Video Blog: The Empire State Building Run Up

I'm taking a break from reader questions this weekend and instead devoting this week's video blog to talking about the Empire State Building Run Up. I was going to do a short follow up post since there were a few things I forgot to mention in my post on Tuesday. But since I wanted to show off my medal too, I figured why not do a video post?

(for those who do not see the embedded video below, here is a link to the Flickr page where you should be able to watch the video)

In short, this is what I mentioned on the video:

1. I wanted to thank my real life friends who donated (I feel like I made it sound like I was only thanking my online friends in the last post)
2. I did not stretch before or after (as usual)
3. I was never once tired or sore during or after the event
4. My Dad commented on how I appeared fine after the event (I was) but that other people looked like they were going to collapse (haha! amateurs!)
5. I was so careful to pace myself that I may have not pushed myself hard enough. I know this because my eyebrows were in-tact when I finished (I always sweat them off when I run or do my stair workouts at work). I didn't even start sweating until I was somewhere around floor 56, and it was just a little on my forehead.
   

And what I also wanted to mention, but it's not on the video:

• This occurred to me after the event and it's been driving me crazy since - I wanted to point out that it's not 86 flights - it's 86 floors. And considering we starting at floor 1, that means it's only 85 flights.
• Regarding my time, I hadn't factored in the time it would take to get from the starting line and into the stairwell, and then around the other climbers. That being said, even if I factored it in, it wouldn't shave more than 1 minute off my time, if that much.
• I did not touch the railings at all - I didn't pull myself up by them and I didn't even use them to pull myself around the corners faster. I did the entire thing hands free!
• One of the comments I received was from a reader who seemed surprised that I only burned 227 calories. I am not surprised by this at all - like I said, it's ONLY a 20 minute workout. Twenty minutes of cardio is 20 minutes of cardio - whether you're doing stairs, running, jumping rope, whatever. Since I keep track of my stats, that was what I expected. This is also why I kept mentioning that I wasn't going to celebrate with any crazy amount of food. I knew I would not be burning that many calories (it's also why I went to the gym later that afternoon).
• Judging from people's reactions to this event, I want to point out that it looks so much more challenging from the outside - If you think of the entire thing "85 flights!" or if you stand on the street and gaze up from the sidewalk to the observation deck - the totality of the task might seem mind boggling. But the thing is, when you're in the stairwell, you don't see the whole thing. You only see what's directly in front of you. And at that point, you're just putting one foot in front of another. You won't see the enormity of what you're doing as you're doing it. You just do it. You Just. Keep. Going. I think this is a great analogy for the entire weight loss journey, or anything you want to do in life. Yes, you have the end goal in mind (in this case, the observation deck/finish line, but this could also be your goal weight or any other goal you have), but you don't let yourself get freaked out about that, or scared at how far away that end goal might be. You just tell yourself you're going to do what you need to do right now and take it (literally, in this case) one step at a time. And whether you're climbing 85 flights of stairs, running 26.2 miles or losing 100 pounds, you'll get there - when you get there. It takes as long as it takes. Just never, ever give up.
• Lastly, I forgot to include a link to the entire set of Flickr Pics.