BigDude201’s BodyBlog

Well, the day didn’t start off well. I couldn’t sleep most of the night. I’m not sure why. When I got up, my blood pressure was high, so I kept thinking, maybe I shouldn’t go. I wasn’t sure I would even make it to the 10th floor. Anyhow, I convinced myself that I needed to at least try. So I went. There were a ton of people there. A lot of corporate teams. It looked like it was going to be a big party. I was scheduled for 10:00AM, the earliest slot for individual climbers. However, at 9:30, the had a lull in the corporate teams, so they let me go early. You climb the escape staircase in 101. It was extremely hot especially with all those people. I knew I just wanted to make it, so I wasn’t concerned about time.

The first 10 floors were a breeze. After that, I started feeling the exercise. I can easily do High Intensity cardio on an elliptical for 45 minutes straight. However, climbing has always been a challenge for me. I suspect it has something to do with Physics, weight versus distance lifted and I definitely have the weight. Anyhow, I just took it in pieces. I focused on 5 floors at a time. There were stopping areas on the 35th floor and 59th floors where you could rest or quit. By the time I reached the 35th floor, I knew I could do it.

I must admit, I grew up and lived in the Northeast US (NJ & MA) and I can sweat at the drop of a hat. I sweat when shovelling snow in a T-Shirt. By the time I reached the 59th floor, I was dripping wet. The monitors, for lack of a better word, kept asking me if I was alright and telling me I could quit, but there was no way. I finally finished the 91st floor and got out to the observation deck where there was a nice breeze. It took me 1 1/2 hours with the rests, but at least I finished. There was a huge party when I got back down. They had a live band and some food, live radio broadcasts and some TV cameras. I wasn’t the slowest, nor the oldest (I’m 55), and definitely not the youngest. It was fun and now that I know I can do it, I hope to get my company to have a team next year. (I got very strange looks when I tried this year. They thought I was crazy.)

I was surprised listening to the radio on my way home at how many people quit at the various exits of the climb. The DJ quit on the 35th floor and so did another guy he was talking with. They also said several people got sick with nausea and cramps. The guy was young, at least compared to me. I was so surprised to hear them talking about quitting. I can’t imagine that for most of them it was more of a mind issue than a physical issue. Anyhow, I succeded and I feel great! 

Does anyone know how to turn the fotos below. They are rotated on my PC, so I was surprised to see them come out this way.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 5th, 2007 at 12:45 am and is filed under Training, Challenge. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.