Here we go again
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Time for another practice run up the Wilshire-Figueroa building in Los Angeles. The race is coming up in just about three weeks, so it’s time to get down and practice. I did this last week and turned in a time of 8:52. That was faster than my practice time from last year, but slower than my race time of 8:42. So today was my second chance.
There was a very small group there today for the climb. I followed my ’start last’ strategy again. I let Jeff go ahead of me, since I knew he was the one most likely to pass me. That way, I had lots of other people to pass. Jeff took off at what looked like an impossible pace, and I started out at my regular speed.
I caught and passed most of the other people who had started before me. I could hear them up above before I could see them. This was good, since it gave me a sense of how far ahead they were, and that was my motivation to go faster.
At the little ‘petting zoo’ area on the 49th floor, I started my final push to the top. I don’t know how much extra speed I managed to pull out, but it sure hurt like I was going faster. At the top, I flopped down on the floor and just sat for a few minutes to catch my breath. Jeff was already there, and he took the requisite souvenir pictures.
In the end, I did 8:42, which equals my race time from last year. And now I have a goal for next week’s practice.
