Yippie-Ki-Yay, My First Power Hour of 2020! (Oakbrook Terrace Fight For Air Climb Race Recap)

It’s the weekend… time for a stair race! This one was a Power Hour, in a 31-story skyscraper. So the question isn’t ‘How fast did I make it to the top?’ It’s ‘How many times did I climb it in an hour?’

The race was the Fight For Air Climb, put on by and benefiting the Greater Chicago chapter of the American Lung Association. It happened

I Just Want To Be Able To Move After This! (SkyRise Chicago 2019 Race Recap)

Hello, Willis Tower!

You may know this towering skyscraper as Sears Tower. I know it as the home to the tallest stairwell in the Western Hemisphere and the tallest stair race, too!

SkyRise Chicago, which benefits the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, has a start line two floors below ground, and a finish line on the 103rd floor. There’s 105 floors, and 2,159 steps, in between.

The Rain Stopped… So I Could Run Up and Down 4,400 Steps

I was in Chicago over this past weekend, and it was drizzly all Saturday night. The weather predicted rain all Sunday morning too, but, thankfully, the clouds dried up, and that was a good thing, because I had a stair race that morning, and this one was outdoors. At Comiskey Park!

I know, I know, the home of the Chicago White Sox hasn’t been named Comiskey Park in well over a decade. But

Six Days of Eggs: Eating Well and Staying Fit During My Week in Chicago

Pucker up!

I passed by this giant dear sculpture while on a walk in Chicago, and couldn’t resist giving it a smooch. I did a lot of walking – and other exercise – during my week in Chicago, and am proud of the healthy choices I made. We all know it isn’t always easy to stay healthy while traveling!

One Morning. Two Separate Stair Races. My First Triumphant Double Header! (2017 SkyRise Chicago and Chicago CF Climb Race Recaps)

There are many reasons why I love competing in stair races, but the very first thing that hooked me was the overwhelming feeling that comes after I cross a finish line – a one-of-a-kind swirl of pride, accomplishment, invincibility, pain and exhaustion. Prior to my involvement in this sport, I had never felt it before, and now I can’t get enough of it. This picture, taken moments after crossing a finish line on Saturday, is the closest I’ve come to capturing that feeling:

Now, when I look at it, I can see every component of that feeling pretty clearly:

I’m Back From a Week in the Midwest… and It Was Busy!

Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July week! I was in the midwest, hopping in between a couple states, but I’m back home now, with pictures from my trip.

I’m Biased, But Episode 4 of “Missing Richard Simmons” is The Best One Yet

If you’ve heard Episode 4 of “Missing Richard Simmons,” which was released Wednesday, than you know exactly why I’m biased. If you haven’t heard it yet, what are you waiting for? Learn how to subscribe on the official website – actually, you can listen there, too!

Guess what? You can also listen right here, because they started putting complete episodes of the podcast on YouTube, which means I can embed them here. I’ll embed Episodes 1-3 at the end of this post, in case you need to catch up, but here’s Episode 4:

So why I am biased towards Episode 4? Because there’s a big chunk in it about me. Like, three-and-a-half minutes worth! I talk about

Eating Well With My Sister in Chicago. No, Scratch That… Eating GREAT!

Want to eat healthy while visiting Chicago? Stay with my sister Laura. Seriously. I’ll give you her number if you want. (No I won’t.) I stayed a few days with her after the Hancock race, and she made making good choices while traveling super easy. And her dog Conrad is a cutie!

Conrad is 13 years old and completely blind, and I love hanging out with him! Laura has been on her own health kick for quite some time, and she’s still going strong:

I’ve Hustled During Dozens of Races… But on Sunday, I Hustled Up The Hancock for the Very First Time!

I teased, in my last post, that the stair race I did on Sunday was in an iconic, landmark building, and I didn’t lie. Recognize this 100-story beast?

Did you guess the John Hancock Center in Chicago? Pat yourself on the back! If you don’t recognize it from that angle, you’ll probably recognize it now:

A Big Time Announcement: My Next Four Stair Races!

Stair race season is in full swing. I’ll probably compete in eight events between now and this summer. A few of those are up in the air at the moment, but I can definitely announce my first four races of 2017, and I’m pumped!

I love competing in new venues. I only added one new building to my list during the winter and spring months last year (Republic Plaza in Denver). This year, though, I’m doing as many new races as I can. In fact, every single one of the four races below is a new-to-me building or a new-to-me city… or both!