Fight For Air Climb: Race No. 5 of 35

After my first stair climb, I was somewhat dreading this climb. My first climb was 80 floors, and I got seriously dizzy throughout. How was I going to handle 180 floors?

Fortunately, the dizziness didn't happen this time around. I'm not sure why, but I have a few theories:

1. Each tower is only a 45-story climb, so the spinning is kept to 8- to 10-minute bursts, followed by 10+ minutes waiting for the elevator back down. 

2. Because the towers have staircases at each end, the organizers flipped the climb rotations. In other words, for the first tower, I made a series of 90 left-hand turns. On the second tower, it was 90 right-hand turns. I think this helped reset my equilibrium a bit. 

3. The staircases are narrower than the Aon center. I thought this would make the spinning/dizziness worse, but the tighter turns actually seemed to help. Or maybe it was all in my head. 

All in all, this climb wasn't too bad. But I'm not sure if I'll do another stair climb. For one, they're expensive. Both this climb and the Step Up For Kids climb required $100+ in donations to be eligible to climb. Yes, it's for charity, but it was still pricey for me. Second, they're kinda boring. I mean, you're trapped in a gray stairwell for the race. They try to liven it up with posters of encouragement along the way, as well as water stops with music. But otherwise, it's pretty monotonous. 

That said, how cool would it be to climb the Sears/Willis Tower, especially considering the race benefits an organization near and dear to my heart? So we'll see...

Race Summary
Race name: Fight for Air Climb
2015 Challenge Race No.: 5
Location: Presidential Towers, Chicago, IL
Organizers/Sponsor: American Lung Association
Beneficiary: American Lung Association
Cost: $25 + $100 required fundraising
Distance: 180 floors (4 towers @ 45 stories each)
Best parts of the race:
- Organization - Unlike my first climb, this race was surprisingly well organized. And they had pre- and post-race snacks!
- Seeing fireman in full gear complete the climb. You can actually smell the smoke on their suits before you even see them. I can't imagine climbing in all that gear. Amazing.
- Seeing this guy, who plays a fireman on TV, but will always be Steve Brady to me.

Worst parts:
- Waiting for the elevators down in each tower.

Following events:

March:
Get Lucky 7K, March 14 @ Jackson Park, Chicago, IL
Shamrock Shuffle 8K, March 29 @ Grant Park, Chicago, IL

April:
Be the Match 5K, April 11 @ Montrose Harbor, Chicago, IL
Race to Wrigley 5K, April 25 @ Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Ravenswood Run 5K, April 26 @ Ravenswood, Chicago, IL

Mardi Gras Chaser 5K/10K: Race No. 4 of 35

I'm horribly behind on my race posts. But with a race-free weekend ahead of me, I'll try to use this time to catch up. So let's rewind three months to Chicago's still-snowy winter (I know, I don't want to go back there either) and revisit my first 10K of the year.

Although I hadn't really trained much for a 10K, The Mardi Gras Chaser was, and still is, one of my favorite races of 2015.

For starters, it was an outdoor race in February, and as I learned during my first race of the year, outdoor winter running rocks — especially when the route is plowed and salted. The high that day (Feb. 21) was 33 degrees, although at race time on Montrose Harbor, it was probably in the teens or 20s.

I ended up running my fastest 10K, and I think the day's cold temps played a big part. Now that I'm running in much warmer spring weather, I've realized how much harder it is to run in the heat. I'd take a race day the 40s over the 60s anytime.

In addition to the weather and distance, this race also had great post-race snacks. Being Mardi Gras-themed, the finish line had cupcakes, snack cakes and sweets galore ... and I ate none of them. Instead, I loaded up a bag of goodies and brought them home for the girls. In fact, since going mostly paleo last year, I rarely eat any post-race freebies, other than the requisite banana, of course. In turn, my kids have developed a Pavlovian response when I come home following a race. "What'd you bring us, Mom?" And this time, they were pretty stoked to find something other than Luna bars.

In addition to the post-race snacks, I also loved the swag. Instead of a shirt (because I really don't need any more of those), the giveaway was a neck warmer. I haven't needed to use it yet, but I'm sure I will next winter.

Race Summary
Race name: Mardi Gras Chaser 5K/10K
2015 Challenge Race No.: 4
Location: Montrose Harbor, Chicago, IL
Organizers/Sponsor: Back on My Feet
Beneficiary: Back on My Feet
Cost: $45
Distance: 10k (6.2 miles)
Best parts of the race:
- February race!
- Post-race snacks
- Swag

Worst parts:
- Despite its name, the race took place after Mardi Gras, so if you're into giving up stuff for Lent, you can't really partake in the post-race sweets or beer.


Following events:

March:
Fight For Air Climb (180 floors stair climb), March 8 @ Presidential Towers, Chicago, IL
Get Lucky 7K, March 14 @ Jackson Park, Chicago, IL
Shamrock Shuffle 8K, March 29 @ Grant Park, Chicago, IL

April:
Be the Match 5K, April 11 @ Montrose Harbor, Chicago, IL
Race to Wrigley 5K, April 25 @ Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Ravenswood Run 5K, April 26 @ Ravenswood, Chicago, IL