After Sears I knew I needed a break. I kept seeing the ICC looming on my calendar but decided that a break was more necessary than trying to sharpen up for this race. I gained some weight and only did zone 2 workouts and I simply hoped that it wouldn't really work against me come 7 December. I left San Francisco Thursday night, slept for awhile, and woke up Saturday morning…
The first time I climbed the Sears tower, I wound up not coming home for six months. I hated my job more each day and found it increasingly difficult to get out of bed. I lacked the motivation to pull myself out of this slump, not quite realizing that I didn’t have to do this for the rest of my life. One of my best friends was living in Hong Kong,…
What's Been Going on Since Aon LA? After Aon LA I decided to go kind of nuts on the bike. I put in some crazy high mileage weeks (for me), intentionally rode dirt for the first time, and always took the high road to take advantage of those stair climbing muscles. I kept saying that I wanted to lose some weight but I know I have trouble dropping weight while primarily riding,…
Presidential Towers (9 March 2014) Coming back from Vegas, I was pretty run down. Various viruses had been floating around my office, I was particularly susceptible after that race, so I opted to take it pretty easy all week. I did some easy rides to keep my legs loose (and my brain sane), spent a lot of time in the steam room trying to make peace with my lungs, and slept…
For the past few weeks I kept thinking about my Aon climb back in January. I had spent the previous few weeks regenerating all the muscle that I lost while running, moving, and traveling and had felt dead legged for weeks. I didn't feel great going to the start line that day, and five floors in my legs confirmed it as they turned to lead; at floor ten it felt like…
After racing at Sears/Willis last year I decided that I'd focus it as my goal race in 2013, working to break 20'. However, a few days later I decided to sign up for a marathon just three weeks before Sears/Willis. Bad idea, lesson learned; I'm not doing any serious distance run training until I've kicked the stair climbing bug from my system. I think I peaked about a week too early…
Heading to Peru, I was particularly concerned about the altitude. The only time I had ever really spent at altitude was a weekend in Denver while I was already sick. I knew that the primary issue at altitude is lack of oxygen and I had been doing a lot of hypoxic training this spring and summer, but I really didn't know how it would translate.While most athletes are familiar with the…
Per request from my dad (and fellow Hustler) I'm posting an update to our winter in Chicago adventure. My biggest concern going out to Chicago in February was not the race as much as how cold I was sure it would be. The weekend did not start off well when my Thursday night flight was cancelled due to snow. A quick aside here: this was the fourth or fifth time in…
After my company discontinued the popular stair climbing competition around Christmas this year, several coworkers and I started up our own office contest. Week one is done and I have not climbed as much as I should have (and eaten way more than I should have). I'm using this to train for the Hustle Up the Hancock on 26 February. I need to get training...
I just registered for this winter's Hustle Up the Hancock race. The race is 94 flights (1632 stairs) up the Hancock building in Chicago. The race is a fundraiser for the Respiratory Health Association in Chicago. I already usually take the stairs instead of the elevator and I commute by bike so I think my base is okay, but climbing specific training starts next week. I expect to do a lot…