I climbed 1311 stairs to start off the year of events at the Seattle Columbia Center to help raise money for the Leukemia Foundation. I climbed it in honor of my father Carl Bay who lost his life to the disease.
I Have entered and completed my first triathlon, a short sprint called the Beaver Freezer. I finished the race in 1 hr and 31 minutes. I had a complete blast and am hooked on triathlons for sure.
The Columbia Center
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| Getting ready to climb |
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| Up I go |
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| View from the top |
I Have entered and completed my first triathlon, a short sprint called the Beaver Freezer. I finished the race in 1 hr and 31 minutes. I had a complete blast and am hooked on triathlons for sure.
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| Start of the swim |
I felt my training has been lacking in the higher heart rates after doing a sprint type event. My training focus has been mainly endurance based. I spent the next few weeks swiming without any pull bouys and running with my Hr above 150.
I entered the Pear Blossum run on the 9th of april and started off with a 5k. I finished in a sub 30 minute run which was my goal and felt I had more to give.
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| Finishing the 5k |
I then did the 10 mile run which was my main focus of going. I started off slow and swear I was passed by 500 people in the first mile. I choked down my pride and just ran my race with one promise to myself. start slow end strong and leave nothing left when I was done.
At mile 3.5 I met the first place runner coming back he was at mile 6.5 and man was he fast. I also saw the handicapped runners in their wheel chairs on their way back in and cheered them on. I had a 60 year old lady pass me running barefoot, I tried to get a picture but couldn't get my iPhone off my arm in time. At mile 5 there is a pretty good hill you have to run over and back and I decided this was where I was going to make it hurt. I ran up it at normal pace and let the HR climb. Finally I am now passing a few people. My wife called me at mile 7 and cheered me on and offered me some strength and encouragement which was really nice. I ran mile 7-8 with a group of about 10 people and tried to pass them on 3 occasions to no avail. at mile 8.5 I ran my heart rate up to 158 and was able to finally pass them and hit the last water station at mile 9.
At mile 9 I decided it was time to leave it all out on the coarse and said a fast thank you to God for helping me make all of these accomplishments in my life. I moved out into the middle of the road and gave it all I had for the last mile. I was hitting 162 on my heart rate monitor and my breathing was on max at this point. Let me tell you the feeling I got from passing all those people that last mile ( 8 minute mile :) was the best feeling of my life. I placed about 1000 out of 1700 but man I felt like I won the race when I was done. I really have to thank all of my friends and family for always being positive about what I am doing all of this time. I ran that last mile for you guys and it was all I had to give.
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| Finishing the 10 mile |
My diet is always my biggest struggle. I am holding onto 200 lbs at this time and after these last races I feel I really need to be under 190 to keep doing this. I am now 2 lbs closer to that goal and hope to hit it soon.
I have made my last long run prior to the Marathon a 20 plus miler and feel my times are good for hitting my goal of a sub 5 hr Marathon. Ill post more after im done with that on May 1st.
