Viva Las Stratosphere

Editor's note: Originally written March 5th, 2013
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I'm so behind in my blog. I have two posts that are 90% ready to go, but I have been too busy lazy to post. However, I've decided to at least add a short blog about my most recent climb before I forget all the details; I have another race coming up on Thursday and if I don't write something now, it might not get written at all.

Since this isn't intended to be a full race review, I'll fast forward a bit. But first, here are few pictures which summarize what I'm skipping:

Friends & Family (thanks for the photo Madeleine!)

My friends David & Scott

Welcome to the jungle

Race time was at 8:00 AM, so I woke up around 7:00 AM to get ready. Around 7:20 AM, I went to the fitness center (at the Stratosphere hotel) for a short warm-up. Both Sproule and Michael had the same idea. Midway through my workout I realized I had forgotten both my timing splits and my shot of 5-hour energy, so in the middle of my warm-up I had to run back to my room.

Right around 7:45 AM, I left the fitness center and met my father to give him a hug for good luck. I then switched into my racing shoes and headed to the bottom of the tower.

I was one of the last racers to get in line, but still had a few minutes to kill. I did a set of burpees to stay warm and then chit chatted with my fellow racers to stay loose. Standing in line, I was surprised to learn that two of the higher seeded racers couldn’t make it to the race. Therefore, I would be entering the stairwell 4^th, just behind Oz and just before David Tromp.

Right around 8:00 AM, the race organizers led us upstairs to the official start line. Since the gap between racers would be 30 seconds, I was a little nervous that David would overtake me near the end of the race. From experience, I know he is faster than I am in the taller climbs. The course is 808 feet tall (Starting at the 47’ mark and ending at the 855’ mark). As such, my goal time was 8 minutes and I figured that David was capable of somewhere between 7:30 and 7:45.

In short order, Sproule, Jesse, and Oz were in the stairwell. I set my metronome to 90 bpm and clipped it to my shirt. Next it was my turn to enter the stairwell!

I methodically climbed to the beat of my metronome. It was a very smooth climb and I used my arms as much as possible to conserve my quad muscles. After the first few flights, I decided that I really liked the course. The stairwell was very easy to use because the rails are easy to grip and are narrow enough apart to use both sides effectively. Additionally, the majority of the tower is configured like this: 20 steps à landing & 180 degree turn à 20 steps. This means that each flight is very long, hence the course has relatively few turns. Finally, the 20 step configuration makes turning pretty easy;  as long as I started the flight with my outside foot, I would always land with my inside foot on the landing*.

*For those of you unfamiliar with climbing stairs competitively, it  is much easier to turn on your inside foot rather than your outside foot. If you pivot on your outside foot, your inside leg will interfere with the rail. Try it and see.

At the 1^st rest area (which is approximately 25% the way through the race) I glanced down at my watch. 2:11. I was already more than 10 seconds behind my planned finish time!

At that point, I didn't panic, but I made a small tactical error. Rather than speeding up my metronome, I kept the same pace and focused on climbing efficiency. I couldn't believe I was so far off of my planned pace. At that point, I just hoped that the rest area was a little higher up than Stan’s stairwell map suggested.

Right around the 4 minute mark, I realized I was in trouble. David Tromp had caught up to me which meant that I was already 30 seconds behind him in the race! Although I was prepared to let David pass, I didn't really want to let him through. The stairwell was so narrow that there was little to no room to squeeze by while climbing. If I let David pass, I would basically have to come to a complete stop and wait for him to go around. This would then put me in an awkward position if I wanted to pass him later in the race.

So I gambled**. Instead of stopping, I picked up the pace. I knew that I had started out too slow and although I was getting tired, I still felt that I could push the pace. Although David is a great climber, it was likely he was suffering more than I was since he went out so fast. I placed a bet that I could keep ahead of David in the 2^nd half of the race and make up some of the time I had lost.

**This *is* Vegas after all.

After accelerating a little bit, David fell in right behind me and together we continued our long march to the top. Although cognizant that David was behind me, he stayed far enough back so that I didn't have to worry about him passing me.

Around in the mid-500s, I knew I had to go faster.  I was still behind schedule and I was running out of tower to climb.

At one point (I’m guessing it was at the the 2^nd rest area) the stair well ended in blind hallway and I didn't know which way to turn. There weren't any direction arrows or race volunteers present,  so I spent a moment deciding which way to go. The left passage didn't seem to go anywhere so I stepped to the right. Fortunately, this was the correct direction and as I passed through the next doorway, I found a stairway leading upward. What luck!

I picked up the pace and I no longer cared that David was right on my tail. I ignored my metronome and although I was climbing less efficiently, I was definitely going faster.

Around the 6 minute mark, David and I were in the lower 600s and I was still well behind schedule. Although my heart rate was close to the redline and my lungs were burning, my legs were still functional. Somewhere in the mid-600s, I made my move. I was determined to drop David and break the 8 minute mark.

By the lower to mid-700s, I had only gained a few steps on David as we were both flying up the stairwell. I couldn't believe that David was still keeping up! What a beast

Finally, we hit the top of the tower core. I glanced down at my watch and 7:15 flashed into view. If I remembered my pacing chart correctly, I was still a few seconds behind my goal time, but I knew I still had a chance to go sub-8:00. I sprinted up the last 8 floors with all the power I had left, dropping David somewhere along the way. With one or two flights to go, I had a nice surprise; I actually caught up with Oz!

I crossed the finish stopped my stopwatch. Oz immediately slumped to the floor and I stumbled by and the looked at my watch. It said 7:58 which meant I had beaten my goal time! I then glanced behind, looking for David but he still hadn't finished. A few moments after I had already turned away, I heard David finish. He was perhaps 5 - 10 seconds behind me, so he definitely put up an amazing time. What a feat!

I was so tired that I spent a few moments resting on the floor; I was completely drained and needed a couple minutes to catch my breath.

When I finally recovered enough to stand and talk, I grabbed a cup of orange juice and went around to congratulate the other climbers.

All in all, I was very pleased with my performance. See the full race results here. Although I still haven’t regained all of my prior endurance (I was sick throughout January) this race boosted my confidence. In the span of a few minutes, I managed to turn a poor climb into a pretty decent race. More importantly, I was able to keep up with David (a top elite climber) during the latter half of the race. Although I’m still not ready to compete for a podium spot, with another year of hard work, I think I’ll be able to start climbing with the top elites.

Last but not least, here are a few photos capturing the rest of a great weekend.

Frankie Moreno rocks. 20 bucks well spent.

It is a long way down

What a view from the top!

Post Race notes

Effort: A-

Strategy: B-

Technique: A

Overall: B+

I developed and popped 4 blisters during the climb. The cross section of the rails are square rather than circular, so I have not developed the necessary callouses on my hands. The next time I do this race, I will need to tape up my middle fingers, just underneath the 2^nd knuckle.

I’m still trying to figure out why my splits were so slow during the 1^st half of the race. Clearly, 90 bpm was too slow, but I can’t figure out the root cause of my error. Likely candidates are the published heights of the course, overall stair count, and step height. Based on these calculations, I should have climbed the tower in 8 minutes climbing somewhere between 84-88 steps (beats) per minute. But to make sure I reached my goal on race day, I set my metronome at 90 bpm. On the other hand, the steps in the Strat are somewhere between 7 and 7.2 inches, which is shorter than the 7.5 inch steps at the Hancock building in Chicago (which I climbed the week prior). Since I felt that 88 bpm was an optimal pace at the Hancock, I would predict my optimal pace at the Strat to be around 92-95 bpm (or slightly higher since the Strat is a shorter race). Next year, I will likely go out at 95 bpm, assuming my fitness levels don’t drop off.

Hustling to Chicago

I've been going non-stop for nearly two weeks and before I forget, I had better document what I learned at Hustle up the Hancock.

My travel schedule was brutal. I left my house around 8:30 AM, drove to the Metro North station in Poughkeepsie, took the train to Grand Central Station in NYC, took the subway to Queens, hopped the Q33 bus to LaGuardia, flew to O’Hare in Chicago, rode the “L” to down town, and then walked to the Hancock building to meet a bunch of other climbers for dinner.

The Gang's all Here

At dinner I was finally able to relax. I met up with many of my climbing buddies and chatted about the upcoming race. I always enjoy pre-race team dinners since it  always helps calm my nerves. After dinner, I spent the night at the famed Casa de David.*

*Special thanks go out to David Hanley for hosting me!

My Esteemed Host

The next morning we were out the door by 6:00 AM, but got stuck in traffic right outside of Chicago**. All three lanes of the interstate were completely shut down and after about 10-15 minutes of waiting, we were forced to back up the car to the previous exit and take a detour.

** I was saddened to learn that the highway was blocked off because a drunk driver hit another vehicle and killed a 29 year old woman around 5:45 that morning.

With only a few minutes to spare, David dropped me off at the tower entrance and he parked the car in the parking garage. We made it in time, but unfortunately missed the elite group photo.

I did a quick warm-up consisting of active stretching and burpees in order to get ready to climb.

Afterward I got in line to wait for the start. I had bib #4 which meant I was sandwiched between Kristen (#3) and Cindy (#5). Before we started, Sproule introduced me to Cindy. She asked if I wouldn't mind getting out of the way if she needed to pass me. Although I told her I’d be happy to let her through on the inside lane, I was really thinking, “Good luck, ‘cause I’m not planning to let you catch me.” I knew I had good chance of staying ahead of Cindy because her PB is just under 11:00 minutes which was right around my goal time for this year’s race.

I found our brief conversation somewhat amusing because during last night’s dinner, Kristen asked me almost the same thing. She wondered if I tended to go out fast at the start of a race. She was worried I’d catch up and pass her at the beginning of the race, such that she would end up catching me near the end (i.e. when exerting energy to pass *really* sucks).

In order to satisfy both girls, I would have to go fast enough to keep in front of Cindy, but slow enough not to interfere with Kristen. Yep, it was going to be an interesting race.

When it was finally my turn to start, I set my metronome to 91 bpm and entered the stairwell. Last year I went out at 93 bpm and faded in the upper levels so this year I wanted to go out a little bit more conservatively.

I climbed up the stairwell to the beat of my metronome, making sure I kept only one foot on the landings. As I climbed, I could hear Cindy slowly catching up to me. By the 10^th floor I could see her coming from behind. At the same time, I was slowly catching up to Kristen. For the next few floors we were all bunched up together.

I had a bit of a dilemma on my hands. Although I didn’t want to get passed by Cindy (for sake of my male pride), I also didn’t want to pass Kristen. Ever since the Willis Tower race back in 2011, Kristen has owned me in tall buildings, normally coming in 10-20 seconds ahead of me. Since she is such a strong climber, perhaps it was better just to stay behind and let her set the pace.

After one or two more floors I finally made up my mind. Since I was still feeling pretty strong and Kristen was going slower than the beat of my metronome, I decided to make a move up to the front. I moved up to Kristen and told her I didn’t think I’d be catching up with her this soon in the race. On the next landing she let me go by on the inside. At that point, it appeared that Cindy no longer wanted to chase me and was content to stay behind her biggest rival. Slowly but surely I pulled away from the two girls.

By the upper 20s, I could no longer see or hear Kristen & Cindy and I was left with a clear stairwell. At that point I knew it would be a lonely climb. The only people ahead of me were Justin, Jesse, and Sproule, and I hadn’t a ghost of a chance of catching any of them.

By the lower/mid 30s, I was starting to have trouble keeping up to the beat of metronome. Not only was my heart rate starting to cross the threshold, but my calves were starting to tighten up. At that point my turns were becoming sloppy and I began two-stepping some of the landings. Knowing I still had the majority of the building ahead of me, I decided to dial down my metronome to 88 bpm in order avoid blowing up.

Strangely enough, I could hear another climber up ahead. It obviously wasn’t one of the other elites because I could tell whoever was ahead of me was running up the stairs. At that point I assumed it was just another volunteer trying out the course for themselves, but 5-10 floors it became apparent that it was another racer in it for the long haul.

Eventually I made it to the halfway point and passed the other racer (not necessarily in that order – I can’t remember). The racer ahead of me turned out to be a kid, possibly old enough to be junior high. Sure enough, he was in the race and running up the stairs! I was actually a little surprised because I don’t remember him starting the race, but here he was halfway up the Hancock.

When I finally reached the half-way point, my watch read 5:20, which was slightly ahead of schedule. That was good news because although I was starting to fade, I felt I still had a good shot at breaking the 11 minute mark. The 10 second cushion meant I could do the 2^nd half of the race 20 seconds slower than the first and still reach my goal. Coupled with last minute surge, I felt pretty good about my chances.

I continued the long climb in solitude with only my metronome and the occasional group of volunteers keeping me company. By the lower 60s, I was really feeling the pain. Although I was keeping to the beat of my metronome, I was no longer trying to keep one foot on the landings. I was also still cognizant of Cindy and Kristen somewhere behind me; although I couldn’t hear or see them, I figured that at any moment they would come from behind. To make matters worse, my left shoulder was on fire.

Fortunately, I was able to push through the discomfort and by the mid-70s, I felt my confidence begin to soar. I realized that Cindy and Kristen had no chance of catching me and I got my 2^nd wind. For the next few floors I decided to push the pace and go back to one-stepping the landings.  However, after a few floors my heart rate was starting to rise and I abandoned the surge. I contemplated lowering my metronome to around 85 so that I could continue one stepping the landings, but rather than spend time fiddling with my gadget (in an oxygen deprived state) it was easier to let it be and just live with two stepping the landings.

Right about at floor 83, I began my late race surge, which was a few floors sooner than originally planned. My heart rate was well into the redzone, but my legs still felt pretty good. Since neither Kristen nor Cindy were in sight, I felt pretty good about my race. I ignored my metronome and pushed the pace a little bit harder until I had reached the top floor. After crossing the finish line I looked down at my watch. In stark black letters it read 11:07. Although winded,  I avoided falling to the ground.

Several emotions hit me at once. On one hand I was disappointed that I didn’t break the 11 minute mark, but on the other hand I was happy that I beat last years’ time. I was also a bit relieved. 11:07 wasn’t a great time, but it wasn’t terrible either. I was actually pretty worried that my times would be significantly slower than the previous year*. Last but not least, I felt a little bit hollow inside. I should have been happy to finally come in ahead of Kristen & Cindy, but since neither girl had a good race (they both own PBs under 11 minutes) it seemed like an empty victory.

*I had just recovered from a rather lengthy illness and my fitness levels were (and still are) well below pre-sickness levels. An 11:07 meant I was still in decent shape and could still compete at a high level.

After the race I hung I chatted a bit with my climbing friends and eventually headed back downstairs to attend the post-race buffet at the Hilton. I loaded up on as many goodies as the organizers would allow since it would be a long flight home and I didn't want to waste time shopping for food.

Since I had a plane to catch, I hastily said my goodbyes and left the building around 9:30 AM to catch my 12:02 flight back to New York. I’m glad I left when I did; the Red line wasn't traveling south and I had to walk to a different Brown/Purple station in order to make my connection. The travel home was just as brutal, although this time around I would be at JFK airport rather than LaGuardia. I finally made it home around 7:00 PM.

Post-race thoughts:

•  I still went out to fast. If I had to do the race again, I would have started off at 87 bpm.
• I made a tactical error during the 2^nd half of the race; I never looked down at my watch to see how I was doing. I felt a false sense of security since I was well ahead of Kristen and Cindy (who I assumed would come in around 11:00) . Likewise, I was ahead of pace at the half way point , so I felt I had a bit of a cushion going into the latter half.
• I struggled a bit on the upper levels, but I remember struggling even more so in the prior year’s race.

Effort: B ; I had some extra juice left in the tank, but not much.

Strategy: B+ ; I went out slightly too fast, but not by much. I should have calculated & memorized my time splits for the 2^nd half of the race.

Execution: B ; I did a fine job dialing down my metronome after I realized 91 bpm was overly aggressive. On the other hand, I should have used my watch during the 2^nd half of the race.

Technique: B ; Used the rails effectively, but two stepped the landings for a good part of the race.

Overall: B+ ; I’m pleased at setting a PB, even if I didn’t reach my goal time. This was an excellent learning experience.

See the overall results of the race here.

Getting Sick and Coming Back

Editor's note: Initially written in February 2013 while getting ready for "Hustle up the Hancock" in Chicago. I'm still behind in keeping my blog up-to-date, but I'm slowly catching up!

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I was in great shape last November when I climbed Willis and Stamford. I posted a pretty solid times and I attribute most of my success to hard work and a careful diet. Unfortunately, my fitness took a sharp nosedive during the holiday season when I was knocked out by a couple of illnesses. Although I’m finally healthy, my fitness levels are still down and with racing season starting up shortly, I’m definitely under prepared.

Getting sick really sucks, but at least I've learned several valuable lessons about getting sick, staying healthy, and getting back into shape.

1)      During the holidays, one of my family members came down with an awful cough that lasted several weeks. Although I didn't immediately get sick, I didn't get a decent night’s sleep for a couple weeks in a row since the coughing kept me up at night, too. I’m sure that lack of sleep was a factor in catching an illness. Lesson Learned: When caring for a loved one, don’t forget to care for yourself. The next time someone has a chronic cough, I’m going to set aside an extra couple hours just for sleep and rest. 

2)      I eventually caught a relatively minor cold. I ended up taking a couple days off from exercise to recuperate. Once I was on the mend, I slid back into my workout routine. Since racing season was just on the horizon, I was anxious to get back into the stairwell and I quickly ramped up my training intensity. After a particularly challenging workout session coupled with a full day of work & after work activities, I felt drained. The following workout session was very taxing despite a relatively low intensity and I felt pretty woozy toward the end of the workout. That night I came down with a fever and I ended up staying home (and out of the gym) for the next week. Lesson Learned: Working out when recovering from an illness can help stave off a decline in fitness, but the harder the session, the more susceptible you are to illness. In my case, a common cold morphed into something quite serious. The next time I’m sick I’m going to make sure I’m 100% healthy before attempting a taxing workout.

3)      After three weeks of inactivity (preceded by a couple weeks of sub-par workouts) my fitness dropped considerably. Once I was back in the gym, I confirmed my greatest fear: I wasn't even close to my pre-sickness fitness levels. In less than a month, I had lost several months’ worth of fitness gains. Lesson Learned: My cardiovascular endurance dropped quickly and is coming back very slowly. My leg strength, on the other hand, did not suffer very much and came back very quickly. See the table below.

Date	Interval Pace*	Notes	Strength Training Recovery**
November	174	My Peak Fitness	Moderate Soreness
January 9th	170***	Start of illness	Moderate Soreness
January 29th	155	Comeback week #1	Extremely Sore
February 5th	161	Comeback week #2	Very Sore
February 12th	165.5	Comeback week #3	Moderate Soreness
February 19th	168	Pre-Hustle (week #4)	Moderate Soreness

*The interval pace column represents my average pace during interval training on the Precor Stepper:  5 sets of 4 minutes done at pace with 1 minute rest in between.

**My subjective feeling of how I felt 1-2 days after my leg strength workouts (Tabata leg presses, weighted lunges, etc.)

***My workout was done at 165 when I was recovering from a cold and still had chest congestion, however I probably could have kicked it up a notch to 170 had I been healthy.

Trumped in Stamford

Editor's note: I'm way behind in updating my blog, so here is the 1st of 5 recent updates. This particular post was written in mid December 2012. Pictures will be added at a later date, since I'm having trouble downloading them from my camera.

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The results from the Parc Trump in Stamford are in and can be found here. I set a new course record at 2:40 and broke my old course record by 7 seconds! Unfortunately, my new record did not stand long. Sproule Love - who started 30 seconds behind me - finished in 2:30. My new record stood for a total of 20 seconds. Sproule was just too fast!

Race day started off early. I woke up at 5:00 AM and was out the door by 6:00 AM. The drive was mostly uneventful, but there was a lot of fog on the Taconic Parkway so I had to drive a bit cautiously.

I arrived in Stamford just after 8:30 and rushed to get changed and checked in. Knowing I was pressed for time, I immediately started my warm up routine. I did a set of burpees right at check-in (at the SBC brewery), again at the coat check (at the Parc Trump), and a third set while waiting at the start line. It wasn't my best warm-up, but it was much better than starting the race cold.

I met my the other Tower Masters at the start line: Steve, Paul, & Napoleon. The only person missing was Sproule; he was still in the stairwell warming up. I also would have liked to have a few minutes in the stairwell, but with only a few minutes to go, I wanted a couple minutes to calm down and relax.

Everyone was quiet during the last minute before the start of the race. Then, as the clock struck 9:00 AM, I entered the stairwell.

I climbed into trouble as soon as I hit the first landing. I simply could not get a firm grip on the railing and I had a very hard time turning the first few corners. In fact, going around the first few turns, I caught myself from tripping not once, but twice. I felt like a fish out of water! I had similar problems last year (you can read about it here) and this ascent wasn't any easier. Paraphrasing my blog from last year:

“The Parc Trump is a very technical course (as far as stairwells go). With only 588 stairs covering 66 flights or so, most flights have only 8 stairs between landings. Since the steps themselves are relatively shallow (7 inches tall vs. the 7.5 inch norm) and the race itself is pretty short, I was completing a turn once every 2.4 seconds. To make matters worse, the railing was hard to grip. The Parc Trump uses an uncommon double railing system that has the upper railing situated too high to grip comfortably and has the lower railing out of reach until you've completed the turn.”

Although I had trouble with the turns, I pretty much nailed the pacing during the first part of the race. I went out a smidgen faster than I had planned, but still below my burnout point.

The floors passed by quickly and by the 10^th floor, I settled into an awkward rhythm best described as “controlled chaos”. I stayed on the upper inside rail as much as possible, but it was hard to get a good pull around the corners.

By the middle of the race, my heart rate was hitting the redline and it was getting more difficult to climb. Since I was still feeling awkward in the stairwell, I tried out a few different techniques. My first variation was to use the lower rail rather than the upper rail.  My right shoulder was starting to ache because I had to reach up so high to grasp the upper rail so using the lower rail provided some measure of relief. The downside was that I couldn't get a good handhold going around the turns. Next, I tried using both sides of the railing rather than just the inner railing, but I abandoned this method after a couple floors. My arms were just a bit too short to use both sides effectively and I felt that the flights were too short to justify staying in the center of the staircase; as soon as I’d grip both sides of the rails, I’d have to let go again to turn the corner. Finally, I just decided to keep on the upper inner rail – shoulder pain be damned.

I wasn't at my best during the final third of the race. Although I was hurting, I wasn't in danger of having my legs give out. I should have sucked it up and gone faster, but instead I just kept my current pace. Somewhere near the 30^th floor, a cameraman snapped a few pictures and the camera’s flash took me off-guard. I stumbled around the turn and nearly face planted on the stairs. At that point, any hope of winning fell away. I didn't have that competitive spark and I just continued my current pace. I coasted up the last few flights of stairs gasping for air. After crossing the finish line I stopped my watch. 2:41. It was definitely better than last year, but still about 10 seconds slower than my goal.

At that point, all I could do was wait for Sproule to arrive. After about 15 seconds of waiting, I had held the faintest hope of winning the race, but moments later I could hear cheering in the stairwell. I knew it was going to be close. When Sproule finally arrived, I glanced down at my watch again. It had passed the three minute mark, but not by much. Assuming he started exactly 30 seconds behind it meant he had made up 5-10 seconds in the stairwell. But then I heard one of the time keepers indicate that Sproule unofficially made it up in 2:15 or so. I was in awe.

After recovering for a minute or so, Sproule and I waited for the rest of our teammates to finish. Once everyone had recovered somewhat, we took the elevator down to the 7^th floor to relax and chat. We also wished Napoleon luck since he registered the day of the race and wouldn't climb until well after 10:00 AM.

After Napoleon’s race we all headed to the SBC brewery to wait for the awards ceremony and get a bite to eat. As people were leaving, I snuck back into the stairwell to take a few measurements and map out the course. Below is a short summary of the stairwell. As you can see, the published course information isn't accurate.

Total Steps: 551 (vs. 588 published)

Step Height: 6.75 inches

Course Height: 94.5 meters

Up to floor 7, the stairs turn to the left, and are mostly laid out in an 8/8 configuration. Up until floor 22, the stairs turn to the right continuing the 8/8 pattern. The last section continues turning to the right in a mostly 9/8 configuration. The course ends at the 34 floor (top). The course seems to be missing floors 13 and 23.

Keep in mind, I did not double check my work, so my step count might be a little off.

The best part of the race was getting to hang out with Steve, Paul, Sproule, Napoleon, & Jamie. I really like stair climbing, but I rarely get a chance to actually talk about it. I love hearing stories about epic battles up the Empire State Building and getting training tips from stair climbing veterans. Even though we had to wait until 11:30 to get our official times, it was an easy wait.

Checking the final times, I was relieved to know that I was only 10 seconds behind Sproule! Up until that point, I was worried the gap was more like 20-25 seconds. Ten seconds is within striking distance given enough training, discipline, and a bit of luck. But if the gap was 20 seconds… well, I might as well just give up give up the chase.

The other Tower Masters also had a fine showing. Napoleon grabbed a podium spot. Steve set a personal best. Paul, our team’s rookie, had a solid first climb. Last but not least, Sproule set a new course record!

Unfortunately, we missed out on the team award because one of our team member’s didn't get added to the roster; I signed most of our team members the day of the race, so I’m sure the paperwork got lost in the pre-race shuffle. Instead, the team award went to the Connecticut  Healthcare Stair Runners. They are a good group of climbers that David Tromp & I teamed up with at the Hartford climb.

This poses a very good question. Should we be upset that we lost the team award because of an administrative error? Or should the Tower Masters be competing for the team award at all?

On one hand, we've put a lot of effort into training and deserve the recognition. But on the other hand, our Tower Masters team had a huge advantage. We’re mainly comprised of folks who know each other through the competitive stair climbing circuit. How could another team compete with us when we've poached all the best climbers? It brings to mind an episode of Seinfeld where Kramer beats up a bunch kids at a karate school. I dearly love helping my Tower Masters win races, but at the same time it is hard to be proud of beating up a bunch of kids.

Last but not least, here is my post-race analysis:

Grades: Strategy= A-; Exertion = B-; Technique = C-; Overall = B-;

·        Sproule beat me on three different fronts:

1)      He was better prepared mentally. He had his game face on at the start line. No idle chit-chat; he was just focused on the upcoming race.

2)      He was better prepared for tackling the stairwell. He came to the race early and spent some time checking it out.

3)      He was better prepared physically (big surprise!)

·        I need to get into the stairwell the next time I race at Stamford. I had a hard time with the rails and I need to figure out how to take the turns faster. I imagine that is where I lost most of my time. Oddly enough, I said the same thing in my blog last year. I should have taken my own advice! Getting to the race early will also help me get mentally prepared; driving fast in heavy fog to avoid being late certainly didn't help my nerves.

·        The best part of the race was listening to everyone’s opinion about training.

1)      Sproule recommended mixing up my training. The only way to grow is to force your body to adapt. He also recommends pushing yourself well into the suffering zone. You have to be a bit masochistic to do this sport.

2)      Napoleon recommends incorporating heavy weights (especially leg raises) to help prevent injury. Since most of my leg exercises are done using low weights with high reps, I might be at risk of getting an overuse injury. After all, low weight, high rep squats/lunges are pretty similar to climbing stairs, something that I do quite frequently. Heavy weights will help mix up my routine and have the added benefit of protecting my knees (by strengthening the muscles direct around the knees).

3)      Steve always recommends running J. This time I might listen since the ESBRU requires a fair amount of running.

·        Recently, I've been having problems getting enough sleep. I've been getting a little over 7 hours, but I need about 8.  I forced myself to go to sleep early for a couple nights prior to the race and I felt considerably recharged on race day morning.

Racing Trump Style

The last race of the year is fast approaching. I will once again tackle the Trump Parc in Stamford, CT on December 8^th. It was originally scheduled for November 3^rd (the same weekend as Willis) but because of Hurricane Sandy, it was postponed.*

*I’m probably the only person in New York grateful for Hurricane Sandy!

This race really should be classified as just a “fun run” since it doesn't offer any additional tower running ranking points. However, it gives me a chance to compare myself to where I was a year ago* as well as test myself against some serious competition; I expect Sproule Love, Tim Donahue, Steve Marsalese, and hopefully Michael Karlin to be at the race. The timing couldn't be more perfect. I’m still at a very high fitness level thanks to all the preparation I did for Willis** and I still have a couple months to train for the heart of racing season in February & March.

*to read about how I did at the Parc Trump last year, click here.

** (albeit a couple pounds heavier)

Although I’m very excited for this race, there is also a hint of urgency and frustration. Here is why: The Empire State Building Run-up (ESBRU) registration is now open and only 10 or 20  athletes will be allowed to participate in the elite start. Last year’s race wasn't a very good experience for me (see my thoughts from last year here) and with potentially fewer racers in the elite start, it makes my chances of getting into it even smaller. I trained diligently over the past year to put myself in contention for an elite spot and I've done well enough over the course of the season to warrant consideration. Stamford is my last chance to  show that I deserve to be on the ESBRU start line.

The truth is, even if I somehow manage to win in Stamford, I still doubt the ESBRU organizers (the NYRR) will select me. My time from last year was simply too slow for them to take notice (13:56*) and I doubt they’ll consider my other more recent tower racing results. To be fair, however, I think I’m only capable of a 12:30 time at ESBRU which should put me in the top 20… but just barely. As such, my current game plan will be to:

1) Cross my fingers & get in through the lottery in 2013

2) Go around 150 or so other climbers in the time trial and somehow still break the 13 minute mark

3) Cross my fingers and hope that I’ll be let into the elite race in 2014

*To find out why I’m not happy with last year’s results and why the NYRR is partly to blame, click here.

Although I don’t have control over who gets into the ESBRU, I do have control over my own performance. I’m going to give Stamford my best shot and see if I can match pace with Sproule and company. I don’t really expect to win, but it won’t stop me from trying my best.

Just for fun, I spent some time predicting how well I’d do in the race relative to Sproule. On paper, I actually have an outside shot of retaining my title. My reasoning is as follows:

1) Sproule kicked my but at Hartford last March by a whopping 13 seconds. However, Stamford is a little bit shorter, so the gap at Stamford should be more like 11 seconds.

2) I’m in much better shape today than I was in March. My practice climbs are 2 seconds faster now than they were back in March, and Stamford is about 3 times the height of my practice climb. As such, I should be able to shave off at least another 6 seconds. This puts Sproule ahead by only 5 seconds.

2) Looking at the “Power vs. Time” chart for races a 2 second difference in a 45 second race translates to more like a 7.5 second difference in a 2:30 minute race. Taking this into consideration, this puts Sproule only 3.5 seconds ahead of me!

Although the numbers are heartening, I’m still putting my money on Sproule to win this race. I hope I can make it somewhat competitive, but I don’t have illusions of grandeur. My main goal will be to simply beat my time from last year. Based on my training results, I should be able to beat my previous record by a solid 15 seconds, so going sub 2:30 is a distinct possibility. If I come close, I know I’m where I need to be for the 2013 racing season. 

Willis - Round Two

I had a great time in Chicago this past weekend and I posted a pretty solid time in the Willis stairwell and I placed 6^th overall! See the overall race results here.

This year's edition of the race was a bit less competitive than in prior years. First off, the only European racer who showed up (besides Mischa, the director of towerrunning.com) was Norbert Lechner. Likewise, many of the top American races were missing from the lineup*.

*I’m especially disappointed that Sproule Love was left off of the start line. He signed up for the race late and was put on the waiting list. Although he exchanged emails with the race organizers to try and secure a starting spot, they did not help him out. On the other hand, Jesse Berg, the eventual race winner, didn’t sign up for the race at all, but was still allowed to race (from what I gather a few phone calls and a switcheroo with another climber who couldn’t make it). I’m glad that the rules were bent for Jesse, but I’m unhappy that Sproule did not receive the same benefit. It was a shame that a top racer (and record holder) who is competing for towerrunning.com ranking points was left out of this master’s race.

So how does my time stack up with other editions of the race? It actually holds up quite well. A time of 15:13 would have placed:

·        12th in 2011

·        8^th in 2010

·        11^th in 2009

·        10^th in 2008

·        6^th in 2007

·        6^th in 2006

·        8^th in 2005

·        6^th in 2004

Therefore it appears that my 6th place showing is a bit higher than it might have been, but it still would have been a solid top 10 showing in most other editions of the race. Therefore, I’m very happy with my performance and I’ll gladly take the 72 towerrunning.com ranking points that come with it!  My performance is especially telling, since Willis should be my least competitive race on the stair climbing circuit since I’m built for sprint races.

The lead up to the race went as smoothly as can be expected. My training was solid, my eating habits were under control, and I was barely getting enough sleep. I held my last difficult workout on Tuesday and I kept my regular workouts on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, I skipped my weekly stairwell intervals and instead used the time to practice my race pace. It was enough to break out a sweat, but not strenuous enough to tire out the legs.

On Saturday morning, I was out the door by 8:30 AM and I drove down to NYC to catch my flight to Chicago. Normally, I like taking public transportation down to the City, but since Hurricane Sandy hammered the lower Hudson, I was afraid I’d run into problems with the subway & bus lines. On one hand, driving was very quick and I was able to get an extra hour of sleep. But on the other hand, I paid about $30 worth of highway and bridge tolls, $66 worth of parking fees at the LaGuardia airport, and $45 for a tank of gas. Although I didn’t hit any traffic in the city, the gas lines in and around NYC were absolutely crazy. Most stations were actually closed, but those that were open had lines extending all the way back to the highway. I'm fortunate to have topped up my tank near Poughkeepsie instead of refueling in NYC.

I got to the airport early and spent my time watching the local news cover the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy. My flight was on time which was surprising since the airport had been closed during the hurricane and just recently been reopened. After I landed in O’Hare, I jumped on the Blue Line and headed directly to the Elephant & Castle to meet up with all the other climbers from the West Coast Labels team.

At dinner, Mark tasked me with greeting each climber and  handing out name tags. Since I only had 50 name tags and I ran out of name tags near the end, I estimate there were around 55-60 climbers at the pre-race dinner!

At dinner, I sat with Mischa and Sebastian from towerrunning.com and learned a bit about the European race circuit and the evolution of towerrunning.com. I also sat with Bob Toews and we discussed the challenges of the upcoming climb. I also finally met climbers I knew from the stair climbing circuit (e.g. Jeff, Scott, Roxanne, Madeleine, etc.). Last but not least, I met with Stan who helped me estimate what pace to set my metronome based on my expected finishing time.*

*Stan’s method is really quite simple:

1) Since there are 102 floors and I expected to finish in about 930 seconds (i.e. 15:30) I’d need to cover each floor in 930/102 = 9.12 seconds.

2) Since there are ~20 steps per floor and I expect to take two steps at time (except for near the landings where I’ll only take one step at a time) I’ll take a total of 12 footfalls each floor. That means I’ll take 9.12 seconds/12 footfalls= 0.76 seconds per footfall (i.e. 0.76 seconds per beat on my metronome).

3) Converting footfalls per second into beats per minute yields 60 seconds/min x 1/0.76 seconds/beat = 79 beats per minute.

After dinner, I met up with Ben Ruyle, who would be rooming with me and we drove to the hotel. Speaking of which, did you know that there are a total of three Hiltons within a few miles of one another? There are two next door to the Rosedale subway stop and third one adjacent to O’Hare. I know this because the first hotel we stopped at was the wrong one and hotel staff had to give directions.

When Ben and I finally checked in to the right hotel, we spent some time stretching, relaxing, chatting, and getting our gear ready for the morning. I’m really glad we decided to room together. It kept my mind off of the race and it turns out we have a lot in common. Not only do we both do a lot of strength training, but we also can quote Monty Python. Would would’ve guessed?

We went to bed pretty early and although I had trouble sleeping*, I managed to get in about 6 hours of sleep before the race.

*with visions of pacing calculations dancing in my head

The next morning, we were up early and out the door by 5:35 AM. Although it was still early, I was surprised that there was still a lot of traffic on the road. Nonetheless, we still made good time and we arrived at Willis just after 6:00 AM.

Ben & Alex before the race

I spent the next 30 minutes trying to stay warm, relaxed, and fully stretched. Closer to the start, I began my normal warm-up routine of jumping jacks and burpees. Shortly thereafter, we made our way to the start line. It was pretty crowded, so instead of doing a final set of jacks & burpees, I opted to do set of power pushups to stay loose. Before the official start, I positioned myself about 20^th in line to make sure I wouldn’t start with the top elites, but also to minimize the number of people I had to pass.

Just after 7:00 AM, Jesse Berg entered the stairwell and every seven seconds another racer followed. Before I knew it, I was next in line.

My game plan was to start off at 85 beats per minute and then adjust based on how I felt and how fast my time splits were. I chose 85 beats per minute to give me a shot at cracking the 15 minute mark. I didn’t dare go any higher since in past races (like ESBRU or Hustle) I tried going out at 90 bpm and I cracked in the latter half of each race. If I couldn’t handle 90 bpm in a shorter building, then I wasn’t going to attempt it at Willis.

Still looking fresh

My goal was to have fairly even splits and to make things easy to calculate during the race, I decided to check my times at floors 26, 53, & 77 which are roughly 25%, 50%, and 75% the way up.  In order to keep my time below 16 minutes, I would have to do each section in less than 4 minutes.

The first 26 floors seemed almost too easy. The pace felt pretty slow and I started to second guess my pace. I slowly caught the climbers ahead of me and I had plenty of energy to ask them to move aside. I also had enough energy to ask the volunteers what floor I was on. I hit floor 26 somewhere in the 3:40’s and I knew I was on track to beat 16 minutes. At that point, I considered changing the beat from 85 bpm to 90 bpm. but since I was on pace to hit 15 minutes (my stretch goal time), I decided to just keep it at 85 and check how I felt at floor 53.

My heart rate and breathing rate slowly crept up by the time I reached floor 53 and I'm glad I refrained from changing my pace. Somewhere in this section I caught up to P.J., who gave me a nice push up the stairs. Although it was more of a symbolic gesture, it helped. First off, it gave me an unexpected moment to catch my breath. Secondly - and more importantly - it is always nice to see a “step” brother in the stairwell offering encouragement, especially when you are about to crack.

At floor 52 or 53, I glanced at my watch and although I’d don’t remember my exact time, I recall seeing 7:XX and I remember being pleased. But at that point I was really starting to tire. For future reference, I recall hearing the one of the volunteers tell the climber ahead of me that we were at the half way point and if I remember correctly, it was more like floor 54 rather than floor 53.

My technique was breaking down by the time I got to floor 77, but I was well under 12 minutes, so I knew I would clip the 16 minute mark if I could hold on a few more minutes. I still could keep up to the beat of my metronome, but I was taking an extra step on the landings. Somewhere along the line, I passed Mark Trahanovsky who gave me a few words of encouragement. At that point I was breathing so heavily, I could only nod my head and keep forging ahead.

Floors 80 - 95 were absolutely dreadful. My heart and lungs were at their limit. It was getting harder to push the thoughts of slowing down from the front of my brain. My psyche was cracking under the pressure. Looking back, I believe the only things keeping me going was the fact I could finally reach both rails (which relieved some of the pressure on my left side) and that my legs were still in decent shape. My legs were tired, but they had not yet reached their limit. It appears that all of the Tabata leg presses, lunges, and sprint training in the stairwell paid off.

At floor 96 I knew I was only about a minute or so away from finishing so I picked up the pace. Deep down, I knew I should have started the last push a few floors earlier, but it was too difficult to convince my oxygen-starved brain to kick it into high gear. By floor 100, I was going significantly faster than my metronome, but I was holding on for dear life. I was planning to sprint up the last few floors, but before I turned on the afterburners, I was climbing up the last flight!

I staggered over the finish line and stopped my stopwatch. My time was 15:11! I was very pleased, but I was also at my physical limit and couldn’t summon the energy needed to celebrate. I grabbed a water bottle from one of the volunteers, wobbled my way through the finishing corral, and collapsed to the floor. My heart rate continued to spike and it took a minute or so to get it back down to a functional level.

After recovering I was ready to congratulate some of the other climbers, take pictures, and enjoy the view from the top! Although I couldn’t stay very long (I had a plane to catch) I had a great time*.

*Even though Kristen Frey beat me for the 4^th time in a row by another narrow margin. But who’s counting?

At the top with Ben, Alex, Dave, & Roxanne

At the bottom of the tower I gobbled up a couple of post-race muffins* and printed out my official time**. Then Ben gave me a ride back to the Hilton and I took a quick shower before heading to O’hare to catch my flight home.

*which were hands down the best muffins I’ve ever tasted. Seriously.

**15:13? How did I lose 2 seconds?

This was definitely a satisfying race. I set a new PR by a whopping 1:39 and had a great time hanging out with other climbers. My race is proof that consistent hard work & sound strategy really does pay off. I may not fast enough to hang with the big boys in a tall climb, but another year of training might close the gap.

Post-Race Analysis:

·        Grades: Strategy= A; Exertion = A-; Technique = B; Overall = A-

·        All in all, I believe my improvement year-over-year came from equal parts better pacing and improved fitness.

·        If I could re-do the race, I would have set my metronome at 84 bpm and focused more on turning efficiently on the landings.

·        I honestly felt clumsy at the landings. It seemed as though I was always hitting the landing with the wrong foot. During the upper stories, it was significantly worse because my body wanted to slow down.

·        Tired though I was, I could have gone faster in the last part of the race. As long as the legs aren’t above their lactate threshold, there is always another gear.

·        The new shoes felt pretty good. I don’t like running in them, but in the stairwell, they are just fine.

·        Limiting factor was my heart rate and breathing rather than my legs. This makes sense because Willis is so tall.

·        Willis is a monster of a climb, but if you approach it the right way, it isn’t such a daunting race. Slow and steady is definitely the way to tame it. If you aim to have even splits, the race doesn’t really begin until the 50^th floor. But if you go out too fast, it will chew you up and spit you out. With this race, you really need to know your limits and have a game plan.

Recovery:

I felt a bit sick after the race, but after my heart rate came down, I felt pretty good. My legs never reached the point of no return so my initial recovery was pretty fast. Compare that with the Albany Corning Tower or the Bennington Monument where I torched my legs. If you’d like to read about those races, click here and here.

I came down with a moderate case of “track hack” or “climbers cough” and was spitting up phlegm on Sunday night and Monday morning On Monday, I felt a cold coming on and actually took half a day off from work, but fortunately, it seemed to be a false alarm.

My body felt pretty fresh on Monday (other than feeling a cold coming on) but my lungs ached. On Tuesday, I had to cut my workout short (cardio day on the step mill) since my breathing wasn’t yet back to normal. As of Friday (as I’m finishing this post) my lungs are still tender, but my stair workout was mostly unaffected.