Climb the Tower
In memory of Tom Beckett
I never met Sam's friend Tom, but from everything she's told me about him and everything she's written about him. He sounds like an amazing person (and some of the stories she tells remind me of that same spirit that my mom had). On Friday, Sam asked if I'd be interested in doing the Climb the Tower event for the American Lung Association. Instead of a 5k charity race, it's a race up 50 stories of the Bell Atlantic Tower in Philadelphia. Oof. I'm in ok shape. I'm strong, but I certainly need to work on my cardio. 50-flights of stairs will certainly work your lungs. It's an excellent event for the Lung Association to hold.
I've had a lot of "firsts" with Sam: 1st time riding a bike in Philadelphia (we rode bikes to and from the "Climb the Tower" event -- yeah... lets walk up 50 flights and then ride bikes, sounds good.), 1st time walking up 50 stories, 1st time lead climbing outside... I wonder what else she'll introduce me to...
The day started off nice and early. I met Sam at her place and we rode bikes to Center City, Philadelphia. It was kind of neat to get a glimpse of her daily commute that I get to read about every once in a while (by the way, I rode her bike, she's got very short legs). Luckily Sam was very patient with me and went nice and slow. It was funny how turned around I got on the city while riding a bike (I normally have a pretty good sense of direction). I swear at one point we were backtracking towards her house, then suddenly we were on Market Street.
We got to the Bell Atlantic Tower (looking for the other funny-dressed people in the lobby) and registered for the event. We were one of the last people to register, so we were one of the last people to start. They started racers every 20 seconds. Us being #'s 157 and 158, we had about an hour to kill before we started. So we stretched, and had some green tea (and hoped we wouldn't have to pee when we hit the 34th floor).
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It's hard for me to believe that Sam hasn't always been athletic. She's a great climber, she climbs hard, she climbs long and she climbs gracefully. She rides her bike to work most every day (even on those days when I'm thankful that I work from home and don't have to venture out of my nice cozy couch). And that chick is really in shape too. All that being said, I wasn't suprised that Sam did so well on the walk. But I think I could have knocked her over with a feather when she found her name listed in 36th place for the event overall. She finished 6th for all the women in the event, and 2nd in her age group.
I wonder how many times I've written that Sam kicks ass. Well, she does.
This was the first time Sam has ever won a medal at an event. She said she wasn't going to take off her medal the rest of the day... and I believe her. We went out walking around her neighborhood and had some tea the event and she wore her medal around her neck the whole time. I'm so excited for her. (BTW, here's her account of the day's adventures).