January 27, 2008

Today was the Aon Step-up for the Kids climb. It took place in the Aon Building (or the Standard Oil Building, for all of you that are old school like that). It's actually the second tallest climb in the United States in terms of stairs with a total of 1,643 in 80 floors.

I was pretty pumped about it...until my inhailer ran out of medicine around floor 40. That definatley sucked, but I just slowed down and finished. Probably slower than I would have liked, but I did finish.

My time was 27:57, which is much faster than I did the Hancock last year. If I had my inhailer I probably could have done better. I'm clearly feeling competitive with myself and am going to be wanting to shave off a couple of minutes for the Hancock! :) I was 588 for women 1534/2061 overall, and 207/287 for my age group. Not totally embarssing, but not my best perfomance either. So, what did I learn from this event? Check your inhailer BEFORE you go!

While I was waiting in line, I started talking with two other climbers, Ken and Sandy. (Because climbers are friendly people--and let me tell you, the guy behind Ken and Sandy was HOT!!--Seriously--Awesome shoulders, amazing eyes, when he passed me nice butt--I love the scenery on stair climbs!!) Anywho, Sandy and Ken asked about my inhailer and prior climbing participation and such...ya know, small talk. I realized that a year ago today, I hadn't even completed my first climb. I'd never run a race. Hell, I'd never run a distance over 2 miles. My first race ever, was last April, and now exactly one year and one week later, I'll run my first marathon. I never fathomed I could do that. If something was 26.2 miles away, I'd drive...and even then I'd crab about how far away it was!! I can't believe how much I've changed in the last year. It all started to prove to myself that I could do it and to get Jack to quit smoking. Now, I breath easier, I run farther and I'm much stronger. The Hancock really did change my life...and I did it one step at a time.