dieselvenomblue’s BodyBlog

So I participated in a race for lung disease, involving racing up 82 flights of stairs in an office building.  We raised about $105,000 total. this isn’t just lung cancer, it involves asthma and other things too.  there were a lot of firefighters that raced as teams with full gear on which was very cool.  

I didnt train for it at all, besides my usual workouts and running. so of course I was a bit nervous about it, i have to admit. i heard the top times are usually around 5min and all the way up to 25 min for racers(you could sign up as a walker).  I knew I wasn’t going to win it but i’d do my best, little did i know how much harder it would be than i expected. The first 10 flights seemed easy enough as i flew two steps at a time and used both hands to hoist myself with the railing.  i thought "no big deal, right?"  then, i started to get really dizzy. i had been ignoring it but it started to really hit me, i thought maybe its because i’d been going so fast and turning right constantly, going in a circle. or maybe it was just the breathing and fatigue?

i paused for a second around 15 and everything hit me. i was suddenly exhausted and felt like i couldn’t go on at all. its one of those things where you dont get tired gradually, it hits you like a freakin train! that is when i gave up on winning this time. luckily i passed a bunch of people and was running with a few firefighters(not in gear) that i had caught up with and helped to keep going as a group.  at flight 32 and 64 there were people handing little cups of water which i obviously took.  every floor after 20 there was someone to cheer us on, and probably to call the paramedics if needed.

i did my best not to stop and to stay at a steady pace, and avoided looking at the floor numbers, using instead the two water stations as markers for progress. every once in a while i’d let out a grunt/yell/deep breath, you guys know how that helps.

this was some of the most pain ever. when i finished at the top there was lots of water and juice and a crowd exhausted and cheering. I couldn’t drink the juice at all. my throat felt like it was on fire. i’ve always hated cardio and been a bad runner. this was a challenge that i forced myself to do and will continue to sign up for races to eventually work my way up to run a marathon.  for half an hour after the race i felt like i was going to vomit at any second or pass out and couldnt stop coughing from my burning throat.  and then i walked over to my gym which is a block away and did a bunch of sets of bench and pulldowns.

the top guy finished at 4:32, which means he never slowed down. i finished at 7:36, which was 89th out of the 400 racers.

next time i’m going to win. and its going to be 4 min flat.