Race Recap: 70 Stories in Motown

Yesterday was a brisk Michigan winter day, with snow everywhere and temperatures in the low 20s, and I started it with a little sprint at 6:45am. I dashed out to the driveway, barefoot and wearing only a T-shirt and underwear, so I could start the car and get the heat pumping while I got dressed.

Crazy as that was, it paled in comparison to happened a few hours later, when I competed in the American Lung Association’s Fight For Air Climb in Detroit – racing up the stairs to the 70th floor in the Renaissance Center.

The Renaissance Center (nicknamed ‘RenCen’) is a

A New Training Personal Best?

Stair race season is in full swing. I’ve already raced twice this year, and my next race is soon, in Detroit! In April, I’ll be racing in the Aon Center in Los Angeles, and they open up the stairwell at certain times for training purposes. That’s how I ended up, the other day, on the 55th floor.

I was breathing too heavily to smile, because I had just

One More Race

I’m in the home stretch. I’ve competed in eight stair races in 2014, and my ninth and final one is this weekend. I’m both looking forward to it, and looking forward to it being over.

The final race is called Hike the Halo, and it’s

Race Recap: Los Angeles CF Climb 2014

Another weekend, another race! On Saturday, I competed in my third stair race of the past two weeks. Whereas the first two were in Chicago (in Willis Tower and 300 North LaSalle), this race was close to home, in the Figueroa at Wilshire building in downtown Los Angeles. It’s 54 stories from sidewalk to roof.

I didn’t feel great going into this race. I typically

Race Recap: Chicago CF Climb 2014

It was only seven days ago that I raced up 103 floors in the Willis Tower. Yesterday, it was time to race again! The Chicago CF Climb (benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation) was held in the 58-story 300 North LaSalle building.

This was the first stair race where I didn’t

An Awesome Stairwell Shot

The SkyRise Chicago photographer got an awesome shot of me at the end of the Willis Tower stair race on Sunday (my recap, with lots of photos, is here), and I couldn’t wait to share it. Here I am between the 102nd and 103rd floors, trying to finish strong:

Stairwells can be

One Hundred and Three Floors! (SkyRise Chicago Race Recap)

You know that feeling when you’re so exhausted you just gotta sit down? I had that feeling yesterday, and I found the best place ever to plant my tired butt:

The ledge on the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower in Chicago! I was exhausted because it was my first time competing in SkyRise Chicago, the annual race up the tallest stairwell in the country. It was a killer.

This was the first race where I