrace my steps and do a part again. But i wasn’t about to not do the whole course. I saw no race volunteer or official this whole time. There was a long run from upper to lower deck with stairs, ramps, and flats--again, with no personnel in sight.
The lower deck was much easier, short shallow stairs that could be jogged up and down. It felt easy and fun compared the the painful slog through the upper deck, and before I knew it, I could hear Karen cheering for me, and there were a few more staircases, and the race was over.. Time for team pictures! Everyone had done really great, even if i was disappointed with myself.
Before the race, I anticipated placing pretty high, but my time was only sort of middling. Michael and Karen had both beaten me by pretty wide margins. Karen had done amazing, placing second female overall. I wasn’t sure if it was being physically unready, or psychologically off kilter due the general poor organization & race conditions. I suspect it was mostly the latter. Lesson learned: more mental fortitude!
After the race, i drove with Karen out to the ‘burbs, and she and her husband bought me breakfast. Karen ordered an egg white omelet, and vegetables and fruit, no hash browns, toast, etc. I copied her, wanting to learn as much from her eating habits as i could. My legs and calves were starting to bother me, and i was genuinely worried about the race coming up Friday in LA. I had hoped my storm the stadium training would produce a good stair race, but soldier field had badly defeated me, so my aspirations for US bank were not that great.
Monday, April 2, 2012
2011-2012 tower running report card
Here's my quickie grades for my Tower Running season. I'm refusing to give myself anything lower than a B- for a race where i PR'd. :)
Willis tower
Grade: B-
2176 steps, 21:01
Set a PR for myself by 34 seconds, but got mentally out of it very early. Legs hurt, didn't start early enough. Did take away lessons and worked on my training.
Aon Chicago
Grade: B-
1630 steps, 14:29
Again a PR, and felt pretty good, just got mentally out of it somehow and left a fair bit of time in a building i was expecting to kill.
Empire state:
Grade: A
1576 steps, 16:59
Good time for a first timer on a really challenging course, and i really enjoyed myself. Not an A+ because i did leave time on the stairs; could have gone faster for sure.
Oak Brook terrace
Grade: A
680*3 ( 4:45, 4:48, 4:52 )
Solid performance in a whole new format for me--three times up a (relatively) short building. Really found my zen while running.
Springfield hilton
Grade: A-
Time: 3:39
Decent performance, but didn't come in quite right. Was really destroyed afterwards. Really exposed my need for more intense cardio. First race in a long time where i had to lie down afterwards
Hustle up the hancock
Grade: A+
1632 15:36
My only A+ ever, PR'd and had a good time with a really nasty flu.
Presidential towers
Grade: C-
2340 steps in 22:51
Slow, long rests, felt bad after... Well, it was a learning experience.
I guess overall a solid B, a B+ or maybe even an A- if i toss the last crappy race. So not too bad.
Simple lesson is i need to do more cardio and drop weight to be faster next year. More interestingly, i need to work more on 3-5 minute races, as those kinda kicked my butt. Moreover, the sears tower and Aon climbs, i felt mentally out of it, so i need to find a way to work on that.
Ideally, i'd like to train in a building i could climb in 4-6 minutes and push myself to the absolute brink in it, to build up both my sprint cardio and mental fortitude. Failing that, more shorter, more intense workout sessions where i'm pushing myself to the brink seem to be needed.
As a balancing point, my best races were the ones where i used the lessons of "body mind and sport" and consciously enjoyed myself and zenned out during the race. So i need to do long slow workouts to practice that as well. So some long meditative workout sessions need to be in there too..
It's going to be an intesting off season. I feel ready for some major changes!
Willis tower
Grade: B-
2176 steps, 21:01
Set a PR for myself by 34 seconds, but got mentally out of it very early. Legs hurt, didn't start early enough. Did take away lessons and worked on my training.
Aon Chicago
Grade: B-
1630 steps, 14:29
Again a PR, and felt pretty good, just got mentally out of it somehow and left a fair bit of time in a building i was expecting to kill.
Empire state:
Grade: A
1576 steps, 16:59
Good time for a first timer on a really challenging course, and i really enjoyed myself. Not an A+ because i did leave time on the stairs; could have gone faster for sure.
Oak Brook terrace
Grade: A
680*3 ( 4:45, 4:48, 4:52 )
Solid performance in a whole new format for me--three times up a (relatively) short building. Really found my zen while running.
Springfield hilton
Grade: A-
Time: 3:39
Decent performance, but didn't come in quite right. Was really destroyed afterwards. Really exposed my need for more intense cardio. First race in a long time where i had to lie down afterwards
Hustle up the hancock
Grade: A+
1632 15:36
My only A+ ever, PR'd and had a good time with a really nasty flu.
Presidential towers
Grade: C-
2340 steps in 22:51
Slow, long rests, felt bad after... Well, it was a learning experience.
I guess overall a solid B, a B+ or maybe even an A- if i toss the last crappy race. So not too bad.
Simple lesson is i need to do more cardio and drop weight to be faster next year. More interestingly, i need to work more on 3-5 minute races, as those kinda kicked my butt. Moreover, the sears tower and Aon climbs, i felt mentally out of it, so i need to find a way to work on that.
Ideally, i'd like to train in a building i could climb in 4-6 minutes and push myself to the absolute brink in it, to build up both my sprint cardio and mental fortitude. Failing that, more shorter, more intense workout sessions where i'm pushing myself to the brink seem to be needed.
As a balancing point, my best races were the ones where i used the lessons of "body mind and sport" and consciously enjoyed myself and zenned out during the race. So i need to do long slow workouts to practice that as well. So some long meditative workout sessions need to be in there too..
It's going to be an intesting off season. I feel ready for some major changes!
Monday, March 26, 2012
Presidential towers 2012
I had two weeks off after the hancock to prepare for presidential towers. Frankly, running sick at the hancock really knocked the stuffing out of me, and i never got back into the groove of my training after that. My last 2 training sessions tuesday and thursday, i just ran a few raggedy short intervals and left the stairmaster feeling crummy. I was not sure what to expect at the race, but there was nothing to do but go and do my best. I had really been looking forward to this climb, but in these two weeks, was having a hard time getting up for it. In part this was because i was already horribly busy with yoga teacher training, but i also think there was more to it than that...
I decided to shoot for a 21 minute result earlier in the month, but looking as past results and assessing my training runs, i was beginning to doubt that was a realistic target, and when people questioned me about my expectations, i told them i thought a 23 minute result was more realistic. I was still going to _attempt_ to do each tower in 5 minutes, and spend 1 minute total running between them, but it didn't seem terribly likely.
I showed up at the race early, when all the elites were in the starting area warming up. I said hi to my friends, and introduced myself to a few people i knew only from the facebook stairclimbing group. When the elite group was being led out, a few of them looked at me as if i should come along, but i pointed out that my bib number was not low enough. Next year, next year. A few people i didn't know very well had seen i had the flu at hancock, and even though they needed to focus on their own races, took the time to commiserate with me and make sure i was feeling well. As always, i was surprised by how generous the stair climbing crowd could be!
I was in the group right after them, and soon the 20 just-after-elite runners were crossing the street to go climb. We were given our chips and wove them into our laces. Or, everyone with regular shoes did; i put min in my vibram strap, and it ended up pressing into my ankle.
Right around then, i felt i needed to go to the bathroom. I wasn't sure what to do, as there was no bathroom around that was open. I hoped it was a false need due to pre-race jitters, but if it became a real problem, i figured the race staff would be able to do something....
Soon i lined up and headed up the stairs. I stuck carefully to my race pace. The stairs were narrow, and the turns were constant. I thought passing would be a huge issue on such a tight staircase, but going soon after the elites, i only passed 1-2 people in the first tower. I did see my friend Cody at about the 30th floor, and he greeted me, took my picture, and filmed that floor or my climb. So great of him to so selflessly travel to the race and play the videographer!
I had fallen ~20 seconds behind by 40, but that was as per my plan, and i basically made it up over the last 9 floors, and popped though the door just a second or two after 5 minutes. I felt pretty good! I saw my friends Karen and Roxanne, and spoke with them briefly before they went down the elevator.
I sat down to take a rest, and the tiredness hit me. I started to chat with another climber, a super great guy i soon learned was named Elridge. We sat for quite awhile. I felt guilty at resting so long, but i just didn't seem to be recovering. This pattern repeated itself for a long time; i started seeing high numbers as later waves came though, but i was enjoying myself...
Until i was lining up for tower 4. I saw my crew, an they were not only finished, but had climbed tower 4 three more times. They had almos done the race twice, and i was just headed to the fourth tower. Chagrined, i hurried to the last tower and did a fast hard climb, holding nothing in reserve. I had run the 4th tower quite fast, and as if my finishing, i was in 29th place, with a time on 22:51, right in line with my pre-race conservative estimate. I was glad i'd told people that one more...
Downstairs, i met my friends, who were very supportive, but i wished i had finished with them. Some were gone and already back at the hotel, so after some quick snacking, i went to see them. They had already finished breakfast, so we just hung out a bit before they left for springfield.
I went to yoga feeling sub-par. I did a hot class intending to stretch out race tightness, but i couldn't take the heat, and even several heat-lovers left the room partway though. I was so overheated, when the class ended, i went to the showers, turned them on cold, and sat on the floor for 5 minutes until i felt able to face the world again.
I was pretty disappointed with this race, so soon after what i felt was a really great performance, PR-ing and having a great time while truly ill, i completely messed up my training and had a truly lousy race. My time ended up being 39th, good for top 5.3% ( so not too bad ) but i probably ought to penalize myself for all the rest i took, and then it'd be even further from the top 2% from the Aon. Also bad, my extreme slowness cost me time to hang with my friends.
Looking back on it, i guess in the big picture, even if it was my worst race of the season ( and i guess it was ) it wasn't that bad. Maybe all the previous races ( 5 in the preceding 5 weeks ) capped by a brutal race with the flu had just drained me, and yoga teacher training had divided my attention. So, some lessons there. Also, sitting / lying down to recover between races was probably a bad idea. More active cooldown would have likely helped.
I decided to shoot for a 21 minute result earlier in the month, but looking as past results and assessing my training runs, i was beginning to doubt that was a realistic target, and when people questioned me about my expectations, i told them i thought a 23 minute result was more realistic. I was still going to _attempt_ to do each tower in 5 minutes, and spend 1 minute total running between them, but it didn't seem terribly likely.
I showed up at the race early, when all the elites were in the starting area warming up. I said hi to my friends, and introduced myself to a few people i knew only from the facebook stairclimbing group. When the elite group was being led out, a few of them looked at me as if i should come along, but i pointed out that my bib number was not low enough. Next year, next year. A few people i didn't know very well had seen i had the flu at hancock, and even though they needed to focus on their own races, took the time to commiserate with me and make sure i was feeling well. As always, i was surprised by how generous the stair climbing crowd could be!
I was in the group right after them, and soon the 20 just-after-elite runners were crossing the street to go climb. We were given our chips and wove them into our laces. Or, everyone with regular shoes did; i put min in my vibram strap, and it ended up pressing into my ankle.
Right around then, i felt i needed to go to the bathroom. I wasn't sure what to do, as there was no bathroom around that was open. I hoped it was a false need due to pre-race jitters, but if it became a real problem, i figured the race staff would be able to do something....
Soon i lined up and headed up the stairs. I stuck carefully to my race pace. The stairs were narrow, and the turns were constant. I thought passing would be a huge issue on such a tight staircase, but going soon after the elites, i only passed 1-2 people in the first tower. I did see my friend Cody at about the 30th floor, and he greeted me, took my picture, and filmed that floor or my climb. So great of him to so selflessly travel to the race and play the videographer!
I had fallen ~20 seconds behind by 40, but that was as per my plan, and i basically made it up over the last 9 floors, and popped though the door just a second or two after 5 minutes. I felt pretty good! I saw my friends Karen and Roxanne, and spoke with them briefly before they went down the elevator.
I sat down to take a rest, and the tiredness hit me. I started to chat with another climber, a super great guy i soon learned was named Elridge. We sat for quite awhile. I felt guilty at resting so long, but i just didn't seem to be recovering. This pattern repeated itself for a long time; i started seeing high numbers as later waves came though, but i was enjoying myself...
Until i was lining up for tower 4. I saw my crew, an they were not only finished, but had climbed tower 4 three more times. They had almos done the race twice, and i was just headed to the fourth tower. Chagrined, i hurried to the last tower and did a fast hard climb, holding nothing in reserve. I had run the 4th tower quite fast, and as if my finishing, i was in 29th place, with a time on 22:51, right in line with my pre-race conservative estimate. I was glad i'd told people that one more...
Downstairs, i met my friends, who were very supportive, but i wished i had finished with them. Some were gone and already back at the hotel, so after some quick snacking, i went to see them. They had already finished breakfast, so we just hung out a bit before they left for springfield.
I went to yoga feeling sub-par. I did a hot class intending to stretch out race tightness, but i couldn't take the heat, and even several heat-lovers left the room partway though. I was so overheated, when the class ended, i went to the showers, turned them on cold, and sat on the floor for 5 minutes until i felt able to face the world again.
I was pretty disappointed with this race, so soon after what i felt was a really great performance, PR-ing and having a great time while truly ill, i completely messed up my training and had a truly lousy race. My time ended up being 39th, good for top 5.3% ( so not too bad ) but i probably ought to penalize myself for all the rest i took, and then it'd be even further from the top 2% from the Aon. Also bad, my extreme slowness cost me time to hang with my friends.
Looking back on it, i guess in the big picture, even if it was my worst race of the season ( and i guess it was ) it wasn't that bad. Maybe all the previous races ( 5 in the preceding 5 weeks ) capped by a brutal race with the flu had just drained me, and yoga teacher training had divided my attention. So, some lessons there. Also, sitting / lying down to recover between races was probably a bad idea. More active cooldown would have likely helped.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Aon 2012 ( rewind )
Coming into the AON i knew i was going to have a very tough month ahead of me. The empire state building run up was 10 days after the aon, then oak brook terrace was just a few days after that. The following weekend was the springfield hilton, which i was considering, then the hancock, then presidential towers. I was ready for the challenge, but not sure how i was actually going to handle it.
My training was mostly stair master at the gym. I had been steadily increasing my steps/min count and setting new PR's by a second or two every week. I felt good about my progress. I had struggled with my weight over the past years, but i was coming into this race at about 185, ten pounds lighter than i'd ever done it before.
My start time was early, but not right after the elites. I was still hoping for a mildly clear staircase so early in the day. I was also going to return to the bottom of the building after my finish and pace my 9 year old cousin kyle for his race, his first time doing the full climb after winning the 1/2 climb the year before. It was going to be a fun day!!!
I showed up feeling pretty good. Hopped into the bathroom, changed, checked my gear. Unfortunately, after the elites went, there was a large contingent of employees, friends & family, etc that went up. None looked concerned about their times, so i expected my early start was not going to help me a bit, and perhaps hurt me, as the stairs were going to be full of noncompetitive people. 2 years back when i went at nearly noon, the stairs were fairly empty, and i had gotten my best time yet.
I lined up. My timing track was set to pace me to 3:10, a time that on one hand seemed far too ambitious, and on the other, seemed realistic based on my time at the sears tower, and my improvement since then. Soon, i was at the door, hit start, and headed up.
I held my pace until about 20, passing people, sometimes several per floor. The longest clear path i got was 2-3 floors. My legs, specifically my hamstrings and glutes, quickly began to feel sore. A bad sign for so early in the race! I still held my pace, but every time i got behind someone and took a few seconds to prepare a pass, i lost a few steps. I was unsure what to do, and feeling very mentally out of it. I began to chastize myself for not training correctly, but forced myself to refocus on the race. I decided to let my time slip, but to set a pace i felt i could maintain. I was confident that my secondary goal of setting a PR could be accomplished if i didn't risk burning my legs out. So i went conservative, pulled back my pace a bit, and plodded up the steps. My plan was to build up some energy and finish strong, perhaps sprinting to the finish.
My goal time of 3:10 arrived at about 68, with 12 floors left to go. At that point, i realized that there was some chance i might not set a PR if i didn't start to surge immediately, but i was feeling mostly recovered, so i took off up the stairs. There were a lot of people on the top 10 floors, as there always were, but i didn't wait to pass anyone. My timing track went on counting-- 13:30, 13:40-- 13:50..
Soon i popped though the door, thankful to be done.. That finishing 12 floor sprint had taken it out of me. A few seconds anfter i was through the door, i heard my timing track announce 14:30 and i cut it off. I had pr'd by at least 40 seconds, not too bad.
I had some drinks, a few pieces of muffin and danish, a nice post-race treat, and headed down. I made some quick phone calls and status updates, then my cousins showed up. Soon kyle and i were lined up. We talked tactics, and agreed that 25 minutes was a good goal for him. I also reminded him of my credo that it is always better to slow down rather than maintain a pace that will force you to stop later.
Soon we were though. He started off a bit fast, and i slowed him down to a 25-minute pace several times. By 20, he looked entirely ok, so after the water station ( he took a cup, but kept moving up the stairs, just as we had discussed ) i let him go. I did slow him when he looked to be getting out of breath, i kept up a conversation, as i wanted to make sure he was breahting regularly and still cognizant. At about 50 i told him i thought we were on a 22 minute pace and he seemed happy.
By 60, he stopped responding to my conversation for the most part, so i switched to encouraging words every few floor or so. We had discussed a finishing sprint, so when we got close to 75, he perked up and asked if the sprint was soon, and i told him it was, and he should slow down a bit and catch his breath. He did, then at 75, we took off. Those last 5 floors went fast, and soon we were in the ballroom. He'd come in just about 22 minutes, an excellent time in general, amazing for a 9 year old!
Kyle walked to the wall, and sat down for a few minutes, focusing on his breathing. We got up, and i felt like a jerk, because i had been telling him about all the pastry and sweets at the top, and they were already all gone. But not to worry, we soon went to wishbone, and had a great meal.
As i was digesting my disappointing performance, i realized the problem, obvious in retrospect, was that i had done far too little training on real stairs, and in particular, i had double-stepped the whole race, and could only single-step my stairmaster. So, my legs hadn't been adequately prepared for the rigors of double-stepping. That, and mentally, i was unprepared for real stairs in some fundamental ways. I was pretty disappointed, but i was glad i'd learned those lessons before heading to the empire state building race, a much more prestigious and novel event.
I was terribly disappointed to discover that my time had not been recorded on the official race results. I e-mailed the race organizers and told them i had worked hard to come in under 14:30 and would really appreciate it if they could find my result. Soon i was posted to the site as 14:29; i expected they had just used my claim of "under 14:30" as their metric. I expect i had come in closer to 14:25 or so, but didn't really care.
My training was mostly stair master at the gym. I had been steadily increasing my steps/min count and setting new PR's by a second or two every week. I felt good about my progress. I had struggled with my weight over the past years, but i was coming into this race at about 185, ten pounds lighter than i'd ever done it before.
My start time was early, but not right after the elites. I was still hoping for a mildly clear staircase so early in the day. I was also going to return to the bottom of the building after my finish and pace my 9 year old cousin kyle for his race, his first time doing the full climb after winning the 1/2 climb the year before. It was going to be a fun day!!!
I showed up feeling pretty good. Hopped into the bathroom, changed, checked my gear. Unfortunately, after the elites went, there was a large contingent of employees, friends & family, etc that went up. None looked concerned about their times, so i expected my early start was not going to help me a bit, and perhaps hurt me, as the stairs were going to be full of noncompetitive people. 2 years back when i went at nearly noon, the stairs were fairly empty, and i had gotten my best time yet.
I lined up. My timing track was set to pace me to 3:10, a time that on one hand seemed far too ambitious, and on the other, seemed realistic based on my time at the sears tower, and my improvement since then. Soon, i was at the door, hit start, and headed up.
I held my pace until about 20, passing people, sometimes several per floor. The longest clear path i got was 2-3 floors. My legs, specifically my hamstrings and glutes, quickly began to feel sore. A bad sign for so early in the race! I still held my pace, but every time i got behind someone and took a few seconds to prepare a pass, i lost a few steps. I was unsure what to do, and feeling very mentally out of it. I began to chastize myself for not training correctly, but forced myself to refocus on the race. I decided to let my time slip, but to set a pace i felt i could maintain. I was confident that my secondary goal of setting a PR could be accomplished if i didn't risk burning my legs out. So i went conservative, pulled back my pace a bit, and plodded up the steps. My plan was to build up some energy and finish strong, perhaps sprinting to the finish.
My goal time of 3:10 arrived at about 68, with 12 floors left to go. At that point, i realized that there was some chance i might not set a PR if i didn't start to surge immediately, but i was feeling mostly recovered, so i took off up the stairs. There were a lot of people on the top 10 floors, as there always were, but i didn't wait to pass anyone. My timing track went on counting-- 13:30, 13:40-- 13:50..
Soon i popped though the door, thankful to be done.. That finishing 12 floor sprint had taken it out of me. A few seconds anfter i was through the door, i heard my timing track announce 14:30 and i cut it off. I had pr'd by at least 40 seconds, not too bad.
I had some drinks, a few pieces of muffin and danish, a nice post-race treat, and headed down. I made some quick phone calls and status updates, then my cousins showed up. Soon kyle and i were lined up. We talked tactics, and agreed that 25 minutes was a good goal for him. I also reminded him of my credo that it is always better to slow down rather than maintain a pace that will force you to stop later.
Soon we were though. He started off a bit fast, and i slowed him down to a 25-minute pace several times. By 20, he looked entirely ok, so after the water station ( he took a cup, but kept moving up the stairs, just as we had discussed ) i let him go. I did slow him when he looked to be getting out of breath, i kept up a conversation, as i wanted to make sure he was breahting regularly and still cognizant. At about 50 i told him i thought we were on a 22 minute pace and he seemed happy.
By 60, he stopped responding to my conversation for the most part, so i switched to encouraging words every few floor or so. We had discussed a finishing sprint, so when we got close to 75, he perked up and asked if the sprint was soon, and i told him it was, and he should slow down a bit and catch his breath. He did, then at 75, we took off. Those last 5 floors went fast, and soon we were in the ballroom. He'd come in just about 22 minutes, an excellent time in general, amazing for a 9 year old!
Kyle walked to the wall, and sat down for a few minutes, focusing on his breathing. We got up, and i felt like a jerk, because i had been telling him about all the pastry and sweets at the top, and they were already all gone. But not to worry, we soon went to wishbone, and had a great meal.
As i was digesting my disappointing performance, i realized the problem, obvious in retrospect, was that i had done far too little training on real stairs, and in particular, i had double-stepped the whole race, and could only single-step my stairmaster. So, my legs hadn't been adequately prepared for the rigors of double-stepping. That, and mentally, i was unprepared for real stairs in some fundamental ways. I was pretty disappointed, but i was glad i'd learned those lessons before heading to the empire state building race, a much more prestigious and novel event.
I was terribly disappointed to discover that my time had not been recorded on the official race results. I e-mailed the race organizers and told them i had worked hard to come in under 14:30 and would really appreciate it if they could find my result. Soon i was posted to the site as 14:29; i expected they had just used my claim of "under 14:30" as their metric. I expect i had come in closer to 14:25 or so, but didn't really care.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Rewind: Willis tower 2011
Coming into the willis tower race, my training was a bit haphazard. For much of 2010 and the first 1/2 of 2011, i had experimented with a raw food diet, and even had a raw chef living in my house. It had its good aspects that improved my diet, but i gained weight and lost speed, and all my 2010 and early 2011 races suffered.. I won't blame the raw diet outright, but i think the version of it i was on, with a lot of nuts and oils and sugars ( unprocessed or not ) are not conducive to fitness and speed. For athletic pursuits, Tim Van Orden seems to have it figured out. I do partake heavily of green smoothies.
I had hiked up and down the grand canyon 2 months previous, and was doing a lot of yoga and hitting stairs when i could, but i wasn't on the efficient training schedule i was hoping for. I felt as if i was recovering from the eating raw and trying to find my way in the food world. Still, i climbed the stairmaster often, and My weight was the lowest it had been in a long time.
Still, i went into the climb feeling pretty good. I finally got an early start, but rather foolishly, i accepted a differ invite from my raw vegan chef friend, and ate much of the yummy food. Not smart! My stomach felt upset as i rose the next morning, not a good way to start! Still, i didn't feel too off, but i didn't need any more stress.
I got the the tower in plenty of time, changed, used the bathroom. I met my internet friend jordana there, and we chatted a bit before lining up. I went to the corrall, and watched the elite climbers line up. I could have hopped in line right behind them, but my stomach was bothering me. So i sat and stretched, and went to use the bathroom again. A friend saw me and asked me what the hell i was doing out of line, as my wave was lining up. She was right! The stairs were crowding, but i didn't feel ready.
I used the bathroom, made sure i was really done and wouldn't feel the need for another trip, and went to line up. I was already in the wave after mine, after the "competitive athlete" so i wasn't going to get a clear stairwell. I had hoped for 20 minutes, and had made a timing track counting off the floors. I pressed play as i went over the timing strip, and off i went.
I found holding my pace easy for the first few floors, as i hit no significant traffic. After about 10 floors, i began to hit some knots of 2-3 people that took a little time and planning to pass. By the time i hit 25, i was 2-3 floors behind my 20 minute pace. I felt tired, and just worked to not fall behind anymore, hoping for a late sprint or a second wind to get me back on pace.
I began to catch up a little, even when i had to pass, but it was costing me energy. Close 45, i was about on pace, but feeling too exhausted for so early in the race. Then i got behind a fellow that was going at just about my pace--perhaps just a shade slower. I decided i would use him as a pacer for awhile.
This worked, in a way. He made all the passing moves, perhaps not as carefully as i would, but it was easier to copy him--at least mentally! This often left me running wide on the landings, not on the flats. Very poor use of energy. Also, he was falling steadily behind of where i wanted to be. At the time, it seemed like a good idea to stay behind him, but in retrospect it was a poor decision and likely cost me a significant amount of time.
After 35 floors of poor pacer decision ( bear in mind, he was wisely running his race, i was a dope for using him as a pacer, i'm the poor athlete here ) i passed him on 80 and took off pretty fast, about 6 floors behind. Between 80 and 90 i went fast, and made up about three floors, and hoped i'd be able to make up the remaining three i was behind by the end.
It was not to be. At 90, the stairs became completely clogged, and i just sort of gave up trying to make up the remaining three floors i needed to hit my 20 minute goal. In fact, i fell about 3-4 floors behind. I did pick my way through the pack a little at the end, but when i crossed the line, i knew from my audio track that i had hit about 21 minutes.
I went to sit down. I felt ok, not completely spent. I thought about the race, and felt i'd made a number of foolish choices and cost myself time in several ways. Eating a strage meal not conducive to racing the night before. Not getting into the stairs as early as possible to avoid the crowds. Using a slower climber as a pacer to save energy. Dumb, Dumb, Dumb. But--i'd beaten my previous best time by 34 seconds. So not too bad.
I went to the door to watch racers emerge from the stairs. Soon christie came through, and i talked to her after she caught her breath. Soon jordana popped through, easily visible in her entirely pink outfit. I talked to a fellow wearing a camera and sporting a pair of sticky wide receiver gloves. I was to get to know him as a great and supportive friend later.
We all headed down to check our times. I saw mine was 21:02. Not bad, and i couldn't feel too bad, as i had placed over 30 seconds better than my PR and nearly a minute faster than last year. Still, it was not what i knew i had in me.
After that, jordana and i went to Lou Mitchells and had breakfast. I had an omelet, she pancakes. Good food. After that, i kicked around for a few hours and did yoga. I wasn't particularly sore or tired, just annoyed with myself.
Lesson learned:
* Don't eat anything out of the ordinary the day before the race. Turn down social occasions that aren't optimal. Bring food with you if necessary.
* Even if you feel weird, go up as soon as possible.
* Adhere more strictly to pacing. Don't stick to slower people.
I had hiked up and down the grand canyon 2 months previous, and was doing a lot of yoga and hitting stairs when i could, but i wasn't on the efficient training schedule i was hoping for. I felt as if i was recovering from the eating raw and trying to find my way in the food world. Still, i climbed the stairmaster often, and My weight was the lowest it had been in a long time.
Still, i went into the climb feeling pretty good. I finally got an early start, but rather foolishly, i accepted a differ invite from my raw vegan chef friend, and ate much of the yummy food. Not smart! My stomach felt upset as i rose the next morning, not a good way to start! Still, i didn't feel too off, but i didn't need any more stress.
I got the the tower in plenty of time, changed, used the bathroom. I met my internet friend jordana there, and we chatted a bit before lining up. I went to the corrall, and watched the elite climbers line up. I could have hopped in line right behind them, but my stomach was bothering me. So i sat and stretched, and went to use the bathroom again. A friend saw me and asked me what the hell i was doing out of line, as my wave was lining up. She was right! The stairs were crowding, but i didn't feel ready.
I used the bathroom, made sure i was really done and wouldn't feel the need for another trip, and went to line up. I was already in the wave after mine, after the "competitive athlete" so i wasn't going to get a clear stairwell. I had hoped for 20 minutes, and had made a timing track counting off the floors. I pressed play as i went over the timing strip, and off i went.
I found holding my pace easy for the first few floors, as i hit no significant traffic. After about 10 floors, i began to hit some knots of 2-3 people that took a little time and planning to pass. By the time i hit 25, i was 2-3 floors behind my 20 minute pace. I felt tired, and just worked to not fall behind anymore, hoping for a late sprint or a second wind to get me back on pace.
I began to catch up a little, even when i had to pass, but it was costing me energy. Close 45, i was about on pace, but feeling too exhausted for so early in the race. Then i got behind a fellow that was going at just about my pace--perhaps just a shade slower. I decided i would use him as a pacer for awhile.
This worked, in a way. He made all the passing moves, perhaps not as carefully as i would, but it was easier to copy him--at least mentally! This often left me running wide on the landings, not on the flats. Very poor use of energy. Also, he was falling steadily behind of where i wanted to be. At the time, it seemed like a good idea to stay behind him, but in retrospect it was a poor decision and likely cost me a significant amount of time.
After 35 floors of poor pacer decision ( bear in mind, he was wisely running his race, i was a dope for using him as a pacer, i'm the poor athlete here ) i passed him on 80 and took off pretty fast, about 6 floors behind. Between 80 and 90 i went fast, and made up about three floors, and hoped i'd be able to make up the remaining three i was behind by the end.
It was not to be. At 90, the stairs became completely clogged, and i just sort of gave up trying to make up the remaining three floors i needed to hit my 20 minute goal. In fact, i fell about 3-4 floors behind. I did pick my way through the pack a little at the end, but when i crossed the line, i knew from my audio track that i had hit about 21 minutes.
I went to sit down. I felt ok, not completely spent. I thought about the race, and felt i'd made a number of foolish choices and cost myself time in several ways. Eating a strage meal not conducive to racing the night before. Not getting into the stairs as early as possible to avoid the crowds. Using a slower climber as a pacer to save energy. Dumb, Dumb, Dumb. But--i'd beaten my previous best time by 34 seconds. So not too bad.
I went to the door to watch racers emerge from the stairs. Soon christie came through, and i talked to her after she caught her breath. Soon jordana popped through, easily visible in her entirely pink outfit. I talked to a fellow wearing a camera and sporting a pair of sticky wide receiver gloves. I was to get to know him as a great and supportive friend later.
We all headed down to check our times. I saw mine was 21:02. Not bad, and i couldn't feel too bad, as i had placed over 30 seconds better than my PR and nearly a minute faster than last year. Still, it was not what i knew i had in me.
After that, jordana and i went to Lou Mitchells and had breakfast. I had an omelet, she pancakes. Good food. After that, i kicked around for a few hours and did yoga. I wasn't particularly sore or tired, just annoyed with myself.
Lesson learned:
* Don't eat anything out of the ordinary the day before the race. Turn down social occasions that aren't optimal. Bring food with you if necessary.
* Even if you feel weird, go up as soon as possible.
* Adhere more strictly to pacing. Don't stick to slower people.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Hustle up the hancock 2012
The day before the hancock was a tough day of yoga teacher training, with two classes ( c3, c1 ) and a long lecture. I then sped to a dinner where i met a lot of really great climbers: Alex, Ed, Bob, Bob's wife, and Karen.
I was impressed by how clean everyone ate, even with a big race in only a few hours. Karen ate salmon with no sauce and steamed, unsalted greens, skipping even the plain(ish) mashed potatoes. It made me think of past years when i'd use an upcoming race as an excuse to eat like a pig so i could "carb up", hitting a buffet and putting down thousands of calories, as if the race would burn off more than a few hundred. That approach had left me slow and pushing 200 pounds. This morning, I had weighed in at 184, fed and hydrated. That was still far too heavy to be as quick as i wanted, but i was also carrying much more muscle than in the past, especially in my legs. I was asked what my goal time was, and i said 14:29--10 seconds a floor for the first 30, then 9 per floor for the remaining 64 floors. I felt confident i could do that, and even hoped to sneak in under 14 minutes, picking up the pace past 60 if i felt really good. It seemed likely to me; i felt ready.
After dinner broke up, everyone returned to their hotel rooms to grab sleep, as everyone had an early start--except me! I was going to be waiting until 1:30 to race, a starting slot that left me feeling exceedingly grumpy. I doubted that i'd get to attend much of my yoga teacher training, and running so late in the day was not what i'd grown used to. On the other hand, i had been happy with my performance at empire state, and that had been at night.
In light of my late start, i headed to the birthday party of one of my favorite yogis, Jessica. I didn't touch any alcohol, and just nibbled on some vegetables and hummus. I had intended to stay for only an hour or so, but i was having too much fun chatting friends, and ended up staying until almost midnight. No worries, as i usually can't fall asleep until after midnight anyways, and had little reason to wake up early. I arrived home just after nidnight, and fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Not for long, however! I woke up about 2:30 with my head pounding and my stomach in knots. I hurried to the bathroom and hacked most of what was left of dinner. Over the next few hours i would try to drink some water and sleep, but would soon have to make another visit to the bathroom. My head throbbed, and my muscles ached. This went on until about 6am when i was finally able to sleep.
I got back up around 8--well, i woke up--i laid in bed for about an hour, not having the energy to move. This was looking like a very inauspicious race day! I finally got up and managed to hold down a little fluid, but not very well. I drank little, as i didn't want any more atypical bathroom trips. I spent the morning lying in bed, wondering what i was going to do. Finally i got a text from Roxanne at the race, asking where i was. I texted her that i felt bad, but i was coming anyways.
I was glad i made that choice! From there on, i took it one step at a time. Get out of bed, get my racing outfit on. Just focus on that. Get my bag packed. Get my ipod ready--crap! My ipod, on the charger all night, had apparently given up the ghost and finally expired. It would not turn on, no matter how much i toyed with it. I had grown addicted to my timing tracks, and was hoping it would keep me motivated even in my sorry state. I grabbed my iphone and armband, deciding to use that for my race. No timing tracks on there, but at least i could listen to some good music.
I dragged myself to the car, and headed out, returning when i rememebered it'd forgotten my yoga gear. I was feeling spacey, not good. I drove to the hancock. Previously, my plan had been to park at yoga, and walk/jog the three miles to the race as a warm-up. That idea was no longer practical. I did park about a mile away, thinking the walk might do me some good. As i was gearing up at the trunk, i discovered i couldn't find my armband. Great, another problem, now i'd have no music at all.
I went to the race and looked for my climbing crew. They were nowhere to be found, but i found my friend Christie, who said i looked awful. It was true, no doubt. Dizzy, I needed to sit down while talking to her, which boded very poorly for the race. Soon she lined up, and i had a little time to kill. Checking my clothes, i found the ipod armband in my pocket, so i kept the phone. Looking though the playlists, i found i had my Aon timing track on there, which was intended to get me up that building in 13:10. It used 10 seconds a floor for the whole building, which would get me up the hancock in 15:30, which frankly seemed impossible with how i felt, but i could at least give it a shot.
Soon, Roxanne and Karen showed up. I kept my distance due to the flu. Roxanne decided she'd go the end of the line to be the last person up, then wait a few minutes for the stairs to clear out. I took a few sips at the water fountain, and we hopped in line, falling back every time someone got in line behind us. I was happy to keep falling back with her, as every extra minute was a minute for my body to recover from last night.
As we approached the door, i had another attack of the dizzies. This couldn't be good. Fortunately, there was a barrel of water bottles near the door, and i grabbed one and chugged it. I pulled on my new climbing gloves, pressed play on my iphone, and headed up the stairs.
I surprised myself by immediately going faster than the 10 seconds a floor my timing track was to pace me on. I got two or so floors ahead, then restrained my pace, not wanting to go out too fast. I had failed to tuck in my headphone cords, and i had to slow down a few times to put my headphones back on, as my sticky gloves hit the wire and yanked one of both from my ears. Bad move, leaving those outside of my shirt! Unfortunately, i didn't have the time to fix this problem. I began to hit some packs of climbers, sometimes 4-5 in a row, often two wide on the stairs, very hard to pass. Passing them and futzing with my headphones slowed me enough that soon i was arriving on the floors as my timing track announced them, so i had been slowed by 20 seconds. I felt sick, and my head was pounding, but i did my best not to think about it, focusing on passing, counting the floors, thinking about tactics.
The volunteers were also starting to come down, and i almost collided with one of them. But after that and a few more packs of climbers, the stairs began to clear up. I focused on gripping the rails with my new sticky gloves and pulling hard. I was also intent on conserving energy; when i had to pass someone, i'd get right behind them for a floor or so to build up strength, execute a fast tight turn behind them when the stairs reversed direction, pulling hard on the rail to slingshot myself, and use that momentum to propel me past them. Then as soon as i completed the pass and got back on the inside rail, i'd climb mostly with my arms for a few seconds to spell my legs.
I continued to surprise myself by arriving on floors when my timing track called them out. My head felt really awful, and i had to slow down a few times to avoid throwing up, but i always managed to recover enough to pick up the pace and catch up with my goal time. Finally, around 70 or so, i began to feel genuinely sick, and i had to slow down for an extended period of time. I was starting to hit floors a second late, then one, then two, then three..
My timing track ended at 13:10 at about floor 77. I was three floors behind with no guide, and the stairs were getting crowded again. I knew my time was still good, and if could maintain 10 seconds a floor, i might still get a PR. I put my head down and focused on keeping my legs moving, trying to think happy thoughts, ignoring how i felt, which was as if i had the worst hangover of my life. My timing track went on counting seconds, but no longer floors; the backing audio was my motivational pep talk for the Aon if i had missed my goal time, reminding me to finish strong, that i was a winner as long as i pushed myself.
Hokey as it was, it helped! At about 85 or so, i felt new life. The fifteen slow floors had allowed me to catch my breath and settle my stomach. I felt i could finish strong. I accelerated to a fast pace, definitely quicker than 10 seconds a floor, continually reminding myself i had only 9 of the short upper hancock floors left--then eight--then seven. When i hit 90, i took off running. I made it up the last four floors in seemingly no time, hitting two climbers just before the door, and slowing for a split second so the photographer could get a picture of me about to cross the line. I heard the chime of the pad registering my time. I couldn't believe it. I was done.
I stumbled out onto the deck, heard my name called, the announcer introducing me as being from new mexico. I wondered where they'd gotten that info. It was an effort to stay vertical without anything to hold on to, but i fought to stay upright. After closing my eyes and taking a few breaths, i opened them, focused, and saw Karen waving at me. I immediately felt better, seeing someone i knew, and grabbed a banana and posed for a picture.
Karen made sure i got some water ( bless her ! ). She stayed to get a picture of Roxanne finishing, and i went to find an empty seat. Soon, Roxanne crossed the line with an awesome time of just over 14 minutes. The three of us found a table, and i gingerly tucked into my bannna and water. I felt surprisingly good. My flu seemed to have deserted me! We soon got up and waited line for about half an hour. When we got to the bottom, they headed back to springfield, and me to my car, from where i hightailed it to yogi training.
Yogi training was a lecture, and that's where the exhaustion really hit me. I could barely sit up or keep my eyes open. After the class, my partner holly found me and offered to go over her notes with me. I was touched by her kindness, but hardly able to stay vertical, i had to decline. I dragged myself to the showers and let the hot water run over me for a long time, carefully drove home, and collapsed into bed.
It turned out my time had been 15:36.. I had actually come in only six seconds over my 10 second a floor pace, and had broken my personal best by 23 seconds, a time set when i had been completely rested and precisely fed and hydrated. It felt like a huge moral victory to me, and made me hungry to really crush the race next year! If i could post such a time feeling deathly ill, what could i do with an extra year of training, hitting the stairs healthy and tuned?
Look out, hancock 2013!
Lessons learned:
1) Perhaps due to both the unexpected adversity, and my lack of pressure, I was very on my mental game, which very much compensated for how bad my body felt. If i can be this mentally on when i'm feeling good, i can probably have a great race!
2) I figured out some rail techniques that probably helped a great deal, saving time an energy on the landings, and giving my legs a break for a few seconds after a pass. In retrospect, the gloves did help. I should work on my strength for rail techniques. I probably should make friends with the rowing machines. Yoga works my pulling back muscles very little.
3) Better preparation: get outfit & bag ready day before, tuck headphone cord inside shirt. Get to race early and warm up.
4) Legs felt fine, this was mostly cardio limited. Work on cardio / cutting weight for better times.
I was impressed by how clean everyone ate, even with a big race in only a few hours. Karen ate salmon with no sauce and steamed, unsalted greens, skipping even the plain(ish) mashed potatoes. It made me think of past years when i'd use an upcoming race as an excuse to eat like a pig so i could "carb up", hitting a buffet and putting down thousands of calories, as if the race would burn off more than a few hundred. That approach had left me slow and pushing 200 pounds. This morning, I had weighed in at 184, fed and hydrated. That was still far too heavy to be as quick as i wanted, but i was also carrying much more muscle than in the past, especially in my legs. I was asked what my goal time was, and i said 14:29--10 seconds a floor for the first 30, then 9 per floor for the remaining 64 floors. I felt confident i could do that, and even hoped to sneak in under 14 minutes, picking up the pace past 60 if i felt really good. It seemed likely to me; i felt ready.
After dinner broke up, everyone returned to their hotel rooms to grab sleep, as everyone had an early start--except me! I was going to be waiting until 1:30 to race, a starting slot that left me feeling exceedingly grumpy. I doubted that i'd get to attend much of my yoga teacher training, and running so late in the day was not what i'd grown used to. On the other hand, i had been happy with my performance at empire state, and that had been at night.
In light of my late start, i headed to the birthday party of one of my favorite yogis, Jessica. I didn't touch any alcohol, and just nibbled on some vegetables and hummus. I had intended to stay for only an hour or so, but i was having too much fun chatting friends, and ended up staying until almost midnight. No worries, as i usually can't fall asleep until after midnight anyways, and had little reason to wake up early. I arrived home just after nidnight, and fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Not for long, however! I woke up about 2:30 with my head pounding and my stomach in knots. I hurried to the bathroom and hacked most of what was left of dinner. Over the next few hours i would try to drink some water and sleep, but would soon have to make another visit to the bathroom. My head throbbed, and my muscles ached. This went on until about 6am when i was finally able to sleep.
I got back up around 8--well, i woke up--i laid in bed for about an hour, not having the energy to move. This was looking like a very inauspicious race day! I finally got up and managed to hold down a little fluid, but not very well. I drank little, as i didn't want any more atypical bathroom trips. I spent the morning lying in bed, wondering what i was going to do. Finally i got a text from Roxanne at the race, asking where i was. I texted her that i felt bad, but i was coming anyways.
I was glad i made that choice! From there on, i took it one step at a time. Get out of bed, get my racing outfit on. Just focus on that. Get my bag packed. Get my ipod ready--crap! My ipod, on the charger all night, had apparently given up the ghost and finally expired. It would not turn on, no matter how much i toyed with it. I had grown addicted to my timing tracks, and was hoping it would keep me motivated even in my sorry state. I grabbed my iphone and armband, deciding to use that for my race. No timing tracks on there, but at least i could listen to some good music.
I dragged myself to the car, and headed out, returning when i rememebered it'd forgotten my yoga gear. I was feeling spacey, not good. I drove to the hancock. Previously, my plan had been to park at yoga, and walk/jog the three miles to the race as a warm-up. That idea was no longer practical. I did park about a mile away, thinking the walk might do me some good. As i was gearing up at the trunk, i discovered i couldn't find my armband. Great, another problem, now i'd have no music at all.
I went to the race and looked for my climbing crew. They were nowhere to be found, but i found my friend Christie, who said i looked awful. It was true, no doubt. Dizzy, I needed to sit down while talking to her, which boded very poorly for the race. Soon she lined up, and i had a little time to kill. Checking my clothes, i found the ipod armband in my pocket, so i kept the phone. Looking though the playlists, i found i had my Aon timing track on there, which was intended to get me up that building in 13:10. It used 10 seconds a floor for the whole building, which would get me up the hancock in 15:30, which frankly seemed impossible with how i felt, but i could at least give it a shot.
Soon, Roxanne and Karen showed up. I kept my distance due to the flu. Roxanne decided she'd go the end of the line to be the last person up, then wait a few minutes for the stairs to clear out. I took a few sips at the water fountain, and we hopped in line, falling back every time someone got in line behind us. I was happy to keep falling back with her, as every extra minute was a minute for my body to recover from last night.
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| From Getting ready to go! |
As we approached the door, i had another attack of the dizzies. This couldn't be good. Fortunately, there was a barrel of water bottles near the door, and i grabbed one and chugged it. I pulled on my new climbing gloves, pressed play on my iphone, and headed up the stairs.
I surprised myself by immediately going faster than the 10 seconds a floor my timing track was to pace me on. I got two or so floors ahead, then restrained my pace, not wanting to go out too fast. I had failed to tuck in my headphone cords, and i had to slow down a few times to put my headphones back on, as my sticky gloves hit the wire and yanked one of both from my ears. Bad move, leaving those outside of my shirt! Unfortunately, i didn't have the time to fix this problem. I began to hit some packs of climbers, sometimes 4-5 in a row, often two wide on the stairs, very hard to pass. Passing them and futzing with my headphones slowed me enough that soon i was arriving on the floors as my timing track announced them, so i had been slowed by 20 seconds. I felt sick, and my head was pounding, but i did my best not to think about it, focusing on passing, counting the floors, thinking about tactics.
The volunteers were also starting to come down, and i almost collided with one of them. But after that and a few more packs of climbers, the stairs began to clear up. I focused on gripping the rails with my new sticky gloves and pulling hard. I was also intent on conserving energy; when i had to pass someone, i'd get right behind them for a floor or so to build up strength, execute a fast tight turn behind them when the stairs reversed direction, pulling hard on the rail to slingshot myself, and use that momentum to propel me past them. Then as soon as i completed the pass and got back on the inside rail, i'd climb mostly with my arms for a few seconds to spell my legs.
I continued to surprise myself by arriving on floors when my timing track called them out. My head felt really awful, and i had to slow down a few times to avoid throwing up, but i always managed to recover enough to pick up the pace and catch up with my goal time. Finally, around 70 or so, i began to feel genuinely sick, and i had to slow down for an extended period of time. I was starting to hit floors a second late, then one, then two, then three..
My timing track ended at 13:10 at about floor 77. I was three floors behind with no guide, and the stairs were getting crowded again. I knew my time was still good, and if could maintain 10 seconds a floor, i might still get a PR. I put my head down and focused on keeping my legs moving, trying to think happy thoughts, ignoring how i felt, which was as if i had the worst hangover of my life. My timing track went on counting seconds, but no longer floors; the backing audio was my motivational pep talk for the Aon if i had missed my goal time, reminding me to finish strong, that i was a winner as long as i pushed myself.
Hokey as it was, it helped! At about 85 or so, i felt new life. The fifteen slow floors had allowed me to catch my breath and settle my stomach. I felt i could finish strong. I accelerated to a fast pace, definitely quicker than 10 seconds a floor, continually reminding myself i had only 9 of the short upper hancock floors left--then eight--then seven. When i hit 90, i took off running. I made it up the last four floors in seemingly no time, hitting two climbers just before the door, and slowing for a split second so the photographer could get a picture of me about to cross the line. I heard the chime of the pad registering my time. I couldn't believe it. I was done.
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| From 2012 hustle up the hancock |
I stumbled out onto the deck, heard my name called, the announcer introducing me as being from new mexico. I wondered where they'd gotten that info. It was an effort to stay vertical without anything to hold on to, but i fought to stay upright. After closing my eyes and taking a few breaths, i opened them, focused, and saw Karen waving at me. I immediately felt better, seeing someone i knew, and grabbed a banana and posed for a picture.
 |
| From 2012 hustle up the hancock |
Karen made sure i got some water ( bless her ! ). She stayed to get a picture of Roxanne finishing, and i went to find an empty seat. Soon, Roxanne crossed the line with an awesome time of just over 14 minutes. The three of us found a table, and i gingerly tucked into my bannna and water. I felt surprisingly good. My flu seemed to have deserted me! We soon got up and waited line for about half an hour. When we got to the bottom, they headed back to springfield, and me to my car, from where i hightailed it to yogi training.
Yogi training was a lecture, and that's where the exhaustion really hit me. I could barely sit up or keep my eyes open. After the class, my partner holly found me and offered to go over her notes with me. I was touched by her kindness, but hardly able to stay vertical, i had to decline. I dragged myself to the showers and let the hot water run over me for a long time, carefully drove home, and collapsed into bed.
It turned out my time had been 15:36.. I had actually come in only six seconds over my 10 second a floor pace, and had broken my personal best by 23 seconds, a time set when i had been completely rested and precisely fed and hydrated. It felt like a huge moral victory to me, and made me hungry to really crush the race next year! If i could post such a time feeling deathly ill, what could i do with an extra year of training, hitting the stairs healthy and tuned?
Look out, hancock 2013!
Lessons learned:
1) Perhaps due to both the unexpected adversity, and my lack of pressure, I was very on my mental game, which very much compensated for how bad my body felt. If i can be this mentally on when i'm feeling good, i can probably have a great race!
2) I figured out some rail techniques that probably helped a great deal, saving time an energy on the landings, and giving my legs a break for a few seconds after a pass. In retrospect, the gloves did help. I should work on my strength for rail techniques. I probably should make friends with the rowing machines. Yoga works my pulling back muscles very little.
3) Better preparation: get outfit & bag ready day before, tuck headphone cord inside shirt. Get to race early and warm up.
4) Legs felt fine, this was mostly cardio limited. Work on cardio / cutting weight for better times.
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