In any case, I didn't get into ESBRU but still trained and then I found this race. It's only 40 floors and can't be that bad. Started training at Argos. Even tho there are 8 floors here, you can only run 6.5 up so once a week, I run up 3 times. I walk down even tho you are supposed to take the elevator down. It would take too much time. During lunch, I would change into running clothes, up/down etc and then change back. Seemed to work for me.
My sister lives in a tall building (skyscraper?). There are 33 floors of which 28 are runnable. Started that as well. As a joke asked the kids and their cousin, Amir, if they wanna go along too. SURE! Hm? OK...So, I went to the top and they did less. As a not so funny joke, I mentioned this climb to the kids and they were excited about it. The minimum age was 12 so Jessie couldn't go but she loved to train with us. Jeremy immediatly, even tho I told him to think about it, said YES! Amir thought for a long time and then declined tho he mentioned that he wants to train with us as well. I think he just needs a lot more confidence in his abilities. His father told him that he will train with him but he still said no. That's cool tho. No pressure.
Then everytime we went there, we climbed. When we couldn't go, the kids climbed at home. One time, I told Jeremy he should go at least 10 times at home but maybe more. Jessie got into it and got him to climb 20 times. She then proceeded to climb. At 31, I forbade her to go again. Too much!!! She begged to continue tho. It was comical tho. She would tell Jeremy that she is going again and he just rolled his eyes and went with her. You can tell he wanted to stop but wasn't gonna be outdone by her. He did stop and she continued tho. His 20 to her 31.
We, to my sisters joy, started coming to them a lot more. Usually we trade Queens/Manhattan but we needed the stairs. So we came. And climbed. And climbed.
I guess I should at this point explain a little about stairs. With running a mile is a mile any which way you look at it. Obviously an uphill mile is harder than a flat mile but it is a quantifiable and measurable distance. Stairs on the other hand are anything but. Some stairs are wider than others. Some are very narrow. I'm talking about the depth of the individual stair. At Argos, the building is so old that the stairs are sagging so depending on where you step, the height of the stair is different. Also, there are different configurations to stairs. At my sisters, they are almost circular. Three rights make 1 flight. It's weird. You are almost continually turning. YUCK! At Argos, you have 4 stairs, a turn and then 20 or so stairs. Every building and potentially every flight is different. Makes training harder.
Signed up Jeremy and me. The most I climbed was 40 flights. A week before the race, we went to visit again. I wasn't going to do more than 40 and the kids were going for 28. Once I reached my 40th (actual floor was 16), I decided to go 4 more floors. Something that Amir said. Got out of the stairwell and went to the elevator. While waiting for the elevator I heard the kids voice. I was looking for them when the elevator opened up and there they are. Amir did 28 as opposed to his plan of 20. WOW! Jeremy and Jessie were gonna climb some more. I was already done but wasn't gonna be the old man in the group so I joined them. I ended up with 56 flights which I did NOT plan on. My guys ended up with 41 which following the 75% rule means they were set. AWESOME!
So I forgot to mention. Before I brought up this race, I re-checked the website and it wasn't 40 flights. Could have sworn it was 40. Turns out that they initially reported it as 40 so anyone who wants to stop after 40 could but would get a DNF. Wonderful...That's silly. You could always stop after 3 floors too.
Here are more specific details about the race...
The Course One Penn Plaza is 750 feet and 57 stories tall. The Climb will be 55 floors via stairs that go in a clockwise direction, 22 steps between floors. There are landings on each floor and half landings between floors. On the outside wall the handrail is 35" high. The inside is open and the handrail is 37 inches high. (Both measured vertically up from the center of the tread). There are 41 inches between the rails. The tread is 43-1/2" wide. The average rise is 7-5/8". The tread depth is 10-1/2". The floors are well numbered and the 21st, 35th, and 41st floors will have rest stops and water available. Volunteer stairwell monitors will be stationed along the way to assist if needed. Climb Instructions Every person climbing, whether registered as an individual or on a team, will start individually at 15 second intervals. Climbers will stage in the lobby area in numerical order by bib number. Volunteers will be on hand to assist you. Faster climbers should let slower climbers know when they are passing. A common courtesy would then be for the slower climber to move to the outside and let the faster climber pass on the inside. Please climb single file to allow people to pass easily. You may take as much time as you wish-no need to go faster than you’re comfortable! When you finish, the chip will record your official time. If you cannot complete the climb, volunteers will be stationed throughout the stairwells to assist you. When you have reached the top, volunteers will remove your timing chip, and you may get a drink and take the elevator down to the lobby and the afterparty. [Early promotion for the Fight for Air Climb stated that the course was 40 floors, therefore, if you wish, you may exit at the 41st floor, but note that by doing so you will not get an official time.] Water Stations Water stations and rest stops will be available on the 21st, 35th, 41st floors and at the finish line. Please feel free to stop and rest on the landings or at any water station. The stairwell is well-ventilated, creating more than adequate clean air circulation for this event. Volunteer stairwell monitors will be stationed along the way to assist if needed. Water is NOT allowed in the stairwell. There are plenty of water stations along the way to get adequate water. This rule is for your safety and the safety of other climbers. We do not want anyone slipping on a water spill.
Friday, January 20th, the day before the race I get a call from the race organizers as I am in Penn Station waiting for my train. Thanking me again, asking if I have any questions and reminding to bring donation $$ to race site. The human touch. It was very nice until she asked me if I checked the website recently because start time is posted. Hm...Nope. Not like me but I didn't. So, she checked the time for me. So, check-in is at 9am and the race starts at 10am and I am suposed to go off at 11:06:00 with Jeremy following at 11:06:15. SUCKS! We were hoping to get to tennis afterwards but now it's too late to give them 24 hours so we can reschedule or it will be tight. Tried to make some calls to reschedule our kickoff time but it's a done deal. To complicate things, snow is expected.
Expected snow fall: 1-3 inches for East of us and 3-5 West of us. Not sure what that means for us but when I woke up in the morning it meant get out there and shovel. Got ready, walked dog and shoveled. Cleared us and the neighbors too and off we left. A little late for my comfort but it is what it is. Roads sucked and lots of Sunday drivers but once we got on the LIE, we were ok. Parked the car and walked toward race site. Near Penn station it was bad. Parked between 30th and 31st between 7th and 8th. Took the 31st exit and as were walking, the wind was against us. Also, there were people using a snow blower kind of thing aimed at us. Silly guys. Ducked into Penn station to get out of the weather.
Got there and checked in. Asked again about early start but wasn't gonna happen. Before we knew it, it was 10am and they were calling for people 25 numbers at a time. Didn't take long to realize that we would go earlier than their projection. Nice.
Wasn't long to hear that the winner did it in approximately 6 minutes. It was actually 6:03 - NICE!
This staggered start is nice. It's also mandatory. I get it. Don't want overcrowding but it's also freaking annoying. Just want to start already. Time to line up.
Told Elizabeth to talk to someone after we leave and ask her permission to meet Jeremy up on top. Told her to say that Jeremy is climbing by himself and (*beg*) please could they go up. Wasn't sure if it will work but why not try?
Time to go. Can't worry about anything else. Start and legs are tired. The plan was to double step not holding on as long as I can and then do what I can. Passed the woman in front of me very fast. She was holding onto both banisters and using her arms. Eventually, I did the same. Double but pulling. Slowed to a fast walk too but still double step and pulling.
Stopped at the first water station to to sip on some water. Back to the grind. Passed a whole lot of other people. Worried a little about Jeremy but he's gotta do his own race. Still, everytime I saw a volunteer, I asked, in a raspy can't breathe voice, to cheer him on. Told them his bib number and name and age and asked them to scream for him. Hoping they would - climbed up.
Legs burning, breathing hard tho still joking around everytime I passed someone. Almost everyone moved out of way immediatly, tho I did have to pass some on the outside which isn't right but let's not be so serious. One person refused to let me pass, climbing up next to me on the inside. Annoying. Left them double quick. Another, listening to music, had to be touched on the elbow before he got out of the way. Annoying.
I was planning on recording 10 floor intervals on my watch but it was survival mode.
Waiting for Jeremy anxiously. Thing that sucks about stair climbing races is that there is no way to tell where anyone is. I mean I would love to know where (what floor) Jeremy was up to. As I write this, I realize that I could have asked runners who were coming in after me if they saw him but hind sight...Still out of the blue, he showed up. Had him walk a little and drink and breathe. He's ok.
Jessie was a little peeved off but handled it ok. There were kids there as young as she (8) who ran who got special permission to climb with an adult. She could have climbed, which Jeremy would have liked, but she was wearing boots because of the snow. We changed boots and she didn't bring other shoes. Next year...
Checked the results and seems like Jeremy did well so forget tennis. We are staying for the after party to get his medal. No way that we would miss this. Went to the after party at a bar called "Local". Took a looooong time but eventually the award ceremony stared AND(!!!!) he got 3rd place for his age group (3 of 6 males under 18). Got his picture taken and a nice medal.
One complaint: There really should be a finishers medal in my opinion. Still, he got his and that's all that is important. He was happy and proud. We got some food and left to the YMCA. He wore his medal most of the day - YAY!
So, he missed tennis and Jessie missed 30 minutes of Gymnastics. He did some HW and then played Raquetball with Elizabeth for 30 minutes. After that, they both swam for an hour. Dying to go home and rest, we finally got home and realized that it snowed more and started freezing and time to shovel. I was dying to eat too. Lunch was too small for me and I was gonna run the next day so I wanted to eat desperatly but being a home owner means I had to shovel first. It is what it is.
On the way home, I asked Jeremy if he thought Jessie could do the climb. I knew she could but was curious to hear his answer. He answered me that "she would not beat him by too much". Wow...Kid floored me. What a straight and mature answer. He's good like that. He's a kid and is a human being and is competitive like everyone but he isn't a sore loser and will congratulate anyone who beats him. What a great answer. Not sure if I was more proud of him for his answer or for deciding to do this climb and then following through and doing it.
One thing I forgot to mention...Interestingly enough, as I ran up, my ears clogged up. Makes sense I guess, right? I mean as you go up in an elevator, you have to pop your ears right? I had to do that during the run which for a second completly destroyed my sense of balance. Still, that never happened to me during a race.
