Seattle Stairclimb 2013

   

     The Seattle Firefighter Stairclimb has come and gone, and it was a blast! This event was truly a last minute event for me. Sure I signed up back in November, but then pushed it to the back of my mind. I was really only reminded about it with how hard my Captain, GT, was training for the event. Even then, I didn't give it much thought because I wasn't sure that I was actually going to go. With the new baby in the house, and everything else going on, I wasn't sure that we were going to make the trip again. I totally wanted to go and redeem myself from last years debacle, but wasn't sure if this was going to be the year that it was going to happen. I initially signed up only because GT was claiming that it was going to be his last year doing the event. As the time came closer and closer, I found out that families were not going to be allowed into the building like they did last year. This really bummed Shawna and I out as we wanted the kids, especially Monkey, to experience the atmosphere of all the firefighters and the bag pipes. I almost backed out when I first heard about the no family rule. Luckily I didn't.

          With about 5 weeks or so before the event, I figured I should probably start to do some sort of training for the event. If you recall last year, I did one 20min stair machine for a fundraiser as the entire training for the event. This year was going to be different! Here's the entire amount of training I did for this year's event.
           1 session at the US Bank building. It's the tallest building in town, and when going from the basement to the top, you get about 24 flights in per climb. I did 3 total climbs with a 40# weight vest, which GT said counts close to 100 flights at the Columbia Tower.
           2 sessions during a fund raiser on the stair machine, one was a 20min and the other a 15 min. Both in full turnouts and with the air pack, but not on air.
           3 sessions on the stair machine at the station with the 40# weight vest, 20 min each session.

            That was all the training I did. I didn't train anywhere near the volume or intensity that GT did; but then again I didn't get under 13 min either. GT was so fanatical about his time, he was at the US bank building in his full gear, and on air at least once every 4 day. He would do the stair machine at the station on air. Once the bottle was empty, he'd get off the machine, drop the air pack and then climb right back on for another 20+ minutes. His cycling intervals, toward the end, were geared toward the stair climb, with 10-12 min heavy Power Intervals with a lower cadence (80-85) with a 5-6 min rest. GT was very discipline and worked extremely hard, and all his hard work paid off. He got 7th overall (out of 1474). I, on the other hand, didn't do nearly anything like that. I didn't even start training until after my bowel obstruction issue.

       With the no family rule, Shawna and I decided that we would still go to Seattle, and we would take Cupcake with us since she is only 4 months old. At her age, she really doesn't do much other than hang out, and it made us more comfortable to know that the mom's didn't have to worry about a baby while trying to entertain 3 other children. Cupcake did great on the entire trip, and really didn't prevent us from doing anything that we wanted to do. We got into town on Friday night, had dinner and then hit the hotel and went to bed. On Saturday, we went to the outlet mall and did some shopping before meeting up with some of the guys from the team for a tour of underground Seattle. That tour was really cool, and we learned a ton of cool stuff about the history of Seattle. Saturday night we went out to dinner and then called it a night.

My gear, ready to go

 

       Sunday morning came, and it was time to get the game face on. Last year, my start time was something like 3 in the afternoon, which his horrible. This year, 930! Yeah!!! I got up early enough to have a decent breakfast once I got to the tower. It was a breakfast sandwich with eggs, cheese and spinach and wasn't too bad. At 830, I took my Sport Legs pills, and started stretching. 910 rolled around and I downed my Gu with some water. Next thing I knew, my battalion was being called. I was already halfway dressed, but I threw my coat on, grabbed my air pack and helmet and off I went to line up. I was processed through and made my way to the line outside where everyone gets a chance to look up at the tower before they're about to climb. I was a little anxious and nervous, but ready to go. On my right wrist, where my timing chip was, I had written down the half way mark (floor 37) and the final floor (floor 73) on the strap. Yes, we climb 69 flights, but we don't actually start on the first floor (I don't know why, so don't ask).

          While waiting outside, I decided it was time to turn on my hear rate monitor. I was just curious as to what kind of readings I would get while climbing. Just standing outside waiting to go, I was already ticking along in the mid 120's! Holy crap, I thought. But there was nothing I could do to slow it down. As I inched closer to the start, I put my mask on and my gloves. I clicked my regulator into my mask and prepared to climb. The music was already playing and I got the signal to go. I hit the stop watch on my coat as I waved my timing chip across the table and I was off!

         Before I go any further, if you didn't read about last year's self inflicted disaster of a climb click HERE to get yourself caught up because I'll be talking about the differences a year and experience can make. This year, I had made plans for a bottle change at the 40th floor where everyone gets the chance to swap bottles. I started the climb and tried to take it easy on the start and not take off like I did last year. I did start with the double step on the stairs though. After the first 4 flights, you get a hallway dash before continuing up the main stair case. Once in the main stair case, I was again surprised by how quickly people were having to pull off to the side and let me pass. I just kept my head down and kept double stepping. My air issues of last year were not there. While I was winded, I wasn't fighting for air like I was last year, which was a great relief and really helped me mentally while climbing as well. Also for this year, I didn't zip my coat all the way. That would actually be an understatement. The truth is, I barely had it zipped up at all. I saw a guy in a video from last year and said that I'm doing that as well. The gear was still wicked hot, but even that little bit of fresh air was nice. Climbing toward the 40th floor, I noticed that there was a sign this year that told you the half way point, which I thought was awesome. I got to the 40th with a 1/4 tank of air on my back. I break off out of the staircase and through the open door. There is a volunteer who then starts shouting your dept name out to alert your bottle changers to be ready. I had already gone over the procedure with Shawn before hand it worked flawlessly. As I entered through the door, I undid my waist strap and was already loosening my shoulder straps. I stayed on air until I saw Shawn that way my mask didn't fog. Once I saw Shawn, I took off my regulator. Karl, the other bottle changer and my chief, stripped off my pack as Shawn then threw the other pack on my back. I cinched down the left shoulder strap, but before I could grab my right Shawn was pushing me out the door, yelling "Go buddy, you got it!!! GO GO GO!!" and then he slammed my regulator into my mask and I was off. It was extremely efficient and quick, just like a well oiled Nascar pit crew. It took me about a flight and a half before I had my right shoulder strap cinched down. I never did try my waist strap.

         When I started the climb I was double stepping the stairs. Somewhere, I have not a clue where, I started single stepping. I'm thinking that the way to further improve my time is to push the double step all the way up to the top. I also need to incorporate my arms more and use them to help pull me up the stairs as I double step. I know that probably all of the faster people are using their arms as well to help pull them up the stairs. So I got back into the stair well and kept on climbing. This year was WAY more easier throughout the climb. Don't get me wrong, the climb is brutally hard; but just not having to fight for air like I did last time made it mentally and physically easier. The further I climbed, the more my legs felt heavy, and the more that there were guys who would pull over to rest. I stopped paying attention to floors, instead I was just counting. 10 steps, left turn; 9 steps, left turn. That was one floor. Just keep counting, 10 steps, left turn. 9 steps, left turn. 10 steps, left turn, etc. Every so often I would look up to see what floor I was on, or to pull over and catch a quick couple of breaths before getting back at it. The volunteers were there every few floors offering to dump water down my back. The answer was always no. My gear weighed enough, I didn't need it any heavier because of the water.

        Finally, I saw a beautiful sign, "10 floors to go!" This year the climb had a count down for the last 10 floors, which was awesome. It was hard not to look at every sign, but it was nice to know that the suffering was almost done. I got to the last floor and forgot that there's a short hallway that you have to get through before you swipe your arm and are officially done. But I got to that table and heard the beep, signalling I was done! Here's a breakdown of the 2 years....
       2012:     Total time 22:21.   884/1552 overall, and 203/306 AG
       2013:     Total time  17:51  315/1474 overall, and 76/286 AG
                                     Difference:  4:30

A couple of shots from the top of the Columbia Tower

      I was very happy with my time. I told Shawna before the event, that I was going to get a sub 20, and knew I was capable of a sub 18 if things went well. The big question mark was just on the bottle change and how smooth that was going to play out. Needless to say, everything played out perfectly and I got my sub 18. I wore my heart rate monitor and totally forgot to stop it after the climb. It was literally 30 min later when I realized that I hadn't hit stop. This isn't a huge deal, except now I can't see where exactly my heart was for the duration of the climb. I was curious to see how quickly it was going to climb from that initial 120's reading until I was done. The only real piece of info I was able to gather was that my max heart rate for the event was 191 beats/min (which is really high, even for me). To contrast that, I see my heart rate regularly in the 180's when I run, and 170's while on the bike. I can tell you that I had my heart rate in between 168-187bpm for 18:09.
        I had a great time once again in Seattle, and would love to do the event again. I can't guarantee that the next time I climb will be in 2014, but I can guarantee that I'll beet my time once again (but not by 4:30 like I did this year). HERE is a link to a news story about the climb featuring a Boise Fire guy and my buddy Dave from NFD.

No bike, no pool, what to do?

             The rumors are true, I have sold my Felt. I have really been wanting to sell the Felt mostly because of the sizing issue and the 650c wheels. If I was sold the 52cm frame, I'd had kept the bike. I loved the felt, and had a ton of great times on it. But the fact was that it was also becoming a pain with the wheels. I had been contemplating trying to find a new bike, or to just try and be content with what I had. After all, Antonio had me set up very nicely on the Felt and I was comfortable. The 3 bikes I was considering was another Felt (preferably the 2012 DA3 because they look wicked sweet and are super fast), a Trek Speed Concept (7 series, really liked the 2011 7.5) or the Quintana Roo CD0.1   I had talked with Antonio about the bikes and sizing, and he said that pretty much any of those bikes as a size 52 would work for me. I even went and got on a 52 for the Speed Concept, and it fit nicely even with just the basic quick fit.

            I had decided that I would only really look at getting another bike if I found a great deal, and was able to sell mine. Well I found a rocking deal on a frame, and wouldn't you know it, my bike sold on eBay. I got some wheels and a crank from my Buddy Dave here at work, but looking for a decent set of aerobars have been the recent bain of my existence. I'm about ready to pull the trigger on a set of aerobars though. I gotta get something figured out. The frame is now on it's way to my greedy little hands, and I need to build it up. Once I have it all built up, I'll announce what I got and show it off. I'm definitely antsy about getting the frame and getting it built up. Of course, the bike will be delivered the same day that Shawna and I leave for Seattle for this years Firefighter Stair Climb Challenge (more on that later).

            As far as training goes, yeah I have no pool. The rec center has closed the pool down for "4-6 weeks" to work on the ventilation system in the pool area. They have given me the option of buying a pass to the YMCA for $32 for the month, but the Y is way out of my way. Idaho Athletic has quoted me a price of $50 for the month, which I might do once we get back from Seattle. The other option is to hit up the Tritown masters swim class at BSU. That's a mon and thrs night swim. I'm sure it would be great, and I'll learn a ton, but the evening part is just sucking the possibility of it. I enjoyed being able to swim in the morning so it doesn't take time away from the family. For now, I've gotten back on my swim halo and am just doing that. But, I am also trying to work on my breathing while on the halo to also better help mimic being in the water. Long, slow exhales followed by a short, deep inhale.

             Biking has been nonexistent, for obvious reasons, except for when I'm at work. While at work, I get to ride the studio bike. Which really, really sucks by the way. It makes me really appreciate my bike and the comfort that I had on it. I've grinded out a couple of sessions on the studio bike, and it just isn't fun, and it makes me sore down below.

               Since my bike is out of commission, I've picked up my running. The weather is starting to turn nice again, and getting out on the road for a run is so, so very nice. I've been working on my form, and it's still a conscious decision. I'm definitely a mid foot striker, but not a full POSE runner. The POSE method is more efficient, and I will continue to work on that.

             The rest of my training has been lifting and Crossfitting, and getting ready for the stair climb. I've actually done a few days of stairs training for the event. I've gone to the US bank building down town for a day of weighted stairs. It's the tallest building in town, and have done several sessions on the stair machine here at work and during fundraisers. I'm confident that I can break the 20 min mark this time around, if by nothing else having done it once before and knowing I won't have the air issue I had last year. I've already weighed my turnouts, and picked the lightest stuff I have. Just by changing my boots and picking the lightest turn outs, I am saving 3#'s.

              The kids are doing good. Monkey is enjoying school, and has a track break coming up (he's in year round school). He has also informed me the other week that he plays "a mean game of Tether ball" after I picked him up from school. He's also taking the bus home on the days that I work which is a huge help for Shawna.

             Bubbee has shown me that life decisions for an almost 4 year old can easily be solved by the simple reasoning of Iny, Minney, Miney, Mo.

              Peanut is starting to get into the terrible 2's I think. Everytime we tell her no about something it's almost guaranteed to be a fight. But she does love to wear jeans, and insists on them every day, which is really cute. She also has this funny stance that she does whenever she says Spiderman. We're not sure where/how/why she picked up the stance, but it's funny. She is also loving to dance anytime there's music on the TV.

          Cupcake does what she does best, be cute and smile. She is starting to roll over on her own more and more, so we need to be more careful about where we leave her.

    Lately, I've been on a Rise Against music kick, so here's a video of one of the songs that seems to be on perpetual repeat in my head and on my phone. It's called Satellite