The Fear of Sears

For the past few weeks I've been stressing out about racing up the Sears Tower (aka Willis). The height of the building is so intimidating that every time I see the Chicago skyline, a shiver runs down my spine. The building is over 400 meters tall, which is a good 200 meters outside of my comfort zone. My biggest fear is that I'm too heavy to do really well at this race*. I'm also worried that if I don't go below sub 15 minutes this year, I'm never going to gain the respect of the climbing community. All the other big names out there post 14:30 or less, and that is just outside my capability. In fact, my goal this year is just to break 15:00.

*Let me clarify - when I say heavy, I really mean my BMI is too high. There are faster climbers who weigh more than I do, but most of them are several inches taller.

In fact, after the US Bank Tower race in LA, I was ready to bag Sears altogether.I'd much rather make my mark in a shorter building than putt up a mediocre time in a tall building.The main reason I'm doing this race is because I signed up for the race several months in advance and since I already reserved a spot, it would be a shame to waste it*. Additionally, the race is worth 300 points on the US racing circuit and I need those points to boost my ranking.

*I completely forgot that I signed up for Sears back in July. Imagine my surprise when I received an email from the event organizers, literally hours after I made my decision to skip Sears.

So now that I'm doing the race, most of my free time is spent thinking about how I can hold off my rivals and put out a fast time. I admit, I'm a bit obsessive about both.

First off, lets take a look at where I stand on the rankings.

As you can see, I'm within striking distance of everyone except Jesse*. Other than Sproule (who isn't racing Sears) everyone else already has 5 races and I only have 4. Since the rankings are based on an athlete's 5 best races, I'm the only racer guaranteed to receive points at Sears. 

*Sears is a 300 point race and he has a lead of nearly 400 points.

Using the data from the table above, I've calculated the minimum place I need to catch up to each of my rivals depending on how well each one of them does at Sears.

Here are my estimated chances at defending my current rank and overtaking the people ahead of me:

Jesse: Not only is Jesse too far ahead for me to gain ground, he is one of the favorites to win the race! He is still out of my league.

Sproule: I purposefully left him off of the table above since he isn't racing Sears. To catch up with him, I'll need a 7th place showing. However, I also need to consider the fact that Sproule is entitled to another 50 points for winning at Hartford earlier this year. If these points are included, I'll instead need a 4th place showing which is possible, but unlikely.

Justin: On paper I have a shot at overtaking him in the rankings, but realistically my chances are pretty small. Just like Jesse & Sproule, he is out of my league; he is one of the few climbers that can easily beat me at any distance. Therefore, I'm expecting him to sit on the podium and he is one of my favorites to win the race. Plus, it may be a moot point. If he races WaMu in Seattle (a 200 point race) I'm pretty sure he'll increase his overall point tally.

Oz: I have a pretty good shot at defending my position in the rankings, but I expect Oz to challenge for a podium spot. He is significantly faster than I am in longer races and Sears is the tallest race in America! Personally, I'd like to see him to win the race - he is one of the nicest guys on the circuit - but I have a feeling he'll come in around 3rd or so. This means I just need a top ten showing to keep ahead.

Thomas: I have a pretty good shot at overtaking him in the rankings. The real challenge will be to keep ahead of him in the stairwell. He has been right behind me in each of the races we've contested and in LA he was a mere second behind me. This means that as much as I've improved over the last year, Thomas has improved faster. Factor in that Sears is my weakest race and that Thomas favors tall buildings, I think he'll finally have the edge.

Scott: I have a very good shot at overtaking him in the rankings. Although his rate of improvement has been phenomenal, I don't see him beating me quite yet. Instead, look for him to battle for a podium spot in his age group.*

*My friend Napoleon is in the same age group. I imagine he'll say something like: "Scott, let's settle it gunslinger style in the stairwell. lololo."

As you might have noticed, I've put a lot of thought into how well I expect my rivals to perform at Sears, but the fact is I need to bring my "Beast Mode"* when I come to Chicago.

*To steal a phrase from Karen.

The fact is, I've been using the excuse that "I'm not suited for tall buildings" for far too long. I can't let my let my perceived weakness prevent me from doing well. Although I'll probably always be scared of Sears, I still have to find a way to perform. The good news is I've been doing nearly everything I can to make sure I break 15:00.

• I've been watching my weight. It is easy for me to gain weight, so keeping it near 175 has been a real challenge. Every pound counts in a tall stair climb. For the last 6 months I've been eating salad for dinner maybe 5-6 times per week. It hasn't helped me drop weight but it has certainly helped keep it off.
• I've been training consistently. Even on my "off" days, I still exercise for a good 40 minutes.
• I've been training specifically for longer races:
• For the past 8 months, I've been going all-out on the rowing machine for 15 minutes to replicate the pain I'll face at Sears.
• I've replaced my stair well sprints over the past month with "power hours"
• For the past year, I've increased the number of intervals I do on my Precor Climber, to mimic the last few minutes of a long race.
• During the summer, I cycled for at least a couple hours on the weekends just to mix things up.* 

*regretfully my long rides are currently on hiatus due to a hamstring injury.

I'm coming into this race in the best shape of my life. I've even improved since last month's race in LA. Although I'm scared of Sears, I know I've done everything possible to prepare. Although my hear rate is beating 120 beats per minute just thinking about the race, I can't wait to be in the stairwell!

California Here I Come

City of Angels

My trip Los Angeles to climb the US Bank Tower is finally over. I had a great time and a decent race, but the travel was brutal. Since I haven’t posted for a while*, this might be a pretty lengthy post since a lot of things have happened since my last race. Here it goes:

*I have several quasi-finished posts that are in backlog. I’ve just been too lazy to finish them up.

Pre-race:

Since June I’ve steadily improved, but several injuries & events have hampered my training. A nagging knee/hamstring injury has curtailed my bike rides since early July and although it hasn’t impacted my other training, the injury isn’t getting any better. It might be time for a physical therapist to take a look.

One month leading up to the event, I felt pretty good. Although my stairwell sprint splits were about a second slower than PB, my longer Precor Climber workouts – which are more important for longer climbs - were rock solid.

Things nearly fell apart on Saturday during Labor Day weekend*, when I had a freak accident at the Renaissance Faire. While stepping over a low rock wall, I slipped and banged the side of my knee. Although it looked like a minor scrape, I was in excruciating pain for about an hour. Fortunately, after a trip to the infirmary and some pain medication, I was able to hobble around and make it back home. The pain flared up again in the middle of the night and at that point I became worried that I had a broken bone. When Labor day finally rolled around, the throbbing pain had become a constant dull ache and I surmised that I had a severe bone bruise; painful but not season ending. On Tuesday (three days after my injury) my limp was starting to fade and decided to start  working out again. I used the Precor Climber, thinking that it wouldn’t pressure on my injured bone. I was wrong. Although I made it through my normal routine, my knee still hurt. The following day, I could barely walk and I had exacerbated my injury.

*The day after I booked my tickets to LA, go figure.

For the next several days, I avoided using my legs, but I knew I couldn’t stop working out since I had a race coming up. My workout of choice became the SCIFIT Pro2 arm cycle. This was a frustrating time. I could only crank out 110 watts on the machine and cycling at this rate quickly tired out the arms. In essence, workouts were pure torture for my arm muscles and did very little for my cardiovascular system.

By the time Sunday rolled around (September 8^th), I was able to do a bit of swimming and by Wednesday (September 11^th) I was back to my regular routine.

The next week had its own set of challenges. I took a cruise down to the Bahamas, and as you might have read in this post. I find it nearly impossible to diet on a cruise ship. During the cruise I tried to eat healthy, but I splurged at least twice a day with an extra piece of dessert or a slice of pizza. To make up for some of the calories, I made sure to keep my regular exercise routine. In fact, I was able to get in two stair climbing workouts on the cruise ship since they had an 11 story stairwell at the back of the ship (going from level 0 to level 11).

The week leading up to the race, all the pieces finally came together. My knee was nearly healed, my weight was stable (176 lbs.) and my fitness levels managed to hold up. In fact, I nearly set a PB on the Precor Stepper during my last full workout!

Los Angeles:

Warm Welcome: 3 Girls and a Yacht

I flew out to LA on Thursday September 26^th and was greeted at the airport by Madeleine, Veronica, and Sandra. What a surprise! Madeleine was letting David and I stay on their boat  “Marisol” while during our visit to LA and I couldn’t have asked for a better place to stay. Special thanks go out to Madeleine and her family for treating me so well.

Beware of Sealions

Later that evening I met up with my friend Bob and his son Ben for dinner which certainly helped my nervers. After dinner, I watched TV until about 10:00 PM and then went to bed. Although I stayed in bed for a good 8 hours, I didn’t actually get a lot of sleep. Jet lag, nerves, barking sealions,  and David’s late night arrival kept me awake for several long stretches during the night.

The next morning, David, Bob, and I carpooled to the race. We arrived around 11:00 AM.

Fact - The US Bank Tower climb is probably the most well-planned race in the US. Not only did they close off part of the street for vendors, but they offered showers at the YMCA, discounted parking, and had live music throughout the entire 6 hour event.

After changing into my racing shoes and dropping off my bag, I warmed up with a few rounds of burpees and a short climb up the steps between the YMCA and the US Bank Tower.

The Race:

My goals for the race were as follows:

• Goal: Break 11:00 à Stretch Goal - 10:30
•  Goal: Top 6 (male) à Stretch Goal – Top 3 (male)
•  Stretch Goal: Don’t get chicked (i.e. get beat by a girl)

75 stories of intimidation

I knew my top rivals were going to be John “Oz” Ozborn, Erika Aklufi, and Tristan Roth. Of the three, I knew Oz and Erika were stronger climbers in taller buildings, so I knew I would be hard pressed to keep up with either of them.* Tristan was a bit of a wild card since I knew little about him other than he trains in Seattle and was expected to be in the top ten. Two other climbers that I wanted to keep my eye on were Jeff Dinkin and Thomas Scott, who are usually right on my tail. Other than these few**, the only other people I had to worry about were the one or two hardcore cyclists, triathletes, or runners who might give stair climbing a try.

*Now you know why “don’t get chicked” was a stretch goal.

**You will notice that I left out Jesse Berg or Tommy Coleman. Those two are still out of my league.

 I made my way to the starting corral, shaking with nervousness. I had planned to start 5^th behind Tommy, Erika, Oz, and Tristan since I figured I’d be chasing Oz and Tristan for a coveted podium spot. However, a couple of racers moved in line ahead of me and we jostled for the right to start behind the top elites. Eventually I settled in behind bib #21 but ahead of Bib #458.

I set my metronome to 92 BPM (beats per minute). Here was my logic:

• My overall goal time was 10:30, but I knew there were several twists and turns and hallways, so I set my vertical goal to be 10:00 flat.
• Since there were 1679 total steps I knew I needed to do one typical 22 step floor in 7.86 seconds.
• For a typical floor (11 steps/landing/11 steps) I’d have a total of 12 footfalls.
• 12 footfalls per 7.86 seconds = 92 footfalls per 60 seconds

With 92 BPM, my expected splits (which I wrote under my wrist) were*:

• 25^th floor: 3:16 - 3:25
• 50^th floor: 6:35 - 6:55

*The 1^st  number represents my vertical goal; the 2^nd number is adjusted for twists, turns, and hallways to achieve my 10:30 goal.

Finally it was my turn to enter the stairwell. I quickly adjusted my pace to the beat of my metronome even though it seemed awfully slow. Right around the 6^th or 7^th floor I let bib #458 pass on by. I wasn’t too worried since I suspected #458 went out way too fast. I continued to climb and soon enough I reached the 25^th floor. I looked at my watch and I was exactly on pace @ 3:16. At that point in the race I still felt pretty good. The pace seemed difficult, yet sustainable.

Somewhere in the 30s, I finally caught back up to bib #458. Another 5-10 floors later, I also passed #21. I checked my watch at the 50^th floor. 6:40. I was still right on target, but the real question was whether or not I could sustain the pace for another 25 floors. I was exhausted, but not completely spent. I knew I could continue on for at least another minute or two so I kept on marching.

I couldn’t shake #21 and he was still riding my coattails. We continued climbing together for another 10 floors or so. In the upper 50s he made his move and I couldn’t keep up. In fact, at this point I had reached my limit and he just went right on by. I was so exhausted, I barely noticed.

With only 15 floors to go, I was in deep trouble. Up to this point, I was right on track to break 10:30*, but now my body couldn’t handle the strain. tried to keep to the beat of my metronome, but it was no use. I was falling off pace. My legs and arms were in relatively good shape, but my breathing and heart rate were getting out of control.

*After reflecting on this race with a clear mind, I believe I was on track for a 10:15 up when I reached 60^th floor.

I slogged through the 60s the best I could. I was bleeding time with each step but I knew the finish line getting closer. I glanced down at my watch and saw 10:10 go right on by. I knew I wouldn’t make 10:30, but 11:00 was still within range. I stumbled down a short hallway – walking rather than running – and continued climbing up the next staircase.

My body was shutting down but I kept on pushing. In the lower 70s I fought for every step; there wouldn’t be a last minute sprint in this race. The last few floors were torture. My brain ceased working properly perhaps 10 floors back, but I could hear myself scream “Go, Go, GO!” deep inside my mind.

I’m glad I couldn’t think straight because if I was sane, I would have dropped to the ground several floors back.

By floor 74 I could hear the volunteers at the finish line and out of the corner of my eye I could see Tristan climbing ahead of me. He finished the race just a few seconds ahead of me and after the finish line I stopped my watch (10:54) and I collapsed to the ground.

The aftermath of the race was brutal. I couldn’t move and I was in extreme pain. I crawled into an alcove and lay flat on my back. Normally, I’m able to catch my breath after a minute or two but this time around my heart rate just wouldn’t come down. After a couple minutes one of the volunteers asked if I was okay. Actually, I was pretty scared, but I waved them away and begged for some water. They completely ignored me, but I wasn’t in any condition to complain. Another volunteer asked us to clear the area for other racers, but I couldn’t get up. After laying on the ground for a good 5-10 minutes, with no one else offering me help me up or giving me water, I decided to I pull myself up and move over toward the other racers. As I took my first few steps I wondered how I had climbed the last few floors. I was so exhausted and in so much pain that I could barely move.

I finally sat down next to Scott Stanley and I focused on trying to get my heart rate back down to normal levels. I probably sat down for another 5-10 minutes before I was able to stand up. Unfortunately the recovery room was located on the 71^st floor or so, so I had to navigate my way down several floors to get both food and water. I slowly made my way down stopping at each landing to rest for a moment. As I climbed down I silently cursed the designers of the building for neglecting to build a service elevator to roof.

In the recovery room I drank a bottle of water and ate some fruit. I still wasn’t in any condition to socialize, but I crawled over to bibs #21 & #458. Racer #21 wasn’t very talkative, but #458 explained how he blew up in the latter half of the race. He had been practicing climbing up 51 floors and didn’t account for the extra effort needed to climb an additional 20+ stories.

My Step Brothers & Sisters

When I recovered enough to head back outside, it was time to celebrate. I learned my official time was 10:46, which was a little bit faster than I expected and good enough for 6^th place overall! See the full results here. Although I didn’t quite reach any of my stretch goals, I met all my primary goals. Furthermore, I was very happy with the amount of effort I exerted during the last 15 floors. Although I bonked, I managed to limit my time losses. I could have easily finished slower than 11:00.

For the rest of the day I hung out with my friends and relaxed. I even joined Oz, David, Karen, and Josh for a 2^nd climb “just for fun”. Late in the afternoon, I had the privilege to pace Jesse Berg, one of the fastest stair climbers in the World. Since he showed up late to the race, several climbers paced him up the building to move people out of the way while he climbed. I paced Jesse up the first 18 floors and I learned something valuable. Although Jesse didn’t have an impressive climb (by his standards) I noticed that his pace was right in line with mine. The big difference is that I completely bonked by the 60^th floor while he kicked it up a notch at the end. Although I don’t think I’ll be catching Jesse any time soon, is It is nice to know that I’m not too far behind the top elites.

Final Thoughts:

Effort: A+ ; This is the hardest I’ve ever pushed myself. I hope I never have to suffer like this again.

Strategy: B ; I got to the race early, had a good warm-up, and did my homework on the stairwell. However, my initial pace was too aggressive and I paid for it late in the climb.

Technique: A ; I climbed very efficiently for most of the race. The 11/11 stairwell configuration and double handrails is hard to screw up.

Overall: A- ; This was a solid race. Although I didn’t meet any of my stretch goals, I came pretty darn close.

Final Comments: My biggest mistake when setting my pace was assuming it would take an extra 30 seconds to cover all the twists, turns, and hallways. A better estimate would have been 10 to 15 seconds. If I had to do the race again, I would have set my pace to cover the vertical height of the building in 10:15 which turns out to be just over 89 BPM on my metronome. 10:30 might actually be possible.

Addendum:

This post wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the “recovery” climb up Mt. Baldy, which is a ski resort about an hour east of LA. The day following the race, Cindy brought Karen, Syd, David, and me to Mt. Baldy for a hike. We arrived at the base of the climb around 1:00 PM and walked up windy dirt road up to the ski lodge. Although our group couldn’t have been physically more diverse (age, gender, and body type) the one thing we had in common was a passion for stair climbing, hence our pace was pretty quick.*

*Truth be told, I think the boys were slowing down the girls for most of journey.

From that point, we hiked along a narrow twisty trail through the mountains. The scenery was spectacular. The climate and resulting vegetation is different from what I typically see in the Adirondack Mountains back home, but no less spectacular. At the top we could see for miles. I could even Catalina Island! After a brief rest and a few pictures, we hiked back down and managed to get back to Cindy’s SUV just before sunset.

The Whole Gang on Mt. Baldy

From Mt. Baldy we headed back to LA. When I finally got back to the boat  I took a quick shower and then David drove me to LAX to catch the redeye flight back to New York. I still haven’t caught up on sleep.

Phantastic Philly

After the Albany Corning tower race, I had a miserable week of training. A few contributing factors were lack of sleep, overeating, and hectic racing calendar. The following week, I got my act together. I forced myself to go to bed early and I stopped eating extra junk food. I was back on track, even during a particularly stressful work week.*

*During my last full workout, I managed to surprise myself on the erg machine (indoor rower). Ever since I’ve reduced my stroke count (from about strokes 35 per min down to about 25) I’ve struggled with power output. It was the first day I’ve been able to cross the 1200 calories per hour mark at this reduced stroke count.

Friday evening I packed my bags and headed over to my friend Steve’s house down in Westchester County to spend the night. It was just about half way to Philadelphia, so it was a convenient stopping point. Many thanks Steve!

Bright and early the next morning, Steve and I headed to Philadelphia. We arrived just after 8:00 AM and proceeded to get checked in and ready to race. We met up with the other Tower Masters and then I met parents, who came to Philadelphia just see me race. I also ran into John Smiley, another climbing friend.

Reflection of One Logan Plaza

My race plan was pretty straightforward since I took pretty good notes about last year’s race (see blog post here). Since I couldn't maintain a 117 bpm pace last year, I decided to knock it down to 115 bpm. I considered lowering it further, but since I did so well in Albany at 114 bpm, I didn’t dare go any lower.* This year I also planned to use both rails as much as possible since last year my left arm gave out while sticking to the inner rail. My official goal was to complete the race in 5:50 which represented a combination of a few things.

1. Last year I left a few seconds on the table (I climbed in 6:01, but I think I could have squeaked in under 6:00).
2. This year, I’m in slightly better shape. I could reasonably expect to shave off another 5-10 seconds.
3. With David having such a great season and his dominance in taller buildings, I expected him to climb somewhere in the lower 5:40s. I hoped to limit the gap to 10 seconds or less.

*Albany is a shorter race, but it also has taller steps (7.5 in. vs. 6.75 in.).

This time around I planned to reach the halfway point (around floor 25) right around the 3:00 mark and then push myself in the latter half of this race to break the 6 minute mark. If I still had energy left, I would start pushing myself at floor 30.  In any case, floor 40 designated as my “go-to” floor, lungs & heart be damned.

After a few cold minutes standing outside posing for pictures, David entered the stairwell as I patted him on the back for good luck. Ten seconds later, I entered the stairwell and the race was on.

The crowd was cheering and I couldn't hear my metronome for the first couple flights but I quickly got into the groove after I crossed the 2^nd floor hallway over to the main staircase. Up to the 10^th floor or so, I tried keeping only one foot on the landings but I was having a bit of trouble balancing. Although the rails were perfect for climbing, the pace was too fast to execute efficient turns. I eventually settled on two-stepping the landings; I was getting tired and I needed that extra micro rest on each landing. As I climbed I kept loose track of the floors since the floor numbers were difficult to see. In order to get a proper look, I would have to look over my shoulder after making the turn in order to see the number.

On floor 25 I looked at my watch. It crossed from 2:59 to 3:00 just as I looked down. I knew I was right on track but would need to push harder to hit 5:50. Considering I went out a bit faster for the first 10 floors, if I continued my current pace, I’d struggle to break 6:00.

For the next couple floors I took stock of my situation. My lungs and heart were hurting but my legs and arms were still strong. I remember giving up near the same point last year and I regretted not pushing myself harder. In the back of my mind I reminded myself of all the hardcore 4 minute repeats I've done on the Precor Stepper. With less than 3 minutes left in the race, it was time to buck up and grow a pair or go home with regret.

By the upper 20s I had picked up the pace. Since I wasn't agile enough to single step the landings, I simply went up each flight a little bit ahead of the beat of my metronome. This continued as I approached the upper 30s. With just over a minute to go, I kicked it into another gear. My heart and lungs were struggling but my arms and legs were handling the pace. This was going to be like the final minute of my standard erg work out; pull 15% harder during the last minute and try not to fade.

In the lower 40’s I had the brief illusion that I could hear David faintly from somewhere up above. I risked a glance skyward and couldn't see anything but the endless turn of stairs. There was no reason to suspect that I was catching up since I hadn't heard him at all throughout the lower 40 floors. Plus, I expected David to be 15 to 20 seconds ahead of me by this point. However, by floor 45 I really could hear him up ahead, although I had no way to judge the distance. I held a glimmer of hope that I might be able to squeak in a win, but I knew prognosis wasn’t good; I was running out of real-estate to climb and I could hear the crowd at the finish line up above. I assumed David had finished already and I was only racing to set a PB.

Just as I reached floor 48, I was in for a total shock. I heard the crowd suddenly cheer and I knew that David had just crossed the finish line. I still had two floors to go and if I could somehow climb them in under 10 seconds, I had a shot at winning. I immediately turned on the turbo boosters and climbed with renewed intensity.

I crossed the finish line and I knew it was going to be close. I stopped my stopwatch right around 5:49 so I also knew that I posted a very solid time. I was completely exhausted so the next few minutes were kind of blurry. I do remember chatting with David as well as my parents at the top of the tower. I also vaguely remember switching bibs for the “Century” climb (where we’d be racing up the tower a 2^nd time for a grand total of 100 floors). When I finally recovered enough to chat, my father told me the preliminary finish times from the time keeper. David finished at 8:37 and I finished at 8:49, which meant that I crossed the finish line about 12 seconds behind David. Since David started the race about 10 seconds ahead of me, that meant he won the race by about 2 seconds. I was a little bit disappointed about coming in 2^nd for the 2^nd time in two weeks by such a narrow margin, but in the end I was still pretty happy about my race. After all, I didn't really expect to win in the first place.* Anyway, I still had the Century climb to do. David looked to be in pretty rough shape after the first climb so I figured if I could recover quickly, I had a pretty decent shot at winning the Century.

*In case you are wondering, I gave myself a 33% chance of winning at Albany but only a 15% shot at Philly since it is a longer course.

The Century climbers headed back down to race and we eventually found ourselves at start line again. Even though I had a good 20 minutes to rest, I was still tired. My legs and arms felt okay, but my lungs were raw and my energy was sapped. Knowing it would be impossible to have a repeat performance, I changed the beat of my metronome from 115 bpm down to 113 bpm. I hadn’t really planned for the 2^nd race, but based on David’s 6:21 performance during the last year’s Century, I would need to come close to 6:20 to have a shot. That would mean I’d need to hit floor 25 somewhere between 3:10 and 3:15 and then somehow will myself up the final 25 stories.

The organizers placed David and me in the middle of another group of climbers and once again, the race was on. This time around I didn't even bother try to single step the landings. I was pretty tired and needed the extra break at each landing. Another difference was that there were lots of people in the stair well; I probably passed a person once every couple floors or so. The congestion really wasn't too bad and almost every single climber let me pass on the inside. The only real challenge was summoning the energy to ask people to move out of the way!

It was getting harder and harder to climb but for the most part, I was still able to keep up to the beat of my metronome. When I finally hit floor 25, I looked down at my watch and It said 3:30. I was already way behind my proposed pace!

Unlike the first climb, I had no energy to go faster; my body had already transitioned into “survival mode”. It was all I could do to keep up my current speed and even that would be barely enough to crack 7:00, let alone 6:20.

For the next ten floors I begged myself to go faster. My arms and legs were still in pretty good shape, but my heart and lungs were tapping out. I had an unsettling feeling that I was capable of going faster for a short burst, but doing so would make my heart explode.

All thoughts of winning were dashed, but pride alone kept me from slowing down and quitting. When I finally hit the upper 30s, I didn’t dare look at my watch but I knew I only had one or two minutes worth of climbing left. I was ashamed that just minutes before I had dreamt of winning the race and now I was basically just cruising to the finish line. I wanted to quit the race, but I knew that wasn’t an option. I didn’t come all the way to Philadelphia to let my parents see me walk to the finish. Tower Masters don’t give up. I gave the last 10 floors my all, slowly picking up the pace floor by floor until the finish line. David greeted me at the finish and then I stumbled over to see my parents. I stood next to the wall with my hand on my knees and panted for a while. Then I kneeled down and started sobbing.

At the Finish Line

Everything came out at once. Between family and work, I was already having a difficult week. This race was the last straw. I put so much effort into the last climb and I didn't even come close to reaching my goal. I felt like such a failure. I also couldn't bear coming in second for the third straight race. To make matters worse, I hated myself for crying about second place. How many people would love to be in my shoes while I was sitting here crying?

I thought back to a bit of wisdom offered up by David while we were waiting in line before the Albany Corning Tower race. He told me, “I like this sport because we’re all friends. We’re not really racing against each other; we’re racing against ourselves.” Although it is a great feeling to win a race, winning isn't the most important thing. Climbing is all about camaraderie and surpassing your own personal expectations in the stairwell and setting up new goals for the  next climb. I climbed my heart out in Albany and Philly; Setting up two back-to-back PBs is something to be proud of.

I’m not sure how long it took until the tears finally stopped, but after I had finally composed myself, David came up to me and offered his congratulations. Apparently, I caught David right at the end of the race and I was in such a daze that I didn't even notice.

The Tower Masters

Happy Parents

I started crying again. Here was David, who also had a difficult climb, congratulating me for winning when by rights he could have been sulking about coming in 2^nd while I was crying even after I found out that I had won. What irony. When the tears finally subsided, I felt drained, yet at peace. Now I could finally celebrate and socialize with friends and family.

After snapping a few photos from the observatory, I headed over to the Tir-na-Nog bar with my family to attend the after race party. While waiting for the final results and awards, the Tower Masters all met inside the bar for a rounds of drinks. David even bought me a Strong Bow, my favorite English cider.*

Cue "Rocky" Theme

View from the top

*He owed me a drink since I lugged his 2^nd place USA championship trophy all the way from Las Vegas back to Albany. That sucker took up nearly half of my carry-on.

When the official times started coming in, I was in for a big surprise; my name was atop the leader-board  Beyond belief, I saw that I was a fraction of a second ahead of David. Apparently, I must have spent an extra couple seconds at the bottom of the tower or received faulty information at the top of the tower. Either way, I felt like I had pulled a rabbit out of my hat.

Everyone congratulated me on the win and a little while later, the organizers kicked off the award ceremony. The Tower Masters made out with a pretty big medal haul, taking the overall team award as well as numerous other age group awards. See final results here.

After the ceremony, it was time for the long drive back home. I grabbed some snacks from remaining goodies left over from the party and said my goodbyes. Overall, it was an emotional, yet satisfying race.

Post-Race Analysis:

1^st Climb:

Strategy: A- ; 115 bpm was a little too slow when double stepping the landings. I had a conservative first half and had to play catch-up during the 2^nd half. That said, negative splits are usually a good thing, so I’m pretty happy.

Technique: B; 115 was a little too fast when single stepping the landings. The only way to improve would be to practice in the actual stairwell. Mapping out the course might help, too. Perhaps there is a more efficient stepping pattern?

Effort: A- ; I had a very solid effort during the last 20 floors, especially compared with last year’s race.

Overall: A- ; A solid overall race.

2^nd Climb:

Strategy: D/B+ ; Going all out during the first race is not a recipe for success in a multi-climb event (D). However, since the “Century” climb was not my primary goal, my strategy for the 2^nd race was pretty sound (B+).

Technique: B; Same as the first race.

Effort: A-; Although I physically could have gone faster, this race broke me both physically and mentally. It took courage just finishing.

Overall: C/A- ; I had a poor 2^nd race because I was already so exhausted (C) but I did a pretty good job with what I had left in the tank (A-).

Final Thoughts:

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: Cardiovascular fitness is what I need to work on the most.

David is always the first to offer congratulations whether he wins or loses. Someday I hope to be as gracious. David is truly a great champion & role model.

I came down with a cold the day after the race. The strain of the Century climb really lowered my immune system. Fortunately I took it easy for the next couple days and fully recovered. I didn't want a repeat of January.

Like most ALA climbs, this race is well organized but I have a couple complaints. First off, unlike the NY/New England or Nevada ALA chapters, the organizers at Philly are unwilling to accommodate elite climbers. For the 2^nd straight year, they refused to waive or even reduce the entrance fee for out of town participants. Likewise, they didn't even bother getting plaques or trophies for the top finishers. In fact, the medals we received didn't even identify the race; the medals simply had a sticker that said “2013 Fight for Air Climb” pasted on the front. At least the other ALA climbs had the decency to put the name of the climb somewhere on the medal or ribbon. Considering that Philly was the largest ALA climb in the North East (with 600+ participants) I felt pretty shortchanged. NY/New England & Nevada ALA chapters go out of their way to attract elite climbers, but the Philly chapter just seems to think of elite climbers as just another way to make their charity quota. What a shame. I hope they consider changing their stance next year.

Midweek Madness in Albany

Editor's Note: I'm finally less than a month behind in my blog! This post was originally created a few days after the Albany Corning Tower race (March 7th, 2013). Unfortunately there aren't any race day pictures in this post, since I left my camera at home. However, a couple days before the race, I was contacted by the Schenectady Gazette for an interview about the upcoming race. I saved a copy of the article for your viewing pleasure. You probably will have to download these pictures in order to read it.

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The results from the Albany Corning tower are in. I did well, but not good enough to capture 1^st place. That award belongs to my friend David Tromp. See the full results here.

I’ve been traveling for races pretty non-stop for the last couple weeks so it was nice to finally have a race at home. Since I’ve been so busy, it has been a challenge to balance training, tapering, and racing. Fortunately, I’ve gotten to know my body pretty well, so I think I handled everything just right. Here was my training log in preparation for this race:

·        Saturday: Race in Los Vegas

·        Sunday: Off (traveling)

·        Monday: Weights (hard core workout)

·        Tuesday: Long intervals on the Precor Stepper (hard core cardio)

·        Wednesday: Light spinning class

·        Thursday noon: Very light pacing practice (4 x 40 seconds up local stairwell @ race pace)

·        Thursday evening: Corning Tower Race

Beyond Master's Races, this event is probably the most serious event on my racing calendar since the Corning Tower is on my home turf. As such, I’ve taken this race seriously over the last two seasons. This year, however, with so many back-to-back races, I had very little time to mentally prepare. Fortunately, rereading my blog from 2012 was really helpful in getting ready for the race. My notes from 2012 told me exactly what to expect and how to tackle the building. My race plan was basically the same as in 2012 with just a couple minor adjustments:

1)      Set my metronome at 114 bpm. This is 2 bpm faster than last year since I’m in a little better shape and I wanted to break 4:35. Last years’ time was just over 4:39.

2)      Start the race smoothly, using my metronome to reel in my pace.

3)      Aim for 2:10 to 2:15 at floor 21.

4)      Start accelerating at floor 30

5)      Push very hard at floor 36 until the end.

I parked my car at the lot between the Church and the Museum (for free) and arrived at the Corning Tower around 6:30 PM. I soon met up with David to deliver his Stratosphere trophy.  After chatting with David, Hal, and a few other racers, I started preparing for the race. 30 minutes before the race, I started my active stretches and then moved into my burpee routine to get warmed up (12 burpees + 3 minute rest; repeat). Shortly after 7:30, the organizers lined us up and they led us upstairs to the start line.

Right around 7:35, the race was on! Since I was seeded 2^nd, I hopped into the stairwell 10 seconds after David. Right at the start I sprinted up the first short flight of stairs but quickly slowed down and climbed to the beat of my metronome. With the adrenaline rush of the start, the metronome really helped me reign in my speed.

The floors passed by quickly as expected in such a short race. The rails were very easy to grip, but I was having trouble executing the turns efficiently. Just like last year, I felt more comfortable using only the inside rails to pull myself up, but now and then I forced myself to switch to using both sides in order to prevent my arms from being fatigued. It turns out that this wouldn’t be an issue; the stairs eventually switch direction at the first transition point, so arm fatigue doesn’t really come into play.

In the upper teens I realized that I forgot to set my stopwatch. I was a bit upset at myself since I wanted to check my split at the half way point. Drat! I had no choice but to continue upwards.

As soon as I hit floor 30, I cranked the pace up a notch. At this point the metronome was still helpful even though I was no longer climbing to the beat. Basically, I just made sure I was going faster than my metronome.

I was really hurting at this point, but I knew I the race would end in perhaps another minute and a half. It became a mental challenge; my heart and lungs wanted to me to slow down, but I still had strength in my legs. I willed myself to go faster and my legs responded. I quickly glanced up to see if I could see David, but it was pointless. I could hear cheering from the volunteers, but I couldn’t actually hear or see David. I knew I must be pretty close behind, but there just wasn’t any way to tell.

At floor 36 I still couldn’t hear David. I knew I was having a pretty good race, but I simply wasn’t closing in. There were only six or seven more levels to go so just like I planned, I kicked it into another gear. At this point, it felt like I was moving in slow motion. My heart and lungs were screaming, but my legs were still responding well. As each floor passed by, I felt like I could go a little faster. Floor by floor I kept adding speed, but I still felt like I had more to give. With only a couple more levels to go, I thought to myself “why aren’t I going all out? The race is going to end in a matter of seconds and I’m still not going all out!”.

I sprinted the remaining few flights, but I had nearly reached my limit. My legs finally started to buckle on the last flight and I tripped up on the last set of steps*. I quickly recovered and ran to the finish line.

*strangely enough, I tripped in almost the same place as last year!

I stood with my hands on my knees huffing and puffing for a few moments, eventually greeting David when I could finally stand up straight. Since I didn’t have my watch, I had no idea what my time was, but David asserted that we both set PBs. The timers at the top debated for a few moments to figure out who had won (since they only had access to the finish times, not the start time). It sounded like a close race, and for a moment I had a glimmer of a hope of placing first.

After a couple minutes, the other climbers started appearing and I greeted the next few climbers to finish. I then walked over to the beverage table to grab a bottle of water and sat down for a well-needed rest.

After chatting with a few other finishers I finally headed over to the timing desk to learn the final times. David broke the 4:30 mark (4:29.5 official) and I came in less than 14 seconds later, such that my final time was around 4:33 (4:33.4 official). Although disappointed about coming in 2^nd for the 2^nd straight year, I was pretty thrilled about my time. The list of climbers who have had faster times in the 25 year history of the race is pretty short and all of the racers are well-known in the stair climbing circuit*:

·        Jesse Berg: 4:12.4 (2010)

·        Jean-Francois Harvey: 4:24.6 (2009)

·        Chris Solarz: 4:27.7 (2009)

·        David Tromp: 4:29.5 (2013)

·        David Tromp: 4:30.2 (2011)

·        David Tromp: 4:31.9 (2009)

*Notably missing from this list is Tim Van Orden, since his PB in this race is a mere 4:38.8 (2011)!

After finding out my time, I headed downstairs to grab a few sandwiches for dinner and congratulate David. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay for the award ceremony but David promised to accept my award on my behalf and deliver it to me at the next race.

Final Thoughts:

·        I had a sound strategy, but I could have maintained a faster pace throughout most of the race (i.e. from floors 1-30). Next year I’ll have to set my metronome a few bpm faster.

·        My biggest weakness is still my cardiovascular fitness. It is coming back slowly but steadily from my peak in November, but really I have to take it to an even higher level.

·        My biggest strength is my leg muscles. During last years’ race, the lactic acid build-up in my legs was pretty intense and my legs hurt pretty bad for several minutes. This year, it was pretty minimal. I recovered pretty quickly this time around.

·        Albany is harder than any race I’ve done on the circuit, and David Tromp agrees. Nearly the whole race is done beyond threshold. It hurts.

·        My lungs hurt much worse in Albany then either Vegas or Chicago. Fortunately, the coughing subsided the next day.

·        Next year, I should take a day off and play around in the stairwell. Unfortunately, the state buildings close at 6:00 PM and I cannot feasibly use them to train.

Grades:

·        Strategy: A-; I assume I lost time by starting out too slow.

·        Effort: A- ; Albany is a mental challenge, but as Sproule Love once said, “You can always go faster.”

·        Execution: A- ; Alas, I forgot to set my watch.

·        Technique: B; I didn’t do well on the turns.

·        Overall: A- ; Overall, a very solid race.