CN Tower Climb for United Way… my thoughts

October 24, 2009 landland 1 Comment

So I finished the CN Tower Climb for United Way this morning and had a great time! I didn’t quite make my goal of a sub 15 minute time but I was very close. 15 minutes was an arbitrary number I put out there, and I really think I could have made that easily if I had done a few more things right than I did wrong. My time was 15 minutes and 13 seconds. That number is not that accurate in my opinion. At the top, I didn’t realize I was done and so I had to fish the timecard out of my pocket and then I had to wait in line for others to get their time stamped. I probably did get under 15 minutes but its ok, I’m not too worried about it 😉 I stuck around to see what other peoples times were and I only saw two people, a guy and a girl who were together, definitely runners, with faster times than me in the 14 minute range. As Georges St. Pierre would say, “I am not impressed with your performance.” lol. It was my first time climbing up the CN Tower and if I decide to do it again I will be much better prepared.

I raised $250 so that is pretty cool. Thank you to everybody who sponsored me, I really appreciate it. Even the guys I pretty much forced into it lol. I am still allowed to raise money for the next little while (don’t remember the exact date, I think November 20th) so feel free to contribute if you want. The proceeds go to helping worthwhile programs throughout the city of Toronto. My sponsor page can be found here http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=779232

Below are my thoughts on what I did right and some advice on what you could do to get the best time possible. Learn from my mistakes.

What I did right:

Warm up and stretch: It was pretty cold and windy out today so I really had to warm up and stretch. Don’t skip this or you’ll be cramping up. I saw a number of paramedics helping people out who were experiencing muscle cramps probably because they skipped this part.

Massage: I really have to thank Johnny Vos at http://www.vosrmt.com/ (Toronto Life named him the best massage therapist in the city here http://www.torontolife.com/features/best-service/) and his team for making sure my muscles were in good shape. I had a session with him last Friday, one yesterday with Joanne (who is phenomenal as well), and another one on Monday. It has been a while since I’ve had a massage and Johnny mentioned how ridiculously tight my muscles were and really helped me loosen them a lot. Joanne also mentioned she could feel a lot of scar tissue in my hamstrings, I have no idea when I did that I have had so many injuries over the years due to pure ignorance and improper training that I have lost track.

Keep fit: I am a P90X grad and soon to be Insanity grad and am in, by far, the best shape of my life. Rock climbing and Yoga have really helped as well and although I have a disc bulge and a disc herniation in my neck, I feel strong enough to give BJJ a go starting in November. Its been too long and I am itching to get back in there. General healthy fitness will really help you in your athletic endeavours.

Mental strength: The mental game to push through your perceived limits is so important in athletic competition. For the past week I’ve visualized reaching the top in spectacular fashion and never doubted my abilities for a second. I’ve also been using guided Paraliminal meditation to help with peak performance and it has been doing wonders for me.

Hydrate: Self explanatory. Just make sure you are well hydrated as you aren’t allowed to bring any water with you during the climb. They have hydration stations before and after the climb. For myself, I used Vega sport combined with Vega Health Optimizer, mixed with a greens infused liquid, Udo’s oil, cacao beans, goji berries, acai, matcha green tea, tumeric, two bananas, a berry antioxidant mix, squeezed lime and lemon, and coconut water. It really, really helped me recuperate from a mild hangover and tasted delicious.

Enjoyed the view: It was my first time up the CN Tower and I spent quite a bit of time at the top, really enjoying the spectacular view and cooling down. I went outside and it was extremely windy and cold but very fun as well. It was kind of embarrassing that I’ve lived in Toronto for 8 years and have never been to the CN Tower up until now. Toronto from above looks pretty awesome.

What I did wrong:

Arrive early: I got stuck behind a lot of people going up the stairs. There was a huge lineup to register and a huge lineup for coat check. Even though I got there at 6:45 AM, I didn’t get to climb until 7:45 AM and by that time it was already rammed. I’d suggest going at 5 AM and being ready to climb at 6 AM.

Get adequate sleep: I have had back to back to back sub 6 hour sleep nights when I am normally used to at least 8. That will mess up your recovery and rest and energy big time (I definitely noticed this at the beginning of the climb… I was seriously struggling). Make sure you are well rested and refreshed and energized.

Do not get drunk two nights in a row prior to the climb: I decided to support my homegirl Heather (http://www.gingermartini.com) in her quest for world fashion domination and sending her off to Vancouver Fashion Week on Thursday night and then Nick and Tina’s super fun engagement party last night. Although I didn’t get super hammered I did get drunk enough. Both nights were fun and I have no regrets, the timing of everything just so happened to be non ideal, but if you can I wouldn’t advise doing what I did.

Train properly for it: I didn’t do any stair climbing whatsoever. Heck, I didn’t even do any running. If you are looking to get a great time then you probably should. Next time, I will.

Wear good shoes that you have adequately worked in: I was worried that they weren’t going to let me climb with my Vibram Fivefingers, so instead I went out and purchased a pair of Nike Free the day before the climb. Nike Free is Nike’s line of “barefoot” running shoe, and even though they are pretty sweet they are no comparison to the freedom of the Fivefingers. I definitely should have worked them in more, as I wasn’t used to them at all. Even though they are super light, they aren’t nearly as light as the Fivefingers and the cushioning is a lot more than what I’m used to. My feet felt trapped on the climb and they started to hurt probably with 50 flights of stairs to go. Not good. I should have confirmed with the organizers if I could wear the Fivefingers or gotten used to wearing the Nike Free. I did neither.

Do not get sick: I have the sniffles, probably because I got pretty wet going to Nick and Tina’s engagement party. My umbrella busted in the windy rain and so I chucked it mid pour. The sniffles will definitely impair your breathing as it did for me.

Have a support team: I made it to the top and saw others high fiving each other and getting cheered on by their friends and family before and after the climb. I had neither. Schools climbed together as well. I saw McMaster there, Humber there, lots of elementary schools, etc. I was like “Yes, I did it!!” then high fived myself. A couple people stopped to talk to me and say they saw me blazing past them, but that was it. I would rather celebrate with friends, its more fun and rewarding that way.

Be more aggressive: This is for charity so people come in all shapes and sizes, not everybody is going for time. Lots of people would walk beside each other and there was no easy way to get past them. I patiently waited for my openings but instead I probably should have said “excuse me” a lot more than I did.

Prepare yourself: Stairs are narrow and not wide like I thought, that messed me up because I wasn’t able to pass people. You aren’t allowed to bring anything up either. They say you can bring a fanny pack up to carry your id but that’s ridiculous, who the heck has a fanny pack these days? It makes sense that you can’t bring up your ipod, cell phone, camera or water. Imagine people dropping their electronics, stopping to take pictures or chat on their phone, or spilling their water on the metal stairs. It could be disastrous when you are pushing 5000 people up a small stairwell. There are paramedics at every 10th floor I think, so if you run into any injuries they can assist. Also, after you are done and your time is punched, there is still another 10 flights of stairs or so to get into the tower, so be aware of that.

I think that’s it. I am happy with my performance and if I ever do the climb again feel I can demolish my time easily with some proper preparation. I am probably going to catch up on some sleep now then do my Insanity workout for the day. I have 1 more week to go then I am done with the program, 67 days of pure …well insanity. I’ll probably post my thoughts on the program and my fit test numbers once I am done.

Mindset, Stories

We’ll see…

October 22, 2009 landland Leave a comment

Life is like a sinusoid..no??? Box of chocolates?? Never mind. Nobody knows the future. Nobody was given the handbook on how to live life.

Here's a fable that I really enjoy. I first heard Eckhart Tolle tell it. I'm copying it from Derek Siver's blog.

————————————————

A farmer had only one horse. One day, his horse ran away.
All the neighbors came by saying, “I'm so sorry. This is such bad news. You must be so upset.”   The man just said, “We'll see.”
A few days later, his horse came back with twenty wild horses. The man and his son corraled all 21 horses.
All the neighbors came by saying, “Congratulations! This is such good news. You must be so happy!”   The man just said, “We'll see.”
One of the wild horses kicked the man's only son, breaking both his legs.
All the neighbors came by saying, “I'm so sorry. This is such bad news. You must be so upset.”   The man just said, “We'll see.”
The country went to war, and every able-bodied young man was drafted to fight. The war was terrible and killed every young man, but the farmer's son was spared, since his broken legs prevented him from being drafted.
All the neighbors came by saying, “Congratulations! This is such good news. You must be so happy!”   The man just said, “We'll see.”

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Friends and Family, Me

Weddingpalooza

October 2, 2009 landland Leave a comment

Tis the season to get married! Had a lovely wedding in Ottawa this past weekend with a lovely couple and a great group of friends. Tonight I have a wedding reception in Niagara Falls. If I didn’t RSVP to that, it would have been a bachelor party in Toronto. Next weekend I get a break and will be participating in a 3 day flintknapping workshop (making stone tools and weapons…way too awesome!) and if I’m lucky a lot of Turkey with the family. The following weekend I am back on the wedding train with a wedding in Toronto. Then the following weekend I have an engagement party to attend. Phew, I get tired just thinking about it!

Hmm, what else. Starting my second month of the Insanity workout on Monday. I can tell you flat out that it is the most physically demanding thing I have ever done. But I love it! After that, gonna startup P90X Plus.

Signed up for singing class. Lol, I don’t know what mind altering medication I was on when I decided to do this, but I must admit the first class was very enjoyable. I think I am going to learn a lot from this.

Still churning away at MBA applications. I must say, they do take a lot more work then I had anticipated. But at the same time, you really do learn a lot about yourself thinking about how to answer these questions for the essay portion. Its a rather enjoyable experience.

Oh, and I have two cats that are living with me. One scratches and bites me when I pet her.

Other than that, just counting my blessings. I have great people in my life, and far too often forget the ridiculousness of my fortune.

Me, Stories

Clubfoot of Death

September 21, 2009 landland Leave a comment

I bring your attention to my right foot, which if you haven’t noticed got a lot bigger than my left on the final day’s trek into Machu Picchu. They think I got bitten by a spider. Serves me right for going au natural and avoiding any deet infused liquid death spray (which I succumbed to anyway as soon as I ran out out of Citronella oil). Tourists were so enthralled by my Vibram Five Fingers they didn’t even notice my grotesquely, morbidly obese right ankle as they snapped away in glee at my shoes, even at one point making me stand on one foot so they could take pictures of the bottom of my feet. The ankle got a few inches bigger than this before the swelling started to go down. Homeopathics so did not work for me in terms of not getting bit by tiny, blood thirsty bugs. If anybody has any non toxic remedies for me to try on my next insect filled adventure, I’m all ears.

Me, Stories

San Francisco is rules

May 5, 2009 landland 1 Comment

Back from San Francisco. That was an awesome trip. Minimal computer time, no twitter, no cell phone, no facebook, it felt great. Read this book, Emergency by Neil Strauss, loved it. That, combined with the lack of technology and the natural beauty of SF and surrounding area has got me motoring to learn some new skills. Wrote them down on my to do list. They involve guns, knives, and camping.

The return back to Toronto was disastrous. It included massive check in lineups, rude US Airways agents, turbulent flights, delayed flights, missed connections, rude/frustrated/stressed passengers, terrible food, lack of food, lack of sleep, unwanted overnight stay in Philadelphia, long security lines, rude customs agents, etc. It was probably the roughest 24+ hours of travel I have ever experienced so far. Likely won’t be traveling on US Airways ever again. They suck. At the hotel they put me in, speaking with the hostess and the way too happy to be working at 1 AM check in clerk girl at the hotel they both told me that US Airways always fills their hotel every Saturday and Sunday due to overbooking and missed connections due to delays. Hopefully I won’t have to go through anything like that again. After the delayed flight back into Toronto in the morning, I proceeded to run out of the airport, take the Airport Express to downtown Toronto, take a cab into work and then work an 8 hour shift.

Disastrous return aside, that was a really chill vacation. Probably saw everything I needed to see in SF, my favourite being a night tour of Alcatraz, but what I really enjoyed was the friendly vibe of the city. Went to the park on a Saturday, random hippies just chillin out, smoking pot in one spot. Kids flying their kites in another, lesbians listening to live music someplace else, college fratboys playing frisbee elsewhere, etc. etc. Everybody just out, sharing the space at the park, having fun. Everybody I met was friendly, from the crazy Swedish sisters that felt the need to kiss each other way too much (note: beware of Swedish girls who come to California looking to become Actresses), to the random girls stopping us on the streets to give us props and high fives for no other reason but because we both had somebody in the group with luggage. Seriously, who does that? Apparently San Franciscans.

Heck, even the baseball game was fun, and I didn’t even drink or anything and it was cold. The energy of the crowd was what kept the game exciting, and of course the fights and near fights that broke out. And the random chants of USA and LA Dodgers support swine flu were good times as well.

My watch stopped working near the end of the trip. I only write this because I noticed I wore my watch today. wtf, habit I guess. In fact, I wore it everyday since it stopped working. I made it a running joke anytime we were on a time commitment that we either had lots of time, or we were late because it was 11:20 (what my watch is stuck on). Sadly, I found that way too hysterical for my own good and beat the joke to death.

I had a fmylife.com moment when, in order to save paying the $1.50 fare to ride the bus by using my bus transfer that was about to expire, I ran to catch the bus only to drop, scratch, and crack my Armani sunglasses my brother gave me. I broke an expensive pair of sunglasses in order to save $1.50. FML.

I have pictures. I have videos. I’m sure they’ll show up somewhere. Awesome time with a great group of friends. Ate well, played well, and even had time to work well.

Life, Me

time waits for nobody

April 24, 2009 landland 3 Comments

So here I am, a year older, a little wiser, and just as awesome as always. Read a few things here and there on various blogs that have got me thinking about how time, whether you decide to keep up or not, will continue regardless. One of my best friends recently made a comment about how I am never satisfied with anything. I thought, damn this guys known me for close to 20 years but he doesn’t really know me at all. There’s a difference between satisfaction and challenge. Challenging oneself to be the best self they can be is an entirely different thing from being satisfied with the present moment. They absolutely do not have to be mutually exclusive.

In time, things will change. They always do, because time keeps on moving. If you stop, time doesn’t wait up. If you are satisfied with everything that is, by all means stop and enjoy it all. You should appreciate everything you have. You might find, however, that the things you used to enjoy might not quite do it for you anymore. Where it can get destructive, is when to keep that high of satisfaction you must get the next thing, and then the next, and then the next. I wouldn’t call that true satisfaction. I`ll call it societal brainwashing 101.

Right now, I am not where I thought I would be at this age. I am comfortable, for sure, and to me that is not something I wish to be for too long. But that isn’t dissatisfaction, not at all. That’s just me, demanding more from myself. Nobody puts this pressure on themselves except for themselves. Its time to put things in motion to start the next phase of my life, because if you wait, you regret. But time keeps ticking, ticking, ticking away. I don’t care if I am here for 1 more day or 100 years if the time I am spending here is being wasted. Wasted on pettiness, on greed, on vanity. Wasted on other people’s expectations, wasted on waiting for others to make the decisions. Its gross. It makes me feel sick just thinking about it. So, I say, stop wasting. Stop wasting time, stop being wasteful to the environment, to your health. Demand more not from others, but from yourself.

I told my manager over lunch to beat me with a bat if I am still here in 1 year. Who says that to their manager, especially right before their performance review? Perhaps an idiotic move to your career, for sure, but honest nonetheless. That’s why I applaud Miss California, who lost Miss America the other day because of her stance on gay marriage. She was honest on her opinion (which I don`t agree with for the record) and because of that lost and was called mean things by not very compassionate people. Hats off to Miss California for speaking her truth. In the long run, honesty wins. It just does. Dishonesty for betterment of self is lacking in integrity and homey don`t play that.

I am moving along, because guess what? Each year I get older, I get wiser. I challenge myself, I explore and discover. Nothing can be taken from that, only added. Long after your looks have faded, or whatever else you think you have going for you, what will you have left? All that remains is your spirit, your consciousness, and time can`t touch that.

Awesomeness Deluxe