Leading up to this morning’s Trek up the Tower, I was feeling nervous, scared, and not very confident.  I knew I would finish and make it to the top, but I kept thinking, “You should have done more to prepare.”

I was nervous about the event because I had never done anything like it before.  It was also my first organized race in a while.  I was stupidly nervous about the gear check thing - i had never done a gear check thing before.  I was afraid i’d have trouble breathing in the stairwell and/or get altitude sickness.

Last night I set out the clothes I was planning on wearing.  I fell asleep by 9 pm and slept soo soo good last night!  I woke up between 6 and 6:30 without an alarm.  I ate some cheerios for breakfast and around 7:15 started getting ready.  Showered, dried hair, got dressed, printed out event details.

My check in time was at 8:30.  I got downtown and parked by 8:15.  I ran into a girl I used to work with and we chatted for a few minutes.  Then I ran into a guy I met at Ben’s Do Life tour this summer.  He had already finished his trek and he did awesome!

I checked in, put my number on, and headed to the gear check.  After that I talked with a couple other people.  As I was ready to go get in line I ran into a sorority sister from college.  I haven’t seen her in years!  It was nice to have someone to wait in line with and I loved talking with her - catching up and discussing races, running shoes, training, etc.

I have no clue how long we waited in line…maybe less than 10 minutes???  They had runners start every 5-7 seconds.  I ran up the first 4 or 5 floors, and then switched to walking.  When someone before the race had commented, “most people walk to the top,”  I was surprised.  She was right, though.  I’m sure earlier in the day the competitors ran most/all of it, but at this point in the morning it was mainly walkers.

My legs didn’t feel heavy like they did when i would use the stair machine at the gym.  I did one step at a time…no “2-steps-at-a-time” thing for me.  I used the handrails, but definitely wasn’t hanging on to them for dear life :)

There were 3 water stops, and I stopped at 2 of them.  I did do a little running after the water stops.  I would run maybe 1 or 2 floors and then go back to walking.

Honestly, I can’t believe how great I felt at the end!  Someone asked me, “Was it as bad as you thought it would be?”  My reply, “No, I actually thought it was a lot easier than I expected.”

I finished in 10.26.  I had three goals for this event:  20 minutes, 15 minutes, and 12 minutes.  ( http://lindsaydoeslife.tumblr.com/post/16554537873/trek-up-the-tower-goals )12 minutes was my “dream” goal, so to beat that by one and a half minutes is awesome!  a tiny part of me is disappointed i was so close to 10 and didn’t beat that.  I can’t say that I “put it all out there” because I did have energy/breath/leg strength at the end and honestly felt fine at the end.

A lot of people commented that they would be coughing the rest of the day because of the air in the stairwell.  I’ve coughed a few times, but nothing like I thought I would be.  Someone who was volunteering after running the stairs said, “I’m surprised I’m still able to talk right now.”  I’m thankful the air didn’t impact me all that much.

At the end of the Trek, we were able to walk around the top floor for a little bit to see the city.  I really didn’t even take advantage of seeing the city from that high up.  I was just so focused on how well i felt at the end!

Then I took the elevator back down.  I met up with my sorority sister and we headed to the “party” area to get our shirts, some food and drinks, and check our times.  Whole Foods provided food (bananas and yogurt/fruit/granola parfaits) and drinks (flavored water).

A shout-out to WEL-COM (Wellness Council of the Midlands [www.wellnesscouncil.org]) and all of the volunteers!  The event was sooo well-organized!  I can’t even describe the atmosphere….it was just….fun and exciting!  This was by far my favorite race/event so far.  I am definitely doing it again next year! 

My brother sent me a text this morning and he commented, “maybe we can do it next year with you.”  This is the same brother that (back in October) questioned, “why would you want to that?” and “What sounds fun about that?” when I tried to talk him into doing the Trek :)

I hope lots of friends and family decide to do it next year….but register early.  I have a feeling next year’s Trek up the Tower will sell out even faster than it did this year :)