The View From 63 Stories

Pour yourself a beverage and relax, ladies and gentlemen, because this is a long one. It’s also a good one (with lots of pictures!), because right now I’m feeling a kind of pride that I’ve only felt a couple of times before in my life.

The pride stems from Saturday morning, when I participated in the American Lung Association’s Fight For Air Climb 2012, and believe me, before I felt that pride, I felt a lot of other things, starting with ‘What the fuck have I gotten myself into?’

That’s what went through my head when I turned the corner in downtown Los Angeles and saw the 63-story Aon Center looming, just a block away. The Aon Center used to hold the record for being the tallest building west of the Mississippi, and it’s still the second-tallest building in Los Angeles (and California). Less than a month ago, I committed myself to racing up the stairwell, for charity, all the way from the street to the roof. I was familiar with the Aon Center, but had never looked at it with the knowledge that, in a matter of minutes, I would be inside it, climbing, climbing, climbing, until the stairs ended and there was nothing above but open sky. The Aon Center is tall – it tops out at 858 feet above the pavement – but when I turned that corner, it seemed ridiculously tall. Monstrously tall. Ominously tall.

It was so tall that when I stood at the base of it, I could barely make out the top – it seemed as far away as the horizon.

The Fight For Air event was a big deal. Hundreds of people were signed up to climb. They had closed down an entire block of Hope Street to create a plaza for climbers to congregate. The check-in tables were in the middle of the intersection of Hope and Wilshire.

Check it out – my bib number just happened to be my birth year! That’s a good sign, right?

Climbers were assigned line-up times. It’s not a free-for-all – they send climbers in, one at a time, on 10 second intervals, for safety’s sake. My line-up time was 9:45am. I got there about an hour ahead of time, and after checking-in and attaching the timer chip to my shoe, I did a lot of stretching and chatted with Heidi and Tom, two friends that came along to cheer me on. I looked up at the building every once in a while, and it seemed like the damn thing was growing taller with every passing glance.

At 9:30, I told Heidi the truth: I was getting really nervous. “Don’t be,” she said. “You’ve been training for this. You’ve got this.” She’s right: I’ve been on the StairMaster more times than I can count over the past couple months, and 63 stories on the StairMaster is practically nothing for me – I’ve climbed over 63 stories no less than 20 times.

But I knew climbing an actual stairwell would be a completely different animal. StairMasters don’t have landings that mess with your rhythm and pace, and while they’re strenuous exercise, you’re not lifting your full body weight with each step on the StairMaster, because the stair gives way under you. So I talked with my friend Laura on Friday to get some last-minute tips and advice. Laura’s done the Fight For Air Climb twice before, in the 73-story Renaissance Center in Detroit, and she gave me all sorts of new things to worry about:

“Here’s the thing, David – the stairwell is going to be hot and muggy. There’s no air flow in a stairwell – no breeze, not much ventilation. Wear the lightest clothes you have. Plus, stairwells aren’t cleaned as regularly as the rest of the building, so the people who climb before you are going to kick up all kinds of dust. There were water stations and oxygen tanks every 10 floors, and when I climbed, there were people who couldn’t breath and were using every oxygen tank that I passed. I made it to the top, but breathing wasn’t easy – which is ironic, because the event is, you know, organized by the American Lung Association.”

Yikes. I decided I would mentally prepare for a completely miserable experience, so I could be pleasantly surprised if it actually wasn’t that bad.

When it was my group’s turn to line up, all my thoughts of dust and sticky stagnant air were quickly replaced with ‘Whoa – this is actually happening! It’s time!’ - and I got really excited. Tom snapped this photo of me in line:

I’m next!

And I’m off!

The first part of the stairwell (which directly accessed the sidewalk) was very confined, but once it cleared the two story lobby, it opened up and became much less claustrophobic. Organizers put up posters on nearly every landing, and there were tons of encouraging signs on the risers of the stairs themselves, reminding me to ‘keep going!’ and ‘stay focused!’ (My favorite was ‘you’re almost there!’, which, when posted on the 15th floor, really stretches the definition of ‘almost’.)

In addition to the various warnings, Laura and I had also discussed strategy on the phone, and she stressed how important it was to find a maintainable, consistent pace and not blow your wad on the first 20 floors. Guess who did exactly the opposite? ME! I’m exaggerating somewhat – I tried to preserve energy, and thought that’s what I was doing, but the excitement of the whole event must’ve gotten the better of me, because by floor 16 I was huffing and puffing and my legs were starting to buckle. Up until that point, I was taking the stairs two at a time, but I couldn’t maintain that, so I slowed up and switched to one step at a time.

My personal goal was not to stop. I had my iPod, so I listened to some of my favorite songs and focused on reaching the milestone floors: 21 (1/3 of the way), 32 (halfway) and 42 (2/3 of the way). I tried not to look at the floor number signs on every landing, but they were hard to miss. I took water at every water station (there were 4 or 5 total), and there were also volunteers with noisemakers cheering us on at other floors as well.

I’m not going to lie: It was tough. Brutally, excruciatingly tough. Thankfully, none of the Laura’s climate-related predictions had come true: it wasn’t stuffy or warm, nor did I feel accosted by dust. But my entire lower body was throbbing and aching by the 45th floor, and I found myself relying on the handrails a little more frequently, but I kept going. And going. And going.

At the 48th floor, I started counting backwards: only 15 floors to go… 12 floors… 8 floors… 3 floors… I got energized when I saw natural light flooding the stairwell, and I picked up the pace for the last flight of stairs, and before I knew it, I was on the roof. WHOA – I was ON THE ROOF! Volunteers were right there, handing me a towel and water and removing the timer chip from my shoe. Meanwhile, I was looking around, because that rooftop instantly became one of my favorite places on the planet.

It was an overcast, gray, foggy day, and at that height, you’re in the middle of the fog. On a clear day, I would’ve been able to see the ocean, and mountains in every other direction, but not on Saturday. I loved how the only thing the punctured the fog was the top of the nearby US Bank Tower, the only building in town that’s taller:

You couldn’t get right to the edge of the roof, but I love this next picture. Wanna know how high up I was? The teeny-tiny-looking circular building over my shoulder is actually the Staples Center, the giant arena where the LA Lakers play:

When it was time to get off the roof, I headed down the only other staircase with roof access – a narrow, very steep little number that looked like something you’d see on an aircraft carrier. This was actually the scariest part of my morning – my legs were still wobbly and aching, and the staircase was slick from moisture in the air. Plus, I had to duck to avoid hitting my head on a beam (I’m thankful for the big ‘watch your head!’ banner, because I’m exactly the tall klutz that would smack my forehead).

Once safely on the 62nd floor, I followed the signs to another stairwell, which I took to the 60th floor, where there were elevators to take us to the lobby. Before I got on an elevator, I wandered a little bit – the 60th floor is completely empty, unoccupied office space (I wonder what the rent would be!), so I headed to the windows for a couple more pics that showed how high I was.

It’s freakin’ HIGH!

The elevator took us to the second floor, and there was an escalator to get down to sidewalk level. Heidi and Tom were waiting at the base of the escalator, clapping and cheering. I grabbed a banana, and we hung around for a few minutes, and I got a massage in a massage tent.

As Heidi, Tom, and I were leaving, I looked up at the Aon Center one final time. And you know what? It didn’t seem so tall anymore. That building has 1,377 steps from the street to the roof, and I climbed each and every one of them. A smile is creeping across my face as I type this, and I suspect it will always return when I think about this day. One of the things I remind myself, especially when I’m having a bad day or feel tempted to give up on my health-related goals, is that I’m capable of extraordinary things. I can do whatever I put my mind to. And climbing the Aon Center is the perfect example.

On Saturday night, I got my official race results. In total, 632 participants climbed the stairs. I finished 110th.

**UPDATE!** Because of a cheater (read about it here), I actually finished 108th out of 632. That’s 83rd percentile, bitches! I finished 79th among men, and 23rd in my age group (Men 30-39).

My favorite statistic is my time: I climbed those 63 stories in 15 minutes, 24 seconds! My pace was 14 seconds per floor. I was hoping, based on my StairMaster training sessions, of averaging 20 seconds per floor (21 minutes total) – so I CRUSHED my expectations! Woohoo!

That’s not the only thing I crushed. Thanks to contributions from 22 tremendous supporters, I exceeded my $630 fundraising goal and brought in $697.38 for the American Lung Association. Amazing – you guys are the best! I appreciate each and every cent and feel so honored to be the cause of such generosity. Thank you!

Don’t put your wallets and purses away yet! My second stair climb challenge is just three weeks away, and it’s also a fundraiser. I’ll be climbing the tallest building on Earth (in my own special way), and you KNOW you wanna be a part of that! Get the skinny (and make a contribution) here.

As for the American Lung Association’s Fight For Air Climb 2012, I’m thrilled and unbelievably proud of my performance this weekend. I’ll leave you with one more picture – Heidi made this sign and was waving it when I descended the final escalator into the lobby after the race:

I’m Feeling Ready.

Yesterday was wonderfully productive in a lot of ways. In regards to my health, I checked two big things off my to-do list: 1) a fantastic workout, and 2) a much-needed visit to the supermarket. Which do you wanna hear about first? I hope you said supermarket!

Check out all this produce that’s now in my refrigerator!

From left-to-right, top-to-bottom: One head of radicchio, 4 red bartlett pears, strawberries, 1 bag pre-washed and cubed butternut squash, 1 head garlic, 1 pineapple, radishes, mango, 3 red bell peppers, 1 container pre-washed broccoli florets, bananas, escarole, rainier apples, mushrooms, baby carrots, tomatoes, and 2 bags pre-trimmed green beans.

I could say that I don’t know what I’ll eat first, but that’d be a lie because all the broccoli is already gone, as is a banana.

There were no new-to-me produce items, like sumo tangerines, mini kiwis, or cara cara oranges that caught my eye this time around, but I did find a healthy, pre-made squid salad (!) in the seafood section that I’m excited to try. Something tells me that the idea of squid salad either excites you or grosses you out – there doesn’t seem to be much of a middle ground when it comes to eating squid! I’m firmly on the “yes, please!” side of that fence.

Now, my workout! I had a great day at the gym. I started with the StairMaster, for the last time before my big 63-story charity stair climb on Saturday morning. I went for consistency – I set the machine at a good pace that would challenge but not kill me (70 steps per minute) and saw how long I could last. I lasted a pretty long time! All told, I spent 24 minutes on the StairMaster, burning 370 calories and climbing 100 stories – what a nice, round number!

Which means, of course, that I get to add another building to my Skyscraper Collection! There’s a 100-story building that I’ve had my eye on for a few months now, and I’m glad I can finally add it to my list, because it’s the tallest building in the world that I’ve been to the top of (in an elevator, not the stairs). It’s also a major landmark that you’ll probably recognize…

The John Hancock Center in Chicago! (It’s the tallest building in the photo.)

Of all the buildings in my Skyscraper Collection, this is the one I’m probably most familiar with. I already mentioned that I’ve been to the observation deck at the top (about 5 or 6 years ago – amazing views!), and I’ve also admired it from the street more times than I can count, because my brother, sister-in-law, and nephews used to live two blocks away. Quite literally in John Hancock’s shadow. It’s quite an impressive building – as it should be, given that the roof is over 1,100 feet off the ground – but the giant X-braces that criss-cross up the exterior, spanning dozens of floors, really add heft and make the building that much more imposing and dramatic.

There’s always something to learn, though – and here’s some John Hancock trivia that I just learned while researching this post:

• Jerry Springer owns a condo on the 91st floor, and his neighbor used to be Chris Farley.
• It was built on land that, prior to the 1870s, was part of Lake Michigan. After Chicago’s Great Fire in 1871, cleaning crews and builders began using Lake Michigan as a dump for all the rubble and debris the disaster created, eventually extending the edge of the city hundreds of feet into the lake.
• John Hancock hosts an annual charity stair climb event, much like the one I’m doing in two days, at the end of every February, called “Hustle Up The Hancock.” This year’s fastest climber, a 24-year-old named Justin Stewart, made it to the top in 9 minutes, 44 seconds. HOLY CRAP, that’s fast!
• The elevators that take people to the observation deck are the fastest in North America, making the 1,000 foot ascent in 40 seconds.

With this final preparatory StairMaster workout under my belt, I feel ready for Saturday’s stair climb up the 63-story Aon Center in downtown Los Angeles. And I won’t be resting before then – I may be done with my prep work on the StairMaster, but doesn’t mean that I’ll be sitting around twiddling my thumbs: I’ll have a full workout today, and a lighter workout on Friday that’s upper-body focused (I don’t want to wake up Saturday morning with sore, heavy legs).

I’m ecstatic about the fundraising I’ve done for the event’s organizer, the American Lung Association. After upping it numerous times based on the incredible response I received, I settled on a final goal of $630 – that’s $10 for every floor in the Aon Center. So far, you guys have driven me way past my goal - my current fundraising total is at $697.38. That’s so freakin’ awesome!

OH – I NEARLY FORGOT! You guys helped me win a prize! There was a fundraising contest – whoever raised the most money during the week of March 12-16 won a free $100 pair of shoes from a local running store. I heard about the contest but didn’t really do anything above and beyond what I was already doing. But you guys stepped up, and now I’m getting a free pair of shoes! I’ll be sure to share which pair I pick out – and thanks so much!

You still have until Saturday to donate – and please don’t let the fact that I’ve already reached my goal deter you! Click here to make a donation on my personal fundraising page. Or, if you’d prefer, I have a second stair climb event coming up in a few weeks, and I’m still a couple hundred dollars shy of that goal (which benefits the awesome Whaley Children’s Center in Flint, Michigan) – Click here and donate to help me reach that goal.

Between the two events (read about both of them here), I’ve already raised over $1,350 for charity. Wow! You guys are the best. Keep it up, readers! And…

Keep it up, David!

TWO THOUSAND STORIES!

The title of this post sounds like it might be a slogan for a kid’s bookstore or reading program, but actually, it represents a major milestone in my Skyscraper Collection.

My Skyscraper Collection began as a tool to motivate me to use the StairMaster, which I dreaded. The idea was simple – I’m an architecture lover, so I decided to find a skyscraper somewhere on the planet equivalent to the number of stories I climbed during a StairMaster workout. The idea has worked like a charm – today I’m adding my 29th skyscraper to my collection (see the entire collection here), and this whole idea has led to two major StairMaster-related fundraising events – the first of which is happening a week from today – YIKES! Click here to read about the challenges and learn how to donate.

Today I hopped on the StairMaster without any big goals. My last StairMaster workout, at the beginning of the week, was a major triumph – I shattered all my previous personal bests – and I’ve had great non-StairMaster workouts all week, so this time, I took it easier than normal.

“Easier than normal” still equaled some impressive stats. I climbed for 18 minutes, burned 290 calories, and reached 76 stories. As I drove home, I realized how my training for the aforementioned fundraisers has really amped up my StairMaster standards. Three months ago, climbing 76 stories would have been a major accomplishment – a 76-story building would be the third-highest skyscraper in my collection. But, in the past 3 months, I’ve climbednine towers with more than 76 stories. In fact, 76 stories is just a few stories above myaverage number of stories per workout, which currently stands at 71 stories.

If you had told me a year ago that an “easier than normal” StairMaster workout would result in 76 stories climbed, I would’ve laughed. That’s the difference that three months makes. And that’s something to be proud of.

Anyhoo, time t0 add another skyscraper to the collection! Today’s skyscraper is a record-holder. It’s the tallest building in Russia and the tallest building in all of Europe – although it will lose that title in a few months, when The Shard at London Bridge opens – it’s 9 meters taller, but has 4 fewer floors. The Shard, in turn, will only hold the title until the end of the year, when the Mercury City Tower in Moscow opens – it’s 22 meters taller than The Shard, but has 2 fewer floors. The lesson is that the buildings are getting taller in Europe, but the floor count isn’t!

Say hello to the 76-story Moscow Tower!

Moscow Tower is on the right – it’s part of a huge complex called Capital City, which includes the St. Petersburg tower to the left, as well as a number of shorter buildings. I love that both the Moscow and St. Petersburg towers have a precarious design – they look like blocks that could topple at any moment!

What’s MOST EXCITING about the addition of the Moscow Tower to my Skyscraper Collection is that those 76 stories, when added to the stories of the other 28 buildings in my collection, push my CUMULATIVE FLOOR COUNT TO OVER 2,000! The total count is now 2,058 – and that’s a helluva lot of stories! (I list other fun cumulative stats at the bottom of my Skyscraper Collection page.)

KEEP IT UP, DAVID!

Stair Climb Training Update

I’m back on schedule! I didn’t publish yesterday’s post until about noon, so all of you that checked for a new post earlier in the morning and didn’t find one, my bad. Click here to read it – it has a great watermelon gazpacho recipe! 

Over the weekend, I realized that a week had passed without me doing any StairMaster workouts. I had done other workouts, and plenty of them, but I’m in training right now for two separate stair climbing challenges, and the StairMaster was my primary training method.

On Sunday, I headed off to the gym, but hit an unexpected snag: the Los Angeles Marathon. The marathon closed roads across the city, and I didn’t learn until I was a few blocks away from my gym that the road closures were gonna prevent me from getting to the gym altogether. I’m sure, had I looked it up, I would’ve found where I could’ve crossed the route, but I didn’t take time the time, because I was on a schedule. I had other errands to run and things to do, and when I was forced to detour, I decided that I would screw the gym, knock some other things off my to-do list, and hope I would have time later in the day to exercise in the little gym in my building.

Can you guess what happened? Yep, I never worked out. One thing led to another, and Sunday ended up being an unplanned rest day. I was a little annoyed, because I had taken a well-earned, planned rest day on Thursday, just three days prior, but two rest days in one week isn’t the end of the world.

On Monday, when I did make it to the gym, I was ready for a great workout. And that’s exactly what I had. I started on the StairMaster, and I ended up shattering all my StairMaster personal bests that I set just two weeks ago! Check this out:

• DURATION: 28 minutes (previous best = 25.5 minutes)
• CALORIES: 485 burned (previous best = 400)
• FLOORS: 131 (previous best = 109)

Didja see that last record? ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY ONE FLOORS! That’s 22 stories more than my previous best! It made me feel more confident about my upcoming 163-story StairMaster challenge/fundraiser (donate here), and it also wiped me out. It was completely exhausting. But I wasn’t finished quite yet – after wiping down the machine, catching my breath, and moseying around for a few minutes, I headed up to the weight room and lifted weights for 30 minutes. Whew!

Now it’s time for my favorite StairMaster-related activity: adding a new building to my Skyscraper Collection! I usually find a building equivalent (or as close as possible) to the number of stories that I climbed, and I’m super excited because 131 stories is taller than every building on Earth except for the world’s tallest, the Burj Khalifa. So I’m going to add the world’s second-tallest building, which stands a staggering 120 stories tall. Anyone know what it is, or where it’s located? I had no idea this building existed until I started adding super-tall buildings to my Skyscraper Collection a few months ago. It’s located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and it’s called the Abraj Al Bait Towers. Take a look:

Although it’s not the world’s tallest building, the Abraj Al Bait (which opens this year) still holds a number of impressive records. It’s the world’s tallest hotel, and has the largest floor space of any building in the world.

When I look at the above photo, I see a building that looks a lot shorter than 120 stories, and I think it’s because the clock tower throws off my sense of scale. Then I read about how ginormous that clock tower is, and it started to make sense. There’s a clock on all four sides of the tower, and they’re the biggest clocks in the world. Each clock’s diameter is 141 feet (almost half a football field, or about 14 stories stories high!). By comparison, Big Ben’s clock faces are a puny 23 feet across.

I got a much better sense of scale from this picture, which shows the Abraj Al Bait in comparison to the rest of Mecca’s skyline.

Yep! That’s one tall building! And I climbed it!

Keep it up, David!

When’s My Next Rest Day?

I’m usually pretty good at listening to my body. I like working out and pushing myself, but I understand the importance of giving my body the occasional day to recuperate. Right now, my goal is to exercise six times a week (five is acceptable, but six is ideal), and even though I switch up my workouts, it still takes a toll on my body.

Sometimes, I plan rest days into my schedule. My last rest day was on March 5th, which was my birthday – the perfect day to relax and focus on more important things (like the major fitness challenges I gave myself). Other times, I just listen to my body, which is pretty good about letting me know when it needs a break. My body’s main modes of communication are fatigue and soreness (above and beyond standard post-workout soreness), but it’s sending mixed messages right now. It’s probably because my workouts have been a little bit different this week.

First off, I haven’t lifted weights since Saturday, when I spent about a half hour in the weight room, after using the StairMaster for 20 minutes (more on this later). It wasn’t an intentional plan to go most of the week without strength training – it that happened that way. And now, five days later, I’m itching to lift weights.

Secondly, I tried something new on Sunday, and it was completely successful, and by ‘successful,’ I mean ‘brutally difficult.’ I’ve been doing a lot of StairMaster lately, in preparation for my two big upcoming stair climb fundraisers (donate here or here, won’t you?), but I wanted to climb actual stairs in an actual building as part of my training as well. There are no super-tall buildings in my immediate neighborhood, but I concocted a challenging plan anyway.

On Sunday night, I ran about 3/4 of a mile to a 5-story, completely empty parking garage. Without ever stopping, I ran up one stairwell to the roof, ran across the roof to the stairwell at the other end, and ran down it, doing that loop over and over and over. Sometimes when I reached the bottom, I immediately turned around and ran back up to the roof and continued in the opposite direction. My goal was to do this running/stairs combo as long as possible, without stopping. About 10 minutes in, my side started cramping, but I pushed through it, and I soon settled into a cramp-free rhythm.

After 35 minutes, I knew I was close to calling it quits, so I started running home. Three minutes later, I finally stopped. Add in 5-6 minutes of both warm-up and cool-down, and I was on the streets for about 50 minutes. I lost count of the total number of flights I ran, but it was a lot. It felt great. And the next morning, I was sore in every part of both legs.

My legs didn’t get much of a break, though – I spent all of Monday at Disney California Adventure, which, while not a dedicated workout, still involved a ton of walking – miles and miles of it, I’m sure. On Tuesday, I took one of Richard Simmons’ classes at Slimmons (which always involve a ton of leg lifts), and yesterday, I went on an hour-long early-morning hike (with a substantial elevation change) with a friend.

I feel like it’s time to give my legs a day off. On the other hand, I feel like my upper body has been sorely neglected the past few days, and I wanna do something about it. Help – I don’t know what to do!

I’m writing this post late Wednesday night, and my current plan is to see how I feel on Thursday morning. I have  a hunch I won’t wake up terribly sore (the hike, while rigorous, was still less intense than most of my standard workouts), so maybe I should push myself for one more weight-intensive session at the gym, and then rest on Friday. On the other hand, I have exercised the past nine days in a row. Do I postpone an upper body weight training session another day and rest, just because I feel I’m due for a rest day? I’m not quite sure what to do when half of my body could benefit from a break and the other half is jonesin’ for more!  I’d love your thoughts on the matter – and that’s why I have a comments section, so speak up!

Before wraping this up, I wanna rewind back to Saturday. I’ve already mentioned above that I spent 20 minutes on the StairMaster, and it was a good 20 minutes. I didn’t get nearly as frustrated with the machine as I did last time – I just found a pace that was comfortable, covered the display with my towel, and didn’t overly concern myself with my Steps Per Minute. The end result was 300 calories burned and 84 stories climbed!

EIGHTY-FOUR STORIES! You know what that means, boys and girls – time to add a skyscraper to my collection! The newest addition to my collection is all the way on the other side of the planet – in a country (and a continent) not yet represented. That’s right – it’s off to Australia!

Check out the Q1, the tallest building in Australia:

At 80 stories, the Q1 is the fifth tallest all-residential building in the world, and the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. Located in Surfers Paradise, on the Gold Coast, it has apartments that vacationers and tourists can rent – check availability/pricing here. The Q1 has an observation deck called Skypoint, on the 77th floor, overlooking the beach. Once you’re up at Skypoint, you can then opt to do the Skypoint Climb – where you go outside onto a platform, and climb 298 stairs to the pinnacle of the building – where you’re 885 feet above the sidewalk. YES, PLEASE! I wanna go to Australia just to do that!

I just added the Q1 to my Skyscraper Collection – so click here to see how it compares to the 26 other skyscrapers that I’ve theoretically climbed!

Damn – I love how the Q1 dominates the skyline in that first picture… and I climbed that building, all the way to the top!

KEEP IT UP, DAVID!

Record-Smashing Workout

I’m in training, so the additions to my Skyscraper Collection are gonna come fast and furious. I have two big stairs-related challenges on the horizon – at the end of the month, I’m doing a charity climb in an actual skyscraper in downtown LA (click to donate; it benefits the American Lung Association), and I also challenged myself to climb 163 stories on a StairMaster, which is the height of the tallest building on the planet (this has evolved into a fundraiser, too – click to donate; it benefits Whaley Children’s Center).

For preparation’s sake, I’m going to push myself to do two StairMaster workouts a week for the next few weeks. I’ve already completed both of them for this week, although I only blogged about the first (read about it here; I added a skyscraper in Dubai to my collection). Before I get into the specifics of the second (and, based on this post’s headline, you might have guessed it’s somethin’ special), I wanna talk through my current StairMaster frustration.

Crunch, my new gym, has a different brand of StairMaster than my old gym. I was quite familiar and comfortable with the old brand, and the new brand is completely identical in every way, except for one key difference: how speed is measured. The old brand had levels, from 1-20, just like ellipticals and exercise bikes have levels of resistance. I knew what the levels felt like, and had a good routine down: I’d use level 7 or 8 to warm up, slowly ramp up to level 12 or so during my workout (occasionally up to 14 if I really wanted a challenge), and then I’d cool down on 5 or 6.

The new brand measures speed by Steps Per Minute (SPM), which means the numbers are completely different. If you want to climb 30 stairs in one minute, than you set it to 30. If you want to climb 50, than you set it to 50. You get the idea. The problem is that I have no idea what my SPMs are. The old brand offered that statistic on their display, but I never once paid attention, because I got used to setting the machine based on levels (which was the only way to do it).

Now I’m struggling to find my pace. I’ve done the StairMaster three times at my new gym, and it’s completely frustrating. I’ve been playing around with different SPMs, and then trying them out for a few minutes to see how they feel, but after doing that a couple times, it’s hard for me to evaluate them anyway, since I start to get tired and sweaty, as I’m in the middle of my workout. I feel like I have to relearn how to use the StairMaster, and it pisses me off.

I’m slowly (very slowly) settling into what I think might work for me: a warm-up pace of around 60 SPM, and then slowly amping up to 70-90 SPM during my workout, and then down to 40-50 during my cool down. But I feel slow and out of the groove, and that’s irritating. The other day, I caught myself being really negative about the whole thing, so, midway through my workout, I closed my eyes and paused my music, and told myself that I can’t compare these workouts to the ones at my old gym. Just focus on the machine I was on, and get the most out of my time on it.

That seemed to help, so it’s something I’ll repeat to myself at the beginning of my future StairMaster workouts, at least until I feel more familiar with the settings.

I take that back – my internal pep talk didn’t seem to work, it flat-out worked. I ended up breaking all my StairMaster personal bests during that workout:

• DURATION: 25.5 minutes (previous best = 22 minutes)
• CALORIES: 400 burned (previous best = 350)
• FLOORS: 109 (previous best = 104)

That’s right, bitches, one hundred and nine floors. Holy Shit. ONE HUNDRED AND NINE FLOORS! Time for another iconic addition to my Skyscraper Collection! Can anyone think of a building that has 109 floors?

That’s a trick question. There aren’t any 109-story buildings, not anywhere in the world. But there is an 108-story building that, unless you live in a cave, you’ll definitely recognize. Here’s a hint – it’s the tallest building in this picture:

WILLIS TOWER! Or perhaps you know it by its former name. SEARS TOWER!

Willis Tower has been the tallest building in the United States since it opened in 1973, and it’s currently the ninth-tallest building in the world (a record that it held until 1998). There’s an observation deck called the Skydeck on the 103rd floor (the restrooms on that floor are the highest restrooms in the western hemisphere), and, in 2009, glass balconies were added so people could step out and have only glass between their feet and the ground, 1,353 feet below:

Very cool. I wish I had taken that picture, but alas, I did not. Even though I’ve been to Chicago more times than I can count, I’ve never been to the Skydeck. I really really wanna go!

Some other fun facts about the Willis Tower:

• It leans 4 inches to the west.
• The tower was half vacant for the first ten years it was open – Sears overestimated their own growth as a company, and the building was less of a draw for outside renters than anticipated.
• There are 104 elevators, including 16 double deckers.

Yep, I climbed that! And I just added it to the top of my Skyscraper Collection.

KEEP IT UP, DAVID!

Great Big Birthday Announcement!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! It was 33 years ago today that I was born at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac, Michigan. Yep – 33 years down, and a helluva lot more to come!

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I can do for myself in honor of my birthday. I’m sure I could find something to purchase, but nothing special is coming to mind, and it’s probably not a wise choice anyway, since money is a little tight.

What I’d much rather do is honor myself by making a new commitment to continued good health. I want to challenge myself to kick off my 33rd year with a bang. I want a big, grand, sweeping adventure that embodies the idea that I’m not done keeping it up. And I know exactly what I’m going to do. I’m announcing my new workout goal!

No, David, think BIGGER. This is your BIRTHDAY! You can do better than that!

Okay, okay, you’re right. Time to step up my game. I’m announcing TWO new workout goals! And they both involve lots and lots of stairs.

Before I get to the details, I have a little catch-up to do. You all know about my Skyscraper Collection, right? Every time I complete a StairMaster workout, I find a skyscraper somewhere in the world with an equivalent number of floors to what I just climbed. Click here to see my Skyscraper Collection – so far, there’s 23 buildings in it, and right now I’m adding buildings 24 and 25!

I’ve used the StairMaster twice in the past week at the gym, and they were tough workouts. I didn’t set any new records (like I did a few weeks ago when I climbed the equivalent of the Empire State Building), but I’m really happy with the results. On Monday, 2/27/12, I spent 21 minutes on the StairMaster, and climbed 94 floors while burning 350 calories. Yesterday, on Sunday, 3/4/12, I spent 18 minutes climbing 83 floors, burning 300 calories. Not too shabby!

The buildings I’m adding to my collection are both in Dubai (for a specific reason I’ll get to in a bit). Say hello to 23 Marina (on the left) and The Index (on the right!):

• 23 Marina is 90 stories, the second tallest all-residential building in the world, and the third-tallest building in Dubai. It’s terribly exclusive – there are only 288 units in the entire building, including 57 two-story units that each have a private elevator and a private pool on a balcony. No joke! Start saving your pennies now! The photo was taken in October, when the top was still under construction. I can’t tell if the building is officially finished or not, but according to the interwebs, lower-level apartments have been turned over to their new owners.
• The Index is 80 stories – the 6th tallest building in Dubai. It was completed in 2010, and is a mix of residential and office. It’s cleverly designed so the concrete cores at both ends shade a majority of the building from the rising and setting sun, drastically slashing energy needs and air conditioning costs.

Yep, I climbed both! They’ve both been added to my Skyscraper Collection, which means…

…it’s time for my TWO BIG BIRTHDAY ANNOUNCEMENTS!

I love my Skyscraper Collection. It’s changed the way I think about StairMasters. I used to hate them, but now I look forward to using them, because I find doing the research and adding the towers to be so much fun.

But I want more than just pretending to climb skyscrapers. I want to climb a real skyscraper. So… drum roll please… I just registered for the American Lung Association’s Fight For Air Climb 2012!

ANNOUNCEMENT #1: On Saturday, March 31st, I’m climbing the 63-story Aon Center building in downtown Los Angeles! It’s the second tallest building in Los Angeles, and was the tallest building west of the Mississippi from its completion in 1973 until 1982. Take a look at it (the center building) – it’s tall!

Here’s the best part – you can support my quest to climb to the Aon Center’s roof! The Fight For Air Climb is a fundraiser, and I need to raise $100 in order to climb the stairs. It’s not that much money, really – if 10 of you donate $10 each, I’ll be set. Or, 20 of you could donate $5 each. It doesn’t matter to me! Why don’t you talk amongst yourselves, figure it out, and when you’re ready, visit my donation page to make a contribution. All the money benefits the American Lung Association, is tax-deductible, and you can search their database to see if your company has a gift-matching program, which doubles the value of your donation!

I’m so excited to climb a real-life skyscraper, and I’m looking forward to standing on that roof, 858 feet off the ground, sweaty and exhausted, looking out over the city around me – hopefully it’s a clear day!

I’ll need to do a lot more training on the StairMaster to prepare – and it’s only 25 days away! Because I’ll be spending a lot of time on the StairMaster, I’ve also decided to up the ante, which brings me to…

ANNOUNCEMENT #2: I’m setting a new StairMaster goal to add the tallest building in the world to my Skyscraper Collection. Pop quiz: What’s the tallest building in the world? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

It’s the Burj Khalifa, in Dubai (this goal was why I picked those two other Dubai buildings above). It is an astonishing 163 stories tall. Whoa! It’s nearly twice as tall as the Empire State Building, and almost three times as tall as the Eiffel Tower. It’s just a monster of a building.

Does it look familiar? That might be because it was prominently featured in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol – Tom Cruise clung to the side of it, thousands of feet above the ground, wearing only suction-cup type gloves.

Reaching this goal will not be easy, and that’s exactly why I’m setting this challenge. My current StairMaster record is 104 stories (a good 59 stories shy of the Burj Khalifa), and after those 104 stories, I felt ready to collapse. So I have work to do in order to push through.

I think it might be too much to try to reach my Burj Khalifa goal before I do the Fight For Air Climb. Perhaps I’ll shoot for sometime in April. I’m not sure yet, we’ll see how my training goes. Whatever I decide, I will keep you posted!

I’m geeked about my two new workout goals – I think it’s a stellar way to kick off the new year. Happy Birthday, and…

…KEEP IT UP, DAVID!

Facebook + Skyscraper

Do you follow me on Facebook? Click here to go to my Facebook page – it’s a great way to learn about new blog posts. You can also leave comments there, and I always read them. I love hearing from my readers!

Today I wanted to share two comments that I’ve gotten recently on Facebook – one is a question I’ll try my best to answer, and the other… well, you’ll see. First, the question, which came from a reader named Lois:

I have such a hard time staying focused. Since august of 2011, I have lost 34 lbs. When I focus I can eat all my healthy low cal foods, then somedays I’m just soooo hungry. It’s as if nothing fills me up and my stomach is just screaming for some food. So then I eat a burrito or an In n Out burger, which are delicious, but then the next day I am 4lbs heavier and feel like crap. Do you ever have these hungry days and what do you do?

In another comment to another post, Lois talked about having a bad week, and ended with the question:

Why am I soooooo hungry?????

First of all, Lois, I hope you’re eating! You can’t lose weight without eating throughout the day, and giving your body energy and calories. But I’ve definitely had days where I’ve had three square meals, but my stomach doesn’t stop growling and grumbling. So I know the feeling.

To answer your main question, you’re so hungry because you’re eating less calories than your body is used to. That’s how you’ve lost 34 pounds (congratulations on that!), and that’s how you’ll lose however many you still want to lose. So one way of looking at it is to consider your hunger as a good thing. But that won’t make it any easier to deal with, so here are some other strategies:

• Have plenty of guilt-free snacks around. If I’ve eaten my meal and am still hungry, I’ll pull out some vegetables and eat those. A few weeks ago I ate a 2-pound bag of carrots over the course of a couple hours, without an ounce of regret.
• Keep your mind (and hands) occupied. I focus on my hunger, and am more inclined to act on it, when I’m sitting around watching TV or putzing on the computer. I get my mind off my hunger by being more productive. I like to draw, so I’ll pull out some paper and create something. I’ve gone for a walk to distract myself from the kitchen (and I leave my wallet at home, so I don’t end up at the 7-11 down the street). You could clean out that junk drawer that’s been bothering you or call up a friend you haven’t talked to in a while.You could take up knitting, or building ships-in-bottles!
• Brush and floss your teeth. This works for me – I never want to eat after cleaning my teeth!

Anyone else with tips or ideas, please leave them in the comments sections!

The other Facebook comment I want to talk about came from a reader named Scott, who wrote:

david i read u post so you are doing this to get attention that sad i lost 220 in ten months and i am not craving attention

I don’t get many negative comments, and while I’d prefer to not let this one bother me, I must admit I’ve been thinking about it for the past few days. So, I just want to clear up, for Scott and for anyone else that’s curious: I’m not losing weight to get attention. I can think up a bunch of ways to draw attention to myself that’d be a helluva lot easier than losing 165 pounds! I’m trying to lose weight to improve my health, and so I can live a longer, better life, and so I can feel better about myself. Congratulations on your 220 pound loss, Scott – that’s truly extraordinary. Why did you do it?

Last item on the agenda today is… a skyscraper! This morning at the gym, I made the impromptu decision to start my workout on the StairMaster. I set the clock for 20 minutes, covered the display with my towel, and climbed. Twenty minutes later, I felt ready to keel over, and that’s because I burned 345 calories and climbed…

…98 stories! A NEW RECORD!

I’m not crazy about the skyscraper I’m adding to my collection today – I actually think it’s pretty ugly, but it’s exactly 98 stories high, so it’s a perfect fit. Say hello to the Trump International Hotel and Tower:

At 1,389 feet, Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago is the second tallest building in the country, after Willis Tower (formerly known as Sears Tower). It’s the 12th tallest building in the world. The tower was originally planned to be the tallest building in the world, but after the 9/11 attacks, plans were scaled back. Parts of the building opened in 2008, although the entire building wasn’t completed until 2009.

Looking for a home in Chicago? Consider the 89th floor penthouse. Donald Trump planned on keeping the 14,260 square foot apartment for himself, but put it on the market in 2009. It has 7 bedrooms, 6 baths, 16-foot ceilings, and amazing views, which you can see here. It’s unfinished, which means whoever buys it will have to build out the bathrooms, kitchen, and install all the flooring and decor, but hey! If you got $30 million to spend on a home, surely you can rustle up another couple million for some faucets, Ikea bookcases, and a Frigidaire!

This picture makes me like the building a little more, and it certainly makes me appreciate what I accomplished in this morning’s workout!

I just added Trump International Hotel and Tower to my Skyscraper Collection, which you can check out here. At 98 stories, it’s the tallest building on the list… and I’m so close to breaking the 100-story threshold!

KEEP IT UP, DAVID!

Double Skyscraper AND The Big Gym Decision

WHOA! My gig at Whole Foods Pasadena is only one week away! Call your buddies and come hear me talk about weight loss and how anyone can start getting healthy. All the details are here.

Well, I’ve blogged about it, and blogged about it some more, and I’ve finally made a decision about my big gym dilemma. Today, I went back and bit the bullet: I signed up to join Crunch. I considered a lot of things (including many of the excellent points you all raised in the comments section), but ultimately, I was won over by my own enthusiasm. The thought of all the new options that a bigger, better-equipped gym can provide excites me. I like trying new things! That they were offering a great deal was a bonus, and I made sure I was crystal clear on their billing and cancellation policies before signing on the dotted line. The contract is month-to-month, and if I don’t like it, I can cancel. And they gave me a new gym bag as a signing present:

Onto the main event!

Last week, I wrote about how my current gym now has StairMasters at both locations, which means I probably should use them more often than once a month. On Monday, I made good on that promise, and stepped on a StairMaster. And before I did, I thought long and hard: I don’t care for the StairMaster, so if I’m going to use it more regularly, I need to make some changes so it’s less of a miserable experience. I decided on two things:

1. I would begin my workout on the StairMaster. Usually I do some cardio after an intense weightlifting session, but maybe I’d like the StairMaster more if I was using it while fresh, and not counting the minutes until I could leave the gym.
2. I’d cover the StairMaster display with a magazine or towel, so I couldn’t see the time. I already employ this tactic on stationary bikes and treadmills, and I don’t know why I’ve never done it on the StairMaster. Time seems to move slower when you’re staring at the seconds tick by, so out of sight, out of mind!

With those two things implemented, I powered up the StairMaster and started climbing. You know what? Both my strategies worked! I stayed on the StairMaster for 20 minutes, which is a good 5-10 minutes longer than I can normally muster, and it really seemed to fly by! I burned 325 calories, and climbed 92 stories. NINETY-TWO STORIES! That’s a new record!

I was geeked to find a new tower to add to my Skyscraper Collection. The problem, though, is that when you get above 90 the options drastically decrease. There are only about a dozen buildings on the planet that reach higher than 90 stories, and none of them have exactly 92. So I decided to go with an iconic skyscraper that has 88 stories. It’s a skyscraper that held the record for the tallest building in the world from 1998-2004… a skyscraper that’s become a symbol for Kuala Lumpur, the city it’s located in, and all of Malaysia… any guesses?

I’m talking about the Petronas Towers!

 

I climbed that!

But here’s the problem. As you can see, there’s two of them. And it would bug me to no end if I had twin towers in my Skyscraper Collection but had only climbed one of them. So, I issued myself a challenge, right then and there: I gotta climb the second tower, and quickly.

Yesterday, two days after my first fake Petronas Tower climb, I returned to the gym, covered the display with my towel, and started climbing again. It seemed a little easier this time around, and maybe that’s because I knew exactly what was needed to complete my goal. I set the timer for 20 minutes, stayed in the same speed range as last time (between 7 and 9), turned on my iPod, and climbed. In those twenty minutes, I climbed 94 stories (!) and burned 330 calories (!). SUCCESS! I conquered both Petronas Towers!

I climbed both of them! Here’s your debriefing on the Petronas Towers:

• They’re currently tied, with each other, as the 6th tallest buildings in the world.
• They’re the tallest twin towers in the world. (They’re about 100 feet taller than the World Trade Center was).
• They’re linked by a skybridge on the 41st and 42nd floors. At 558 feet above the ground, the skybridge is the tallest 2-story bridge in the world.
• Most of the elevators are double-decker, with the lower deck stopping only at odd-numbered floors, and the upper deck stopping only at even-numbered floors.
• The complex at the base of the towers includes a 6-story mall, an aquarium, and a concert hall that’s home to the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.
• The Petronas Towers went Hollywood quickly after opening. They’re featured prominently in the 1999 hit art-heist movie Entrapment, starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones, including an action sequence where the two stars dangle precariously from the skybridge. You can see a few shots of this in the film’s trailer.

The Petronas Towers are now at the top of my Skyscraper Collection. Together, they’re 176 stories high!

Keep it up, David!

A Tale of Two Gyms

I visit two different locations of my gym. I’ll call one “Closer,” and the other “Farther,” although both are convenient: Closer is less than 10 minutes away, and Farther is only 15-20 minutes, tops.

Each gym has it’s own pros and cons, and I’ve grown to appreciate their differences. Aside from being closer, Closer has easy parking, lots of natural light, and high ceilings. Most of their cardio equipment faces big windows, which I like. Closer has an assisted chin-up machine and a back machine that I enjoy using.

A big pro for Farther is that it’s bigger, with equipment on multiple levels. There are classrooms, although I’ve only taken spin classes there (and I haven’t done that in a long time). There’s a great corner that’s usually empty that’s perfect for planks, sit-ups, and mat work, and a perfect area for me to do walking lunges with having to dodge equipment or other customers. Farther has fun crunch machines that I occasionally use to switch up how I work my abs. Farther also has Arc Trainers, my favorite piece of cardio equipment.

A big con for Farther is that parking on the weekends can be a bitch – the garage across the street serves all the businesses in that area, including a 16-screen movie theater, and it will fill up completely. Ceilings are low in some rooms – there’s one spot where I can actually hit my head if I’m not careful. Meanwhile, the cons for Closer include a locker room and bathroom that I like less, and a shortage of open space for sit-ups and such.

I know each gym backward and forward, and I tailor my workouts to their strengths. But last week my two gyms threw me a curveball. And it’s gonna change the way I think.

One of the other differences between Closer and Farther is that Farther is the only location that has StairMasters. Well, to be specific, it’s the only location that has the kind of StairMaster that I like: the ones that look like mini-escalators that you continually climb. Closer has the StairMasters with pedals that you push up and down (actually, both locations have them), but I hate that machine, and won’t use it – it shouldn’t be called a StairMaster if it doesn’t feel like you’re going up stairs.

All of my StairMaster workouts that resulted in a new addition to my skyscraper collection happened at Farther. I would plan workouts with the StairMaster into my schedule, and those helped dictate which days I worked out at Closer and which days I worked at Farther. It was a system that I liked, and it worked.

So imagine my surprise when, a few days ago, I showed up at Closer and saw these:

Now both gyms have StairMasters! You’d think I’d be ecstatic, but I’m not. And it’s because, when it comes down to it, I don’t like the StairMaster. It’s torturous. The whole reason I created my Skyscraper Collection is because it was the only way I could motivate myself to use one. And I force myself to use one, roughly once a month, because the results are fantastic: I can burn 200+ calories in a matter of minutes, and get a great leg workout in the process.

To be honest, I liked that Farther was the only location with StairMasters. It meant that I could, during all my workouts at Closer, not even consider using the StairMaster that day – it wasn’t an option.

Now, it’s an option. Now, I’ll have to see those bad boys no matter where I workout. Now, I’ll have to incorporate the StairMaster more often into my workouts, because I tend to rotate through the machines. I’ll benefit from this – like I said, the StairMaster provides an awesome workout – but it’s gonna take some getting used to. And I’ll be grumbling until that happens.

The other day, when I saw the new StairMasters for the first time, my heart sank a little, while I simultaneously feigned excitement to the gym employee at the front desk. But I figured since it was my first day at the gym since they arrived, I should go over and introduce myself. I took the same posture as when I meet a new dog: stand firm, with a position of authority, and make clear that I’m the alpha being, and one that’s not frightened of them.

After a warm-up and a good long session using weights, it was time for the introduction. I sauntered over to one of the StairMaster, hopped on, and set the timer for 20 minutes. It’s been a month since I last used a StairMaster, and I could feel it. I didn’t push myself as hard as I have in the past, but I got my heart rate up, and I started sweating. After 10 minutes, I was exhausted, so, feeling satisfied in the entirety of my workout, I stopped.

Even a new StairMaster in a new setting doesn’t change how I feel about StairMasters:  I still don’t like them. But hey – I climbed 51 floors and burned 175 calories in those 10 minutes, and that is nothing to sneeze at!

Plus, I get to add a new skyscraper to my collection!

This addition brings my skyscraper collection to a whole new continent. I’ve already have towers in North America, Europe, and Asia, and now, I’m adding a fourth continent. One of the stops on the cruise I recently took was Aruba, an island that’s only about 15 miles off the coast of Venezuela (see pictures of me horseback riding in Aruba at the end of this post). I had never, in my life, been so close to South America, so in honor of that, I’m adding a South American skyscraper to my collection.

This, ladies and gentleman, is the Mirante do Vale building in Sao Paulo, Brazil:

At 51 stories, it perfectly reflects my StairMaster workout. Some fun facts about the Mirante do Vale:

• It’s the tallest building in Brazil, and it has been for over 50 years, since it was completed in 1960.
• The name means, roughly, “viewpoint of the valley” in Portuguese, and it’s a condo building.
• It’s not well-known, even among Brazilians, that this is the tallest building in their country, and that’s because other buildings, built on higher pieces of land, appear taller in the Sao Paulo skyline. You can look down at the Mirante do Vale from the top floors of other buildings that were built on hills.
• While it’s the tallest building in Brazil, there are 13 taller building in South America – all located in Chile, Columbia, Argentina and Venezuela.

And here’s what’s most interesting to me about the Mirante do Vale – it’s the tallest building in the world with an external fire escape that runs the entire height of the building. You can see the fire escape in the photo, going up the side of the building on the right. I just read about the history of fire escapes, and I was enthralled – and since I liked it, I think you might, too. This is boiled down from historian Sara Wermeil’s 2003 paper “No Exit: The Rise and Demise of the Outdoor Fire Escape,” which was published in the journal Technology and Culture:

Fire escapes came to be in the late 19th century, as buildings were growing taller, but before elevators were commonplace. After catastrophic fires started destroying those buildings in the 1870s, state legislatures finally enacted laws requiring means for getting people out. This meant new technology, and some creative solutions were devised. Elementary: equip each upper room with a long rope. Fantastic: a hat-like parachute, anchored under the chin, and boots with highly elastic soles. Practical: canvas escape chutes, like those used on jet airplanes today. Rube Goldberg: a rope and pulley system that let a person lower themself in a canvas seat.

The familiar fire escape finally emerged as the solution that worked best, but even they have huge shortcomings, namely, exposure to fires on lower floors and ladders, raised above street-level to thwart thieves, that frequently jammed. The beginning of the end for the fire escape was New York’s terrible Triangle Shirtwaist fire, where 145 garment workers died in 1911 as their ten-story factory building burned. Many died on fire escapes as flames billowed up from the windows below them. Fire escapes melted and buckled, dropping people to their deaths. Today’s solution is the closed, insulated stairwell, protected by fire doors that keep smoke from getting in, and that’s a still-evolving technology.

You learn something new every day, huh? I wouldn’t have learned any of this had I not stepped on that StairMaster.

Keep it up, David!

PS: Be sure to check out all the buildings in my Skyscraper Collection by clicking here!