The Terminator

Go!

I shot into the stairwell and tried to hit the start button of my stop watch.

"Tried".

The watch face display showed my screensaver rather than my stop watch app. After pressing the digital crown of my apple watch, I realized that the stop watch went to sleep... and it would take 5 seconds of calm, deliberate manipulation to get it back. LOL.

Fuck. I'd have to climb without a stopwatch. It wouldn't be my first rodeo.

Up, Up, Up... To the Left, To the Left, To the Left...

I was Bib #7. Bib #6 was a no-show, so Jason Larson with Bib #5 was fifteen seconds ahead of me up the stairwell. He was last year's US Champion so this would be a tough race.

It's been a year since my return to stair climbing and what a humbling experience it has been. My debut race was at last year's US Championships at the Stratosphere. I was 10 lbs overweight and in mediocre shape. It showed. I was over a minute slower than my slowest attempt (Pre-Covid). Very embarrassing.

Throughout the season my fitness increased and my weight dropped but my race results continued to be dismal. World Championships at Taipei, Empire State Building Run-up, and Sear Tower were all below expectations. 

However, a decent showing at Bop to the Top had my hopes up for this year's US Championships.

This year it was hosted at Hustle up the Hancock in Chicago instead of at the Stratosphere. It's a somewhat taller race course with about 3 minutes of extra climbing (at my level at least).

I had some experience at Hustle, having climbed it in 2012 and 2013. But that was well over a decade ago when I was relatively new to this sport. If I recall correctly, my times were 11:11 and 11:08 respectively. While I believe I would've challenged the 10 minute mark at my peak, I certainly wasn't at that point now. Maybe I was around my 2013 speed? I suspected as much, but I've kind of lost faith in my ability to estimate fitness (I'm 0-4 in all the big races).

I had set my metronome to 88 BPM. In 2012 & 2013 I used 90 & 92 BPM respectively, but according to my notes (thank you blog!) this pace was slightly aggressive and towards the top I started double stepping the landings. So 88 seemed like a decent target*. 

*Plus, 88 is an auspicious number..

The pace seemed fine for the first dozen or so floors and I climbed fairly cleanly - hugging the rails and keeping just a single foot on the landings.

The problem with Hustle, however, is that the stairwell isn't uniform. Sometimes there's an even number of steps per flight and sometimes there's an odd number.

Before the race I looked for a stairwell chart. There isn't one - not even on Stan's blog. However there were a few online videos of the stairwell. I saw a few 11/11s, but sadly that is just in one section and it seems to vary significantly.

So my strategy was to take a single step every time I got to a landing. This would be perfect for 11/11s and merely acceptable for 10/10s  

By the 20s, I was still in good shape. My heartrate had stabilized and I could feel the pace. No longer easy... but sustainable.

In the 30s I was still climbing alone. I passed a few volunteers wordlessly (like I couldn't really afford to speak) but other than that I didn't hear anything from above or below.

In the 40s and 50s it was just my metronome keeping me company. By now, the pace felt hard. I knew could maintain it for a little while... but the fact remained that I was merely halfway up the building.

As I approached the 60s I was starting to fade. My turns were becoming sloppy, though I still managed to keep up with my metronome. Somewhere along the way I had switched over from hugging the inside rail to pulling on both sides. Slightly more ergonomic... but less efficient on the turns. 

The only silver lining was that I thought I could hear another climber up ahead. Likely Jason. It was hard to tell how many floors ahead he was, but simply hearing another climber gave me some hope.

By this point I was in the upper 60s. While I was still in the hunt, doubts were creeping in. My heart rate had peaked and I was suffering. I honestly considered quitting as I still had 24 more floors of pain to go.

But I managed to suppress those demons. At least partially. My climbing technique took a hit and I started double stepping those landings more often than not. Worse yet, the sounds from above were fading... and so was my confidence.

Somehow I made it into the 80s. I was chasing a ghost... but I was still chasing.

With only a dozen floors remaining I knew I only a minute or so of climbing left. It would be painful, but no longer impossible.

On the 84th floor I started to increase my pace slightly. Turns weren't pretty, but I managed to stay ahead of my metronome.

I crested the 88th floor and I could smell blood. Jason couldn't have been more than a couple of floors ahead.

I used what remaining energy I had on the final few floors. 90, 91, 92. It wasn't much faster, but it was enough to close the gap even further. I could hear cheering coming from the top of the stairwell. One last push. 93... 94... and then a quick run through the door.

While I didn't quite catch Jason, I could see him walking down the finisher's corral. I couldn't have been more than 10 seconds behind.

I collapsed to the ground. No idea what my time was (thanks Apple) but I was thrilled to finally keep up with the pack.

I spend a few minutes on the ground, but slowly I managed to get back to my feet. I was tired, but thrilled.

After speaking with a few other climbers, I  realized that I was likely the top American in the US Championship wave. However, as Hustle is a huge event, I didn't really think my time would survive. I was in the low 11s and there are often a few really strong Chicago athletes that show up (runners, cyclists, etc.) that dip into the 10s... and sure enough I was right. You can see the results for yourself:

https://resphealth.org/hustle-2025-results/

A pair of local cyclists (Chris Wiatr & Sean Eisen) took first & second place at the US Championships (2nd & 4th overall) though I wouldn't learn of Sean's time until later in the day as he climbed in the team event.

While I had to settle for 3rd place at the US Championships (6th overall), I was more than happy with the result. My time of 11:11 matched my time in 2012 and I managed to keep up with all of my rivals (Jason, Chris, and Martin).

Grades:

Fitness: A minus - My workouts have been slowly getting better. Slowly.

Weight: B plus - At 174 lbs., I'm only a couple pounds away from an acceptable weight, though I really need to be around 170 lbs to feel like my old self.

Effort: A - I pushed myself hard.

Pacing & Technique: B - Pacing was a couple beats too fast. My technique was okay until I hit the 60th floor. After that point... not so great.

Overall: A minus - I started to break mentally, but I held firm. This was a solid race.

Final Thoughts:

While I still haven't regained all my fitness or shed all of the weight I gained during Covid, this was my first solid race at a big event since my return to competition. While I'll probably never be as fast I was pre-Covid, I feel like I've turned the corner.

I'm Back.

Bop Till You Drop

I struggle writing about my races. I used to love writing, but these days it just feels like a chore. In fact, I have many posts that are half-complete. So this time around, I'm just going to write for myself. Something to remind myself of what the race was like, how I felt, and how I could improve.

The race was on Saturday so I basically had my normal workouts that week. I just replaced my Thursday workout with some stairwell time trials at race pace (which is  slower than my normal sprinting pace). Plus I took Friday off.

The drive was brutal. I drove down to Poughkeepsie to meet Tom on Thursday evening. Fortunately, my wife made me take her car after a bit of protest. Thank goodness. It started snowing halfway down the Taconic and her car is heavier with studded snow tires. We drove a few hours and stayed over at my Dad's house near Harrisburg. That meant we only needed to drive 9 hours to Indianapolis the following day. It was a short, but nice visit.

The following day we made it to Greenfield by 7:00 PM - roughly 30 minutes east of Indianapolis. The weather was much better than the prior day. A quick trip to Walmart to pick up some food and in bed by 10:30.

Despite multiple trips to the bathroom, I had a decent sleep. 7+ hours. 

The 30ish minute drive to Indianapolis was tough. I was full of nervous energy and it was still dark. Indianapolis is still on Eastern Standard Time, but a full 12 hours west of Albany. So it gets dark nearly a whole hour later than Albany... and that means sunrise is a whole hour later too. We arrived at One America Tower around 7:40 AM. Still dark. Parking was a breeze as they let us use the near-empty employee parking garage next to the building free of charge. 

Check in was smooth. A small auditorium was full of volunteers and I received my #4 bib quite easily.

I met up with Steve Marsalese near check-in. Just after 8:00 AM we scouted out the stairwell as a warm-up. I was all nerves. My legs felt like jelly and my heart was fluttering. But after a dozen floors or so, I felt a little bit better. 

The stairwell itself is very straightforward. While I didn't get a proper step count of the bottom floors, most of the floors are 11/11 which in my opinion is very good for turning. However, the stairwell itself turns to the left, which (unfortunately) is my weak side. Another nice feature is that the rails are close enough to use both sides effectively. Lastly, the steps are a little shallow. I'd estimate they are 7 inches tall?

Compared to the Corning Tower in Albany, One America Tower is a bit shorter. 162 meters tall vs. 180 meters to the roof. Likewise, it has fewer floors 38 vs. 42, though Bop only races to the 36th floor. While the Corning Tower is definitely taller, the step counts are a bit closer: 780 steps vs. 824. That's roughly two floors worth of steps. So my estimate of 7 inch steps seems appropriate. Albany's steps are about 7.25 inches tall.

(One thing I regret is not creating my own stairwell map and measuring the steps, but alas I was too busy climbing stairs)

Looking at the history of the race, there have been a lot of good climbers. I believe Justin Stewart holds the record at 3:30 and  fast climbers like Eric Leninger and Cole Hetzel have done the race in about 3:45. Other fast climbs include David Shaffron and Martin Wilkey who both climbed in the 3:50s. Rounding out the list is Jesse Berg. while he hasn't done the single climb, he has done the triple in under 12 minutes, meaning each of his climbs averaged under 4 minutes which is very impressive. I only looked at the results since 2008 so I'm guessing there are a bunch of other fast times in the building as the race has been going on for 45 years.

While I suspected I would have broken the 4 minute barrier pre-Covid, I'm older, fatter, and not in my best shape. Just looking at how slow my Albany times have been recently (4:53 vs. 4:33 PB) means I was likely spotting myself at least 15 seconds. Possibly more than that since I've never climbed the Corning Tower in peak form (the race always conflicted with Scale the Strat).

Maybe I could still break 4 minutes? I'd probably have to settle in the low 4 minute range, but I'd give it my best shot nonetheless.

The races started at 8:30 AM and after the practice climb I had maybe 15 minutes to go. I did some active stretches and burpees to stay warmed up. The active stretches didn't go well. I could barely stand on one leg because of how nervous I was. The burpees at least seemed fairly easy.

At the start line I had the #4 bib, but only Cindy (wearing the #1 bib) and the guy with the #2 bib were actually ahead of me. They started us off with 20 seconds between climbers.

I set my metronome for 125 BPM. Jill had mentioned that a 105 gets her in the 4:40s so a 125 should get me to the top in about 4 minutes. That's as fast as I've ever set my metronome for a race, but it made sense since the steps appeared to be relatively short.

Soon it was my turn. I felt that the setup was a bit strange because they had what appeared to be a timing mat on the floor, but were using a wand to scan the bibs (which held our timing chips). I heard an audible beep, but still had a good five seconds before they allowed me into the stairwell. Shrug.

I started my stopwatch upon entering. Though I hugged the inside with the inner rail, I couldn't seem to keep just a single foot on the landing. Every time I did so, I was a fraction of a beat behind my metronome, so I'd have to spend the next step or two catching up. At 125 BPM, this just sapped my energy a bit too much. I quickly switched to double rails with a mixture of single and double footfalls on the landings. While not optimal, it put me right under the redline.

Somewhere in the teens or twenties I caught #2. By this point my breathing was getting ragged, but #2 sounded like he was struggling even more than I was. It gave me a measure of hope and I continued climbing.

By the upper 20s I was in dire straights; At floor 26 I knew I had only 10 floors to go and started mentally checking off the floors one by one. 

As I entered the 30s I could hear Cindy's footfalls and heavy breathing up ahead. I thought I was going to catch her, which would mean I'd be close to breaking the 4 minute barrier (she usually climbs in the 4:40s). On the other hand I was in really bad shape. While I was still keeping up to my metronome, my turns were pretty bad. When I hit floor 33, I started tripping over my own feet. Tunnel vision an fatigue had taken their toll. I could hear the volunteers cheering for Cindy. She was just up ahead. By the sounds of it, she finished just as I crossed the 35th floor. I had run out of real-estate. By this point had already tripped 2 or 3 times, losing a beat each time as I recovered. Not a good way to end the race. I managed to climb the last couple flights without incident. I quickly ran over the mat just inside the open doorway. I hunched over panting and stopped my watch. 4:13. Not what I had hoped for, but I had given it my shot. I stumbled another couple places and collapsed to the ground. I was completely spent.

I probably spent a good minute on the floor. I honestly have no idea. I don't even recall if #2 made it to the top before I finally climbed back to my feet. I was in a service hallway. Slowly, I shuffled to the recovery area near the elevator banks. I grabbed my finisher's T-shirt and a cup of water. I was so out of it I don't even remember if I met up with Steve or Jill before heading back down.

Downstairs, I circled around until I hit the cafeteria which served as a general hangout spot. There I met up with Tom and the other tower running regulars. I mentioned I had likely climbed 4:10-4:12 based on self-timed 4:13 taken a couple seconds after finishing.

I was still exhausted so I decided to take a rest on the floor using my bag and Tom's shirt as a pillow. My heart rate was still up around 100 BPM whereas it should really be below 80 when walking around or below 60 when sitting around.

I stayed on the floor for maybe 5 minutes before getting up to socialize.

Around 9:15 Tom was getting ready to have his first climb. I was still out of it, feeling equal parts dizzy & queezy. The thought of climbing three more times seemed crazy. 

I probably should've mentioned this earlier, but Bop to the Top hosts two races simultaneously. The Single Climb and the Triple Climb... and I signed up for both. As they are two separate races, you have to climb a total of 4 times to finish both races. The good news is that you can do the climbs whenever you want within the time limit (8:30AM to Noon). My rough plan was to start each of my climbs on the half-hour: 8:30, 9:30, 10:30 and 11:30.

Anyway, Tom was already on his way to do his first climb (he had only signed up for the Triple) when I decided to climb with him. In the back of my mind I had initially planned to serve as his pacer, but I was in such rough shape, the last thing I wanted to do was get back in the stairwell. But at the last minute I figured an easy climb might actually help me recover (as it did with Steve the last time we climbed the Corning Tower after the race).

I caught up with Tom as he was just getting in line.

His plan was to use 60 BPM and then double step for the first ten floors and then switch to single stepping at a 80 or 90 BPM. I had suggested that he just climb at 50 or 55 BPM and try to double step the entire way up, but it was his race, not mine. He'd have to learn the hard way :)

Tom entered the stairwell and I started a few seconds behind. I had taken off my bib just to be sure that I wouldn't be timed.

The first few floors were actually kind of tough. What was I getting myself into? It took a bit more effort than I had anticipated to catch up and stay behind Tom. Furthermore, I had forgotten to start my stopwatch, so I quickly started it up. We were probably less than a minute into the race, but I decided to call it a minute just to be safe.

By the 10th floor, I was finally feeling a bit better and I felt my energy starting to return, but this was also the spot where Tom started single stepping, meaning the pace was even slower (like 45 BPM when double stepping). Easy peasy.

Around the 18th floor (nearly halfway) I checked my watch. Just over 3 minutes which probably meant we just passed the 4 minute mark.

Tom's goal was to at least break the 10 minute mark. He did 10:45 at the Corning Tower which roughly translates to 10 minutes at Bop. As he's been training a bit since then (he bought a Stair Master) he ought to be even faster.

Now that my blood was pumping, I felt a lot better. Fatigued, yes, but no longer queezy. As Tom climbed I'd call out a little bit of encouragement and reminded him to hug those turns. I checked my watch again around the 27th floor. I can't remember exactly what my watch indicated, but I knew we were about a minute ahead of schedule.  

Continuing our ascent, we passed by the landing of the 31st floor which meant we had nine more flights to go. I started calling out the percentage complete as of that point: 11%, 22%, 33%, etc. Probably not the most straightforward way of thinking, but it helps me stay focused.

Tom charged up the remaining couple of flights and I stopped my watch around the 8 minute mark. I think he broke the 9 minute barrier!

I was in much better spirits at that point. Tom, however, was on the floor panting. Believe me, I know how it feels! Eventually Tom got to his feet and we hung out a few minutes at the top before taking the elevator down.

Now it was my turn to start the Triple Step.

I felt a lot better after climbing with Tom, but I was still exhausted. While 4:40s should be possible, I'd be hurting the entire way up and I doubted I could do that three times in a row. Instead, I bumped my metronome down to 100 BPM thinking that would get me on track to just break 5 minutes. I wasn't in any condition for heroics.

The first 10 floors were okay, but the further up I climbed the crappier I felt. At this point, the race became mental rather than physical. I really didn't want to be in the stairwell; I could handle the pace but it was sapping my energy and my willpower. I didn't even pay attention to my technique and I pretty much used both rails the entire way up.

Oh yeah, I forgot to change into my climbing shoes. Maybe I was carrying an extra pound?* At least I was climbing in comfort.

*You'd think I'd know the exact weight of my shoes, right?

Around the 27th floor, I checked my watch. I had just crossed the 4 minute mark. Thinking this was still a 4 minute race (rather than 5 minute race) I figured I had only another minute left to climb. Totally doable if I hustled a little bit.

Somewhere around 33 or 34 I checked my watch again. Crap. I don't remember the exact time, but it was somewhere in the 4:40s. That meant I had only 15-20 seconds to climb 3-4 floors. I just wasn't going to make it. I bounded up the few remaining flights to try to limit my losses. I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch at 5:09 or so (5:08.87 official). Oh well. I wasn't super disappointed because although I was tired, I didn't push myself over the redline like I did in the first race.

While I physically felt like crap (exhausted, nauseous, etc.) I was able to recover from the exertion without collapsing to the ground. Soon my heart rate was back to normal levels and I headed back down to recover more fully.

Around 10:10 or so, it was Tom's turn to climb.

This time around we climbed in the "Left" stairwell rather than the "Right" stairwell. Bop uses two stairwells - which eases congestion - and you can choose which one to climb. They are nearly identical; same height and configuration except for the first few floors (So I'm told - I can't remember). The other difference is that the Right Stairwell is mostly concrete - the big exception is on the 10th floor which uses a hard rubberized surface with raised circles (coins). The Left Stairwell is also concrete, but has many more floors with the coin surface.

Tom set his metronome a little bit slower - like 55 BPM - with the hopes of maintaining this pace a little longer and then switching to single steps at 90 BPM.

This time around I started my stopwatch on time - which gave me a much better sense of our pace. Like clockwork, we climbed up the first ten floors. Around the 12th floor, Tom switched to single stepping. We passed by the 18th floor at the 4:20 mark so I knew we were on track to breaking 9 minutes. The problem was, our pace had slowed down after switching to single steps and we'd have to pick it up again near the top to have a shot at slipping under nine. 

We continued our ascent, slowly passing by other climbers. We hit the 30s and I glanced at my watch. We were approaching the 8 minute mark. Only a minute left to climb... but Tom was starting to flag. I urged him on as the clock slowly ticked. We hit the 34th floor and I started pushing on Tom's rear to get him to move a little faster. 

Finally the top was in sight! we crossed the finish line and I stopped my watch. We had just missed the 9 minute mark. Not quite what we wanted... but it wasn't that much slower than our first climb. Still pretty solid.

Tom laid on the floor for a few minutes after finishing. I could tell he was tired, but not completely spent.

Around 10:30, it was time for my 2nd climb of the triple. I chose to remain in the Right Stairwell for consistency. 

I still felt fatigued, though maybe a shade better than my first triple? I was determined to break the 5 minute barrier, but not willing to go much faster than that. Therefore I kept my metronome set to 100 BPM. The difference would be that I'd need to climb more efficiently.

I entered the stairwell again. Man, I didn't really want to be there.

Despite my trepidation, the first few floors felt easy... but slowly my heart rate climbed back to discomforting levels. By the 10th floor, I was back to hurting. Yuck.

Here and there I'd pass by climbers either on the landings or the inside rail. It kept my mind off the pain I was in. 

I knew I should be hugging the inside lane more often but time and time again I'd find myself using both rails and making sloppy turns. Blah.

I reached the landing in between the 18th and 19th and risked a glance at my watch. 2:35. About 5 seconds slower than my planned pace. Not good, but not yet doomed. I'd somehow have to make up those seconds.

In the 20s, I made a conscious effort to hug the turns, though I still used both sides of the rails. I was suffering, but it was half mental. Deep down I knew this pace was more than reasonable.

I hit the 30s with a sense of relief. The suffering was nearly at an end. I even had the willpower to pick up the pace over the last couple floors for good measure. Thank goodness. I just slipped under 5 minutes (4:56.54 official).

Recovery this time around wasn't so bad. No collapsing, but I did sit on the recovery couch for a minute or two to savor the moment. I'm kidding. I still dreaded the fact that I had one more climb to go.

Back downstairs, I felt better as I hung out with the other climbers. Syd dropped by around 11:10 mentioning we only had 20 minutes left since the race ends at 11:30. I was a little surprised as I thought the climb lasted till noon and had initially planned to get my last climb in around 11:30. Oh well. A few minutes early wouldn't kill me.

This time around Tom would need to climb on his own and I told Jill that if she kept up with me I'd be able to pace her to hit 5 minutes.

I was first in, right around 11:20. I could've waited a few more minutes, but this late in the morning, it really didn't matter. Physically, I felt better relative to my last couple climbs, but only slightly. My body was still tired and running partly on fumes. The plan was merely to dip under the 5 minute mark and get this race over with.

I started my watch just before hitting the first flight and climbed up at 100 BPM. I contemplated using a slightly higher pace - say 105 considering this was my final attempt - but why change what worked?

Unlike most of the other climbs, the line into the stairwell was basically empty. However, by the time I reached the 10th floor, I was busy passing people - more so than usual. In fact, a couple of times I ended up passing by on the outside rail when they wouldn't move out of the way.

I was into the 20s when I heard Jill call "Pass" from down below. Maybe three floors down? Hard to tell. Then she said it again more emphatically. Then I heard a guy's voice cursing back at her in a loud whiney voice. "I AM just fucking wait" or somesuch. I had passed a heavy-set older guy 20-30 seconds ago on one of the landings so my guess it was him.

My first reaction was WTF? and my second reaction was how are you two still able to speak coherently? I certainly couldn't say anything more than a grunt or two.

Then a floor or two later I heard Jill call out to a volunteer that some guy was swearing at her. Always drama with her around.

Up until now I had been climbing on cruise control - using both rails and taking sloppy turns. I felt like crap, but was used to it. Towards the upper 20s I dug in a little bit, hugging the inside rail and taking the turns more efficiently. Why didn't I do this in the first place?

I climbed up maybe 5 floors efficiently before switching back to double rails, but now I was approaching the 30s.

While I felt awful and my breathing was laborious, I felt a surge of energy. I was almost done. Unlike any of my previous climbs, I kicked it up a notch, climbing slightly faster than my metronome. I reached the 34th floor knowing I was pushing myself hard, but confident I could keep up the pace for a little while yet.

I crossed the finish line and glanced at my watch. 4:48 (4:50.93 official)!

The last few floors had taken its toll, but surprisingly I recovered quite well. Arguably I felt better than either of my other two triple steps despite this being my 7th trip up. 

I waited at the top for Jill and Tom. Jill was rightfully pissed at the dude who wouldn't move out of the way. Tom arrived several minutes later, pleased with his solo climb. While this was his slowest ascent (by a mere fraction of a second) he felt pretty good and was able to recover quite quickly. He told me that he slowed down his metronome to 50 BPM and managed to hold that pace for a few more floors despite being fatigued from the start. 

Aftermath:

The awards ceremony started at noon. I took home first place overall for the single climb (initially 4:20 but eventually corrected to 4:13.88) and second overall for the Triple. Race results are here.

After the ceremony, I snapped my picture with Joseph Kenny, a top climber 20-30 years ago. Later, Tom and I took a quick walk around Indianapolis and met up with Jill and her mom for a late lunch near their hotel.

And just like that we were on the road again. We had a snowstorm to outrun.

Grades:

Fitness: A minus - A little hard to estimate as weight plays a role in most of my workouts, but I think I've gotten back most of my Pre-Covid fitness.

Weight: B plus - At 175 lbs., I'm getting closer to my 170 lbs. target.

Single

Effort: A Plus - Pushed myself close to breaking and I paid for it!

Pacing & Technique: B minus - Pacing was hair too fast and my turns too slow.

Overall: B plus - The pace was a bit too much and my technique suffered, but I still put up a good showing

Triple

Effort: C Plus - I feel like I could've gone faster, but the fatigue of the first race made it hard to pump up those watts.

Pacing & Technique: B - Pacing was okay for my (somewhat underwhelming) goal of 5 minutes. My Technique improved a bit over the course of the three climbs.

Overall: B Minus/Plus - On one hand, my times were mediocre and I left a good chunk of time on the table. However, Holy Cow was I in rough shape because I over-exerted myself in the first race. It was a mental challenge just to finish. 

Final Thoughts:

If I were to do this race again, I'd need to be 172 pounds or less and in top shape as my only goal would be to break the 4 minute mark. That's a tall order. The truth is, I still have several pounds to lose, but at the same time I'm not getting any younger. I remember climbing up the Bennington Monument (a true sprint race) several years in a row. Despite being in better shape year over year, I'd be a second slower each successive climb. That was in my late 30s. Now in my late 40s. I suspect my window for breaking the 4 minute mark at Bop has nearly closed. I can only guess how I would've fared back 5-6 years ago.

But if I do come back, I'd need to go out at a more reasonable 120 BPM and use the slower pace to hug the inside rail. While I'd lose about 11 seconds of speed, I'd potentially gain up to 35 seconds if my turns were clean. Heck, even 115 might squeak under if I sprinted the last 6 floors.

Regarding the Triple, I would be lying if I said I was happy coming in 2nd. The winner (a college runner) put up respectable times, and I lost by 38 seconds (cumulative). Had I been able to keep my best three climbs of the day - keeping my 4:13 and dropping my 5:08 - I would've come out on top, though just barely. I think had I only done the triple, I think I could consistently hit the low 4:30s. Maybe try 110 BPM if I were fresh? Just a guess.

Lastly, Tom did quite well. Considering he collapsed at the top of the Corning Tower in 10:45, I would've expected him to climb Bop in 9:45. But instead he put down a 8:47 and followed it up with a pair of 9:07s. It is quite a remarkable improvement. Realistically, I think he could've climbed up in under 8:30 if he had done just the single climb, which would've put him in the top 25%. In the car ride back East, we talked about pacing an he agreed that climbing up at 45 or 50 BPM and keeping that pace is probably a better strategy than going out a bit faster and purposefully switching over to single steps at 80-90 BPM halfway up. Hopefully we'll be able to put this plan into place during our next race!

Awkward in Albany

You know you fucked up when you crest the *43rd* floor in a race to the *42nd*.

Now, the Albany Corning Tower will always have a special place in my heart because it is where my stair climbing journey began*. But right at this moment? Well, I'm not a fan.

But I'm getting ahead of myself... so let's back up a few steps.

The Lead-up:

For the past few weeks I've been humming along on all cylinders. My weight has been slowly dropping and my fitness has been steadily improving, so going into this race, I felt pretty good. 

While I still need to drop some weight (~8 lbs.) and gain some fitness, I feel like I'm right around 93% of pre-COVID levels. 

So how would this translate into the stairwell?

Considering my best time has been in the low 4:30s, a simple ratio shows that I *should* be able to climb the building in the low 4:50s. 

However, after some further digging, it appears that I've never actually done this race at peak fitness. The traditional CF Corning Tower climb usually conflicts with the Scale the Strat (the US Championship) so I've had to skip it over the past 10 years. The only other time I raced in this building was for the T2T Corning Tower climb back in 2016. While I was in in very good shape, I had the misfortune of starting behind a bunch of fire fighters in full gear which necessarily cost me a bunch of time (but that is a story for another time).

So my only real data point was a 4:33 set way back in March 7th, 2013. 

Digging deeper into my workout history from that time period, it appears my speed back then was only a hair faster than where it is today*. 

*In March 2013, I was a little bit lighter but slightly less fit.

As such, my official goal for the race was to break 5 minutes with a target of 4:40. Anything below 4:40 would be icing.

Pre-Race Rituals:

My penultimate workout prior to the race was done at 105 BPM which translates to about 112 BPM - my proposed race pace at the Corning tower. This was the same setting I used in 2012 when I climbed up in 4:39 and a couple beats slower than what I used in 2013 at my best race (in 4:33). I figured this pace was fast enough to reach my goal, but conservative enough to ensure I wouldn't blow up prematurely.

My training building is much shorter than the Corning tower (~22% of the height), so my normal workout consists of short "sprints" followed by longer rests. Typically, I'll sprint up at 120-125 BPM so reducing my pace to only 105 BPM gave me a much needed reprieve. 

The following day was a planned easy day. Rounds of Pull-ups and Bicep Curls mixed in with easy 3 minute rounds of rowing. Enough to sweat, but not enough to tire me out. 

The night before the race, my friend Tom drove up from Poughkeepsie to spend the night as this would be his first official race. I woke up bright and early and made coffee for us while reviewing the stairwell map one last time:

• 9/10 steps per floor until the 17th floor with left-hand turns
• 10/9 steps per floor until the 42nd floor with right-hand turns
• Jogs on the 17th and 32nd floors to keep it interesting
• Finish on the observation deck of the 42nd floor

A few of the floors - notably the 41st floor had four flights with ~6 or 7 steps each.

We arrived at the Empire State Plaza just after 8:00 AM. While waiting in line for our bibs, I bumped into climbing legend David Tromp, who would be doing his ~23rd Corning Tower Climb. Sadly, he had an injury during COVID and wouldn't be pushing me during this edition of the race*. 

*If you've never heard of David, it's because he mainly does local races. He's climbed the Corning Tower in under 4:30 and ESBRU in under 12:00. The one time he did the Scale the Strat, he did it in 7:32 (like 10 seconds faster than my best). 

Besides stair climbing, the other connection that David and I have is we are both Clarkson graduates... as is my friend Tom (and roommate Junior year). As it turns out, David recognized Tom since they were in the same service fraternity. 

But wait, there is more! I also ran into my old coworker, Maria, while warming up. She was one of my early influences in the gym - showing me squats, lunges, and the dreaded jumping lunges. I hadn't seen her in over a decade!

As the clock approached 9:00 AM, I executed my active stretch routine immediately followed by sets of 12 burpees every three minutes. I probably did 4 or 5 rounds of burpees before heading upstairs* to the start line. Right at 9:00 AM, the MC of the event - U Albany Head Coach, Dwayne Killings - kicked off an introduction on behalf of the LLS. I did another 3 rounds of burpees in the background (and for the record, Coach Killings did say we could continue stretching).

*There is a huge underground mall beneath the Empire State Plaza and the entrance to the Corning Tower (at least the one that I know of) starts here. So the first floor is actually a level above.

The Race:

I set my metronome to 112 BPM and entered the stairwell at exactly 9:10. I quickly pressed the touchscreen of my apple watch knockoff to start the timer.

I hadn't been in the stairwell in 8 years, so it wasn't exactly how I pictured it. The rails are tubular but more chrome than I remember, like something that might be at home in a 50's themed diner. While the rails are close enough to grip both comfortably, they seem to flair out around the turns on the landing. The 112 BPM pace felt "easy" for the first 10 floors, but I just couldn't focus on taking the turns efficiently and more often then not, I added an extra footfall on the landings.

The most noticeable thing however, was the LOUD music playing at various stops. Sometimes I could hear David (who I believe started 10 seconds behind me) but at other times, I couldn't even hear my metronome beeping out it's steady rhythm. 

I hit floor 17 which I knew has a short hallway that leads into a different stairwell. However, the stairwell begins off of a blind corner and... of course I ran right by it!

I saw the stairwell fly right by me on the left while the volunteer at this juncture frantically pointed toward the stairs. I dropped maybe a second as I lost all of my running momentum. I quickly backed up a step and turned left into the new stairwell.

I entered the 20s knowing I was halfway to the top and annoyed at my literal misstep. While I continued to march to the pace of my metronome, I felt like I was bleeding time on the turns - especially since the pace was becoming brutal.

By the time I reached the 30th floor I was officially in pain. I knew I should pick up the pace as the race was entering the final phase, but instead waited until I hit the 32nd floor. Here there is an even shorter jog to yet another stairwell. Fortunately, this time I didn't miss it.

With 10 floors to go, I finally started to dig in. While my turns were sloppy, I managed to climb ahead of my metronome on the flights. 

By the 36th floor, my legs and arms were aching from the strain. I glanced down at my watch. Honestly, I have no idea what I saw, but it didn't look good. Maybe I saw it crossing the 4 minute mark? I couldn't completely process it, but I do remember thinking it was odd that I lacked the ability to do any sort of estimation. Regardless, I *felt* like my goal time of 4:40 was out of reach and if I didn't push harder, I could possibly miss the 5 minute mark, too.

I hit the 40th floor glad that the race was nearing it's end, but still wishing I had pushed a little harder and took the turns a little more aggressively earlier in the race. I bolted up the remaining six flights (two for the 41st and 4 for the 42nd) as hard as possible*.

*The last few flights are always really weird - especially when you've held a little bit back. On one hand, I still had a little bit of energy left. But on the other hand, using up that remaining energy was *painful*. My arms and legs were chewed up and my lungs were on fire. Try as I might, I couldn't get my body to sprint all out despite having something left in the tank.

Finally, I crested the 42nd floor. I just had to get to the end of the hallway and through the open door.

And here is where everything fell apart.

I was completely alone in the hallway and nearly spent. I dashed down the hallway. The doorway was on my right and on my left was yet another stairwell. I crossed the threshold of the doorway expecting to see the finish line, but instead it was just an empty room. 

"Hello?" I called out.

Silence.

There was another doorway at the far end of the room and an open stairwell right behind me.

"Shit." I thought to myself. "Nobody is here. They must have changed the finish line."

I quickly dashed out of the room and up the stairs.

Fuck. I was unprepared to climb another floor and of course this was another one of those long four-flight floors.

I crested the 43rd floor and the door was closed shut. More stairs. What the fuck?

I was in a complete daze and all hopes of breaking the 5 minute barrier were dashed. My nightmares of stair-climbing had somehow come to life*.

*When I dream about tower racing, I *always* get lost or have some strange barrier blocking my way. Rarely do I finish and most of the time I'm climbing in slow motion.

With nowhere to go, I continued my ascent. After a flight or two up I stopped. The finish line couldn't possibly be on the roof. It *must* be on the 42nd floor because that is where the observation deck is. Maybe the finish line was just beyond that empty room?

Quickly, I turned around and then proceeded to stumble down the 5 or 6 flights I had just climbed.

I reached the empty room and ran to the doorway at the opposite end.

Sure enough, there was the finish line. It was literally just beyond the next doorway. I didn't even have time to start running again.

"Congratulations!", called out one of the volunteers.

I was furious. I leaned against the wall and with my last remaining energy I said something like: "What the hell*? I ended up climbing past the 43rd floor! Where were the volunteers? And why wasn't the stairwell blocked off. You really gotta get someone out there...".

*I'm somewhat proud of myself for not dropping an F-bomb or two.

Energy spent, I stopped my watch slumped to the floor. By now it said 5:36. Another kick below the belt.

I lay on the ground for perhaps 30 seconds. I was equal parts tired and angry. How could this happen?

I got up and stormed my way around the observation deck. Slowly, I began to process what had just occurred.

I was irked that I didn't break the 5 minute mark. I was irritated that I messed up the turn on the 17th floor. I was disappointed with myself for having an uninspired sloppy-turned race. I was angry at the volunteers for ghosting the 42nd floor and at myself for royally blundering the finish. Last of all, I wasn't happy with myself for chastising the volunteers. Yes, they messed up... but the fact is they are *volunteers*. It would be a different story if this was a for-profit race like the ESBRU and managed by professionals.

At the end of my walk, I snapped a few pictures from the observation deck. After all, I was in the tallest building in New York outside of NYC and why let a tune-up race ruin my day?

I headed back down the elevator for my second round with Tom.

Tom's Climb

Tom was in the last wave so we still had a little time to chat. When I told him my story he was incredulous that the stairwell wasn't blocked off at the finish.

Meanwhile, it was time to warm up. I did a few more rounds of burpees while Tom - significantly taller and with his "big man" knees opted for jumping jacks. 

Like, I know that some stair climbers opt for a super-low resting heart rate on the start line, but I'm personally convinced that the body needs a proper warm-up. Like, not just the muscles being nice and supple, but that the heart rate also has to climb up to the point of being slightly uncomfortable. 

Tom's goal was to break the 10 minute mark and he positioned himself last in line. Rather than starting 10 seconds behind the next-to-last climber, he was able to wait for 30 seconds in the hopes of getting a slightly less congested stairwell.

I set the metronome at 60 BPM and entered right behind Tom*.

*special thanks to David for speaking with his friends a the Albany Running Exchange (the timers) so I could get in a 2nd climb.

I quickly realized that climbing behind Tom wasn't a great idea as it is harder to set the pace from behind. So by the 4th floor, I passed by and started harping on Tom to hug the turns for efficiency*. 

*I mean, if I messed them up during my race, I might as well fix that problem for my friend.

However by the time we reached the 5th floor we began reeling in some of the slower climbers and it was a challenge just to weave out of traffic and keep Tom behind me.

By the 10th floor, I could tell Tom was starting to falter just a little bit, though he was still more or less double stepping and keeping up.

We reached the first checkpoint on the 17th floor a decent clip and this time I darted into the stairwell without any trouble.

As we climbed into the 20s, Tom was having a hard time passing the people we reeled in and by the 24th floor he wanted to stop for a brief respite.

Heck no! I told him to keep moving even if he had to single step.

As we approached the final checkpoint on the 32nd floor, I glanced down at my watch. 7:30. This time around I could do the math. As we were roughly 75% of the way up the building, we're just barely on pace to break the 10 minute barrier.

But we were clearly slowing down.

I started counting down the floors yelling things like "Push harder, only 7 floors to go!" and "You got this, just one last sprint!".

We had picked up a small grupetto by this point and I later learned that my words of encouragement helped a couple others get to the top.

Finally I could see the 42nd floor up ahead, but Tom had really struggled. Sub 10 was out of reach, but maybe we could squeak under 11.

"Go go go!" I yelled.

Now that I could see the hallway on the 42nd floor, I whipped out my phone to take a quick video of Tom's finish.

As he crossed the finish line, I hopped back out into the hallway to get a good look at the final floor (more on that later).

After exploring the hallway and the upper levels, I went back to the observation deck to look for Tom... but he was nowhere to be found. I walked the entire circuit forwards and backwards. Where was he?

Just as I was about to leave, I found him on one of the medical stretchers. The head EMT was keeping a close watch on him. 

Tom appeared to be in good spirits, but the EMT had serious look on his face. Tom had apparently over-exerted himself and had several symptoms of heart attack (shortness of breath, pain in the chest, clammy hands) and were performing a stress test.

Fortunately, Tom seemed fine after resting on the gurney and after another few minutes was able to peel off all the EKG electrodes (I think that's what all the round sticky patches are called).

Meanwhile, the timing desk was right next to the EMT station so asked the timers for our official times.

I finished in 5:25 and Tom in 10:45.

While neither of us reached our official goals we both still did quite well. I ended up as the fastest climber and Tom finished in the top 25% (46 of 203 climbers).

Aftermath

While still unhappy about the mix-up at the finish line, there is no reason to let it ruin a fine spring day. Here are few highlights:

• Walking to Lark Street
• Dove & Hudson Used Bookstore
• "Towers of Midnight" (WoT book 13 by Robert Jordan)
• "V for Vandetta" (Graphic Novel by Alan Moore)
• "Bulfinch's Mythology" (eponymously named after Thomas Bulfinch)
• Lunch at Sukhothai Restaurant
• Disc Golf at Blatnick Park (overlooking the Mohawk River)

Grades:

Effort: B minus - Timid until the 32nd floor, especially on the turns.

Weight: B minus - At 178 lbs., I'm getting closer to my 170 lbs. target.

Pacing & Technique: C minus - Those turns. Ugh. Pacing was a little too conservative.

Overall: C plus - This was a forgettable race even when ignoring the screw-up at the end. 

Final Thoughts:

I don't want to be remembered as the prima donna of stair-climbing. While bad things seem to follow me around in the stairwell, there is no reason why I should let it impact others surrounding me - especially the other climbers & volunteers. While I don't think I overreacted at the finish line, there have been other times where I've made more of a scene. While completely (or at least mostly) justified, it just makes me look like an asshole. After all, I suspect that most people at these climbs treat them as novelty events rather than athletic races.

The question is, why does trouble seem to follow me around? After all, I can think of several examples off the top of my head where the finish line has been messed up.

• Albany Big Climb (Stairwell not blocked, no directions)
• Boston FFA Climb (Told to get off at wrong floor)
• Milwaukee CF (Doors locked)
• Chicago CF (Doors locked)

In Albany & Boston, I was the only impacted athlete. In Milwaukee, it was the top two athletes. In Chicago, at least a dozen athletes got lost.

What these races share in common is that I was the first athlete (or in the case of the Chicago one of the first few athletes) to get to the top of the building. My theory is that the race organizers simply weren't ready to receive the athletes. After I got to the top, it served as a wake up call to get their shit together and the problem was fixed for (most of) the others finishing after me.

This happens more frequently than you might expect. Assuming I've done about 80 races (~10 years of climbing with ~8 races per year) these screw-ups happen roughly 5% (i.e. 4/80) of the time

Sadly, most of these instances could have been prevented by arriving early and previewing the stairwell - specifically at the top. I've actually posted about this before and it's painful that I failed to take my own advice.

After the race, I spent a long time analyzing what exactly happened at the end of the race. Here are my thoughts.

When I reached the 42nd floor, I was extremely fatigued and lacked the mental alacrity to make sound decisions. Furthermore, since I haven't done this race in eight years I barely recall the top of the stairwell. While I created a stairwell "map" and knew what to expect regarding step count, flights, and changeovers, I didn't remember the actual exit or the empty room. 

Another thing that sticks out is that I was completely aware of which floor I was on and distinctly remember counting down the final 4-flights between the 41st and 42nd floors. But on the other hand, the actual position of the doorway on the 42nd floor and the entrance to the 43rd stairwell are *completely* different from what I recall during the race. In other words, my memory during the race is not 100% accurate. 

Here are some pictures that I took to get a feel of the end of the race:

Last flight leading up the 42nd floor. Left hand turn on the 42nd leads to the hallway shown in the next picture.

Final hallway. The door on the right leads to an empty room. The 2nd landing of stairwell up to the 43rd & 44th floor (roof?) is above the doorway.

A closer look at the entrance to the stairwell and the doorway. Notice the volunteer blocking it off. Notice that you'd get to the stairwell *before* you reach the doorway.

Closeup of the doorway

The empty room. Photo taken while standing on the threshold of the previous doorway. During the race, I expected to see the finish line here rather than just an empty room. This is the exact spot where I called out to see if I was going the correct way... and nobody responded.

So I turned around and of course the stairwell leading up to the 43rd floor was right behind me... so in the confusion I started climbing up. 

Had I only walked just two more steps... I would have seen the finish line. It was literally only 10 feet away, but it was completely hidden from my viewpoint If my mind wasn't so addled, I probably would have checked the obvious OPEN DOOR 🤷.

So how much time did I actually lose? it is hard to tell, but I can make some estimates.

First off, the layout of the stairwell beyond the 42nd floor is:

43 - 6/7/7/7

44 - 8/8/8/8

While I know I continued climbing past the 43rd floor, I turned around before reaching the 44th floor. I might have climbed 2 more flights, but to be conservative, let's say I turned around on the first landing. That means I climbed 35 extra steps (6+7+7+7+8).

Now let's estimate that I climbed the Corning Tower in 5 minutes (300 seconds). As the building has 828 steps (not 809 as published), that means it took me on average 300 seconds / 828 steps = 0.36 seconds per step. Since I climbed an extra 35 steps, it would have taken me 0.36 x 35 steps = 12.6 seconds.

Estimating the descent is a little trickier. From experience, I know that it takes me nearly twice as long to descend than to ascend a stairwell. However, I'm usually racing while going up and resting while going down. So maybe during the race, my descent was roughly equal to my ascent? That estimate can't be too far off. 

So altogether that would mean I spent ~25 seconds going up and down those steps, which means I likely would have broken the 5 minute mark.

Realistically, though, I suspect I was more in the neighborhood of 4:50. I spent a few seconds paused in confusion, calling out to see where the finish line was. Furthermore, when I finally turned around, I was no longer climbing with a sense of urgency. But like I said, my memory of the race doesn't necessarily line up with reality. So who knows?

Next year I'll redeem myself.