Final Climb Report
I got to the Aon Building at 7:45am and I'm still not sure if it was such a good idea to get there that early. My start time for my climb wasn't until 11:00am but I wanted to meet up with a couple of friends (one new , one old). But as I waited my anxiety level started catching up to my excitement level. Looking up at the building, it was starting to look very daunting and all the "what did I just get myself into" questions kept popping up!!
So I tried to keep busy looking at the booths people were still setting up and check out the VIP tent, which I qualified for through many friends and family who were very generous in sponsoring me. I thank you all!!
At 8:45am the first wave of climbers started getting ready for their 9:00am start time! These were the serious climbers who race up! This year's winner came in with a time of 8 minutes and 9 seconds! Incredible!
Met up with Rita (new friend),
and Edwin (old friend) and his friend Tina. I hadn't seen Edwin in over 25 years! He is still the same funny guy!
Hahaha!
Then it was finally time to go!
I started out enough fine. Everyone told me to pace myself and not burnout, "which is a mistake many people make." Every 5 floors I would take a couple of minutes then tackle the next 5 floors. By the 35th floor, I was dying! When I got to the 40th floor, quite honestly, I was considering quitting.
Then 5 Los Angeles Fire Fighters, in full gear!! started to pass me! As they passed me, they told me "c'mon! don't quit!" That's when I started taking a break every 2 floors! When I got to the 50th floor, I got a second wind and tried to get back to 5 floors at a time, which was stupid!! I had the breath, I wasn't breathing too hard but my legs were burning!! went back to 2 floors at a time.
When I got to the 60th floor, I knew I beat this building!
Then only 3 more floors to the roof and the end!!
I was so excited that I made it to the top!! I doubt if I would do it again. I would like to do more of this type of activity. Not the run of the mill marathon, 10 or 5K. Edwin suggested that I join him for the Irvine Lake Mud Run in July. That looks and sound interesting! Hmmmm. I'll have to think it over, for now I have a date with a very soft pillow!
Thank you again everyone for all generosity, your support and all your words of encouragement leading up to, during, and after this milestone in my life and the my pursuit to a healthier second half! When I get out of the hospital I
will thank you all properly!
Video Shoot
My sister,
Celia is the producer for a short film directed by the Oscar nominated writer
Iris Yamashita for her screenplay of
Letters from Iwo Jima. Celia had asked me if I would help and be part of the crew loading/unloading and maybe driving the van. I was able to help with picking up equipment all over town (Friday), loading and unloading sound and lighting equipment (Friday and Saturday), and general help during the Saturday afternoon shoot.
After the Climb, my brother in law, Jim and Wonton headed straight to the location. It was fascinating seeing what went into a production. I sort of had an idea what went into one but to actually see it happening was great. It can get tedious just by the sheer number of times scenes had to be shot but seeing the changes in camera angles to me was new!
The video featured hip hop dancing artists dancing in wheelchairs. There were two faces in the cast who were familiar only in face. I did not know what they looked like but I was familiar with their names or the groups/show they were in and they were
Phillip Chbeeb from
So You Think You Can Dance fame and
Yuri Tag from
America's Next Best Dance Crew, season 1.
As the day wore on, I was starting to really feel the climb but I had to get a picture with some of the cast during one of the breaks!
The video will be shown during the
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival on May 2.
Here I am with Phillip Chbeeb, Arielle Coker, Di "Moon" Zhang, and Yuri Tag.
Well, it was more than a full day! See you when I come out of the coma!
