Fitness Adventures: The Empire State Building Run Up!

This post is dedicated to everyone, everywhere suffering from Multiple Myeloma and the friends and loved ones of those who are sick. The following list are the friends and family members of my blog readers who currently have, or unfortunately lost their battle with, MM. In honor of them, I wore their names on my back today:

Like any greatly anticipated event, I'm sort of sad it's over, but here's the recap!

5:00 am get up and get ready!

Full hair & makeup, of course! And rhinestones and sparkly eyeshadow - why not? But just look at that quad muscle! Where did that come from?!

Of course it was below freezing (again) and there was a fresh coating of snow and ice (will this winter ever end? ever?) Here's how I looked before I left the house (yes, those are Hello Kitty earmuffs) -

I wasn't leaving anything to chance with the MTA - I had 3 possible routes planned. And fortunately, I got very lucky - waiting only seconds for a G Train to Court Square, then a couple of minutes for an M to 34th St.

When I emerged in Manhattan, and turned south on 34th St, I saw her. Through the fog. There she was!

 

It was lightly snowing as I approached her. Isn't she gorgeous?

I cut through the Starbucks in the ESB lobby and absolutely loved this NYC mural -

It was just about 7:00 am as I made my way to the registration area. I finally met the 2 women from the MMRF who I've been emailing for months - the ones that accepted me on their PowerTeam, Alicia & Jane (thank you again, ladies!). However, I didn't get to speak to them much as they were both busy working and I was frantic. Why? Well I may look all cool on the interwebz, but I'm really not.

As much as I look forward to these events, I get very anxious before them. Part of that anxiety is that I don't like to socialize before the start because I have my own rituals/personal to do list in my head. You know, things like: get photos, tweet updates, hydrate, get info about the event, check into Four Square, make bathroom visits, check hair & make up, talk to myself and have my 'getting in the zone' thoughts... If that wasn't bad enough, I was really thrown when they told me they had no bib for me! Worse, that I had been REJECTED! (I was rejected in the "invite only category" but forgot that when I registered to be part of the PowerTeam I did not use my last name. It was eventually sorted out - thank you Alicia & Jane! - but I became very panic stricken that I would not be able to climb). Unfortunately for my Dad, he arrived right at that moment when I was really upset. "They don't have my bib!" (I actually started crying, I was so afraid I wouldn't be able to do the event!) When I did get my bib, I was so relieved, you have no idea!

Some of that anxiety behind me, I asked my Dad to do his job - help me get my bib on and get a photo of me -

I had some water and a quick pre-event bathroom visit:

I got in line and met Natalia, a blog reader from South Africa (with a lovely accent!) who was also a member of the PowerTeam!

She was good enough to get a photo of me & my Dad as we waited to begin -

Finally, we were led down the escalators-

Self portrait on the way to the lobby -

passing through the lobby-

and to the starting line-

A lady from the PowerTeam offered to get a photo of me at the starting line and it came out great!!! (look at my right arm! Wow!)

While waiting there, I had the pleasure of meeting King Kong. Today he was climbing the ESB on the inside :) I wasn't going to get a photo with him, but someone insisted. I'm glad they did, It's actually very cute-

But then another photographer (with a real & enormous camera, he looked like press) insisted King Kong pick me up - you know, in his arms! - which he did! The photographer instructed me to scream, which I did. I don't have a photo of it, but one might turn up in the news somewhere!

But no more fun & games! It was about to begin!!

I have a short video of the few seconds before the start of the run -

From there we all funneled through the doorway -

And before I even realized what was happening, it had begun! I don't even think it hit me until I was about 8 flights up (which is probably how long it took for me to get to a nice open spot) I have no idea where I was when I took this shot, but my eyebrows look phenomenal! Look at those arches!

I really paid no attention to the floor numbers, I just kept walking, keeping a good pace. Not too far into the event, I realized a man was on the outside of me, to my left. I didn't turn around to see him, but I had a feeling he was using me to pace himself since he wasn't passing me. Either that or he was enjoying the view. Just kidding - it was the former.

At one point I looked up and realized we were in Stairwell S, on the 39th floor. Since S is my first initial and 39 is my age, I had to get a photo of that -

Here's another short video just past the halfway mark -

and proof I do sweat (though it took me dozens of flights to break a sweat)-

As for what was going on in my head -

This stair climb was very different than any other for me, mentally. Normally I spend some time thinking about the number of flights because I have to keep track. This time I knew I didn't have to count or keep track of anything. Other than that, I would normally think about my blog - things I want to write about - little things that occur to me share - drafts I need to work on - ideas I get from questions, comments or emails I receive from you - things I forgot to mention in a recent post.

But today was totally different. My thoughts were much more present-focused: "Think about what you are doing right now! Where you are! Don't miss out on what is going on around you! You're in the EMPIRE STATE BUILDING! Think about what it took to get here! How many people - most of whom you don't even know - donated money to the MMRF - not only for cancer research, but for you! For you to have this experience! Think about what it means that total strangers have so much care and admiration for you, that they are inspired by what you've done and what you're doing right now! Think about what you've accomplished in the last 4.5 years! Think about the old you - Did you ever in your wildest dreams even think this would be physically possible, or that you'd have the desire to do something like this? Think about all the people whose names are on your dedication bib and the countless others that have this senseless disease. Think about how lucky you are to be healthy and able to do this! Think about how awesome it is to be you. Right here. Right now..."

It was because of all of those thoughts that I almost didn't even notice I was walking up the stairs. I'm serious. My body just keeps going. It's like I said with running - I'm a machine. My body knows what to do. I just have to work on my breathing. My body doesn't want to take a break. It just wants to keep going.

It wasn't until around floor 72 that I remember thinking "My heart rate has been really high for a while and I'm *really* thirsty." My body wasn't sore or tired, my heart was just tired of working so hard, but I knew I'd be fine. I knew I was almost done with this incredible event. But to distract myself from my heart rate and thirst, I took more photos. I like this side shot of me walking up the stairs -

And this is reminiscent of my "on bike" shots I like to take -

You might be surprised to hear that it was in the last 20 or so flights that I began passing people - men! - not because I started going faster, but because they had started slowing down. As I was approaching a guy who appeared to be in very good shape, around my age, he said this was harder than a marathon. (I thought "Are you kidding?! A marathon is 5 hours, this is only 20 minutes! How on earth is this harder than a marathon?!") And as I passed him, smiling (in hair & make up, mind you), I encouraged him and told him that he could do it. (he did, I later saw him with his medal)

And in the last 10 flights, I realized my friend was still right beside me. I still hadn't turned around to look at him but congratulated him for keeping up with me, and told him it was a pleasure walking with him. 

And then before I knew it, I saw we were on the 84th floor! Only 2 left!

It's blurry, but this is the door to the observation deck!

I emerged outside on the observation deck, and tried to grab video of my crossing the finish line (which I did, kind of. warning: you might get dizzy watching this...)

The reason that video is so bad was because I wanted to film the finish but I had to drop the camera in order to pose for my overpriced photo, remember? Arms in the air, victorious & smiling as I crossed the finish line. I managed to do that, at the expense of the video, but we'll have to wait a few weeks to see it...

Unfortunately we couldn't hang out on the deck since other climbers were coming through, so I didn't get any photos up there. We were ushered back inside, but that's ok, because that's where they were handing out the medals! There were about 6 people with arms full of them. I ran straight towards the middle aged Spanish guy and told him to put it on my neck. He did, and I hugged him and actually teared up!

Then we took the elevator down from 86 to 61 where our guests (and snacks) were waiting.

I marveled at my first medal as I walked -

After being reunited with my Dad, who should I meet, but the guy who kept pace with me! This is Les. I had no idea what he looked like since he was behind me the whole time, but obviously he knew what I looked like. The funny thing is - it turns out that while he and I were doing the stairs together, my Dad & this man's wife (who could not have possibly known that he & I were side by side at the time) had been talking to each other - about us! Strange coincidence indeed!

After that, I finally had a bagel -

And then my Dad & I went back downstairs. Here we are in the lobby -

As for my finishing time - well, it was over 21 minutes, which wasn't what I hoped for (I wanted to finish under 20 with an ultimate goal of 18), but that's ok. I still did it, and had a great and unforgettable time. And at the end of the day, that's all that matters to me! I always say my goal is to finish. It's nice when I can meet or exceed a time goal, but for me finishing is the most important thing. And I finished! I did it! 86 floors! 1, 576 stairs! I'm awesome!!!

Here are my heart rate stats for the day:

• Total Time: 21 minutes, 42 seconds
• Minutes in Cardio Zone: 21 minutes, 42 seconds
• Percentage of Time in Cardio Zone: 100%
• Average Heart Rate: 169
• High Heart Rate: 187
• Total Calories Burned: 227
• Total Flights: 86

But it was only 9am, so my day was far from over!

Dad and I left the ESB and walked over to Grand Central Terminal.

Goodbye, beautiful Empire State Building! I'll never forget you or this magical day!

First I took my usual photo in the GCT bathroom. But first time ever while wearing a medal!

While in Grand Central, Dad bought me a celebratory vegan cookie while I frantically tried to sign up for the 5 Boro Bike Tour. I think the entire earth was trying to register because it was impossible to get on. I tried for nearly an hour until I had to go to the dentist - you know, across the street in the Chrysler Building (that's right - I visited my 3 favorite buildings in one day!). I showed off my medal to the ladies in the office and posed in that bathroom as well -

After my dentist appointment I headed back home to Brooklyn. And yes, I wore my medal home on the subway. Over my coat. For the world to see! (Except that no one did. I was all alone on the 7 Train...)

I made it home and showed the cats (but they just seemed confused that I was home so early).

Isn't it amazing! I love it!

And then for fun, I weighed myself. This is the smallest number I've seen all year! (please disregard my un-feminine Flintstone feet)

Woo hoo!

But wait, there's more!

I eventually got myself registered for the 5 Boro Bike Tour! See you on May 1st, NYC!

And as I mentioned in the pre-blog, while the awesomeness level for the ESB event was clearly off the charts; workout wise, it wasn't a big deal. So while I waited for my pics to upload, I went to the gym and ran 3 miles. I had a pretty great pace, too, just over a 10 minute mile!

And what do you know? I got another medal! (though this one isn't nearly as impressive...)

Finally, after cleaning up, it was the moment I was waiting for - my celebration on Park Ave with my Weight Watchers leader, friends and fellow members! Before I got there, Melanie actually counted out 86 bravo stickers for me (I'm holding them in my hand) and gave me a chance to talk to the group to talk about my experience (and show off my medal, of course!).

But I especially love this picture, with her giving the thumbs up in the background (and you might recognize my friend Malaika in the foreground, clapping)

So it was a big day for me - and I want to thank all of you who had a part in it - who donated, who cheered for me, who sent me tweets, texts & facebook messages and comments today (way too many to respond to), who thought about me and who celebrated with me. Thank you so much for being a part of a day I will never forget.

xo Sheryl