Master the Met 2011...

Master the Met Year 2-I survived!!! Master the Met is a 42 flight stairclimb inside the Metropolitian Building in downtown St. Louis. All funds raised for this event go to the American Lung Association. You can read about last year's event here.

My half training called for an easy 2 miles today so I debated whether to run this before or after the climb. I was wanting to beat last year's time so I didn't want to run BEFORE and be all tired but I knew after climbing 42 flights of stairs, I doubted I'd want to go run another two miles. I decided to split the difference: I ran 1.31 miles to meet my ride, climbed the stairs then ran back home. I was THRILLED with my pace for the run there-faster than normal. (OH! Sidenote: I got a wristwatch with a timer for my birthday on Friday so I can actually time my runs now!!!) So half training for Saturday-DONE!

We got to the Metropolitian Building and found everyone on our team. I decided to meander over to the registration table to chat with the awesome race director, Jamie (she seriously rocks!). Long story short, due to communication errors, we would only be climbing 40 flights! We went back and reported the news to our team and everyone was relieved. Me? Well, me being the crazy let's inflict as much pain on this oversized body of mine was honestly bummed! Last year, I did all these races to push myself and see if I could do it. This year, I was on a mission to beat my time from last year.

If you'd run the stairs before, then you got a "Met Vet" sticker to put on your bib. I put one on Terrance's oxygen tank (he was the only one on our team that competed in the firefighter with full gear AND oxygen!). Here's me showing off my guns picking up his tank for him, "GRRR!!! Being strong is hard work!!!"

And here's our Met Vet pic, left to right: Terrance, me, Holly, Stacey and April. Last year's team we only had 11, 8 "regular" people and 3 firefighters. Due to jobs, schedules and moves, we lost a few teammates .

BUT!!! We gained a lot more teammates this year and all of our old teammates supported us too. This year we had 15 on our team and everyone REALLY rocked it, I was SOOO proud of everyone. Okay, back to the story at hand. We took a bunch of team pictures, stood in line forever then FINALLY it was time to line up and I started getting nervous. I don't know why, it's not like I was in it to "beat" anyone other than myself. I messed with my MP3 player finding the perfect "pump me up" song. Finally I got to the front of the line and I jogged down the hallway to "the stairs." I started at a quick speed but still walk heading up them, ignoring all the volunteers cheering and just focusing on the floor in front of me. Around floor 3, I realized I was WAY too fast and said to myself, "Now Alyssa, you did this last year and screwed yourself." So I slowed down, after all slow and steady wins the race!

At "Floor 7" I finally decided to finally look to see what floor I was on: P7. Sweet! I'm booking it, I glance up at the next flight, Floor 7. LAME! P7 was the parking level 7!!! Floor 9, I got some water but then I held it for like 3 flights and didn't drink any. So I passed the second water station but I could've gone for some on the last floor but the volunteers weren't handing them out, they were telling you to go in the hallway....umm, no thanks-I'm on a mission here!

Somewhere before the halfway point, two of my teammates and I were all together. I looked up and saw a lady climbing the 40 flights of stairs in HEELS!!! I hit Maggie on the arm because I couldn't talk so I just pointed. That was BANANAS!!! Here's the lady after the race and this is EXACTLY the same shoes she climbed in-no joke!

No idea what floor but towards the end, there was some barfaroni I had to dodge-ew, ew, ew! I finally reached the top and my teammates were all there cheering me on!!! I got a bottle of water and waited for the rest of the team to cheer them on too. Terrance, who did the firefighter portion about 20 minutes before us in all his gear even waited at the top for all of us too! I definitely felt like this year was MUCH easier than last year but no way was it EASY at all.

Once everyone finished, we headed back downstairs to the after party. Hello beer and bananas!!! We *patiently* waited for the results. When they came out, I was pretty stoked: 40 flights of stairs in 11 minutes and 22 seconds. Last year, my times was 13 minutes and 36 seconds for 42 flights of stairs. 2010 average: 19.4 seconds/flight 2011 average: 17.05 seconds/flight I WIN!!! I BEAT MY TIME FROM LAST YEAR!!! Not to mention, I also just FELT better physically, too so that's a bonus.

What's up!?! We MASTERED THE MET!!!

OH! And our team, Stairway to Heaving, was the 4th highest fundraising team with $5,178.25. There were over 140+ teams. They also take the 3 fastest team members and add up their time to see which team is the fastest. Our team was 37th out of 140+. Way to go Stairway to Heaving!!!

Then we drove back across the bridge to head home and I ran my mile back to my house, coughing the whole way home but I'm happy to say, I Mastered the Met, I beat my time from last year AND I completed my half training for the day.

OH! I keep finishing this post and then coming back to it. Want to know something very weird? Last year when I did the Met, I was 26. This year when I did it, I was 28. Last year it was before my birthday, this year it was after my birthday, so I never got to climb the Met at 27. Weird, huh?