Meet My Best Friend Kim

The speaker tells a story about meeting a lady 13 and a half years ago after getting laid off from a marketing job. The speaker's husband encouraged her to become a personal trainer, and she reached out to the lady who had her own business. They met and discussed working together. They also got involved in stair climb racing and ranked highly in the sport. Stair climb races were challenging, and participants had to fundraise for a cause. The speaker enjoyed zoning out and focusing on breathing during the races. I'm gonna tell you guys a story about how I met this crazy lady there for Oh God 13 and a half years ago It's been 13 and a half years. Has it been 13? Yeah, cuz it was 2010. Okay, it was like September or August of 2010 Oh Okay. Yeah, so it all started because I had gotten laid off from a full-time job in marketing due to Probably an after-effect of the 2008 shit show known as our like financial crisis and And I was working in shopping center marketing and they decided to do a complete you know 180 of their business operations, which meant my position got eliminated and So this was my second layoff in Two years and I kind of had a little bit of a meltdown over it and I thought oh my god, I'm fucked so at the time I was married and I was My My ex well my husband at the time Encouraged me to follow something that I really enjoyed doing and he said, you know, you always wanted to become a personal trainer So why don't you go for it use this time and go for it? And I was like, oh my god He had some brilliant ideas sometimes so I ordered all the materials and I spent almost the entirety of that year Studying every single day and keeping up on my own fitness Passed the test on the first try. Thank God because I didn't think I did and then I had wanted to do something Different and unique. I didn't want to just go to like a corporate run gym and be one of those trainers that's basically actually like a salesperson more than a trainer and so I was doing some research and I saw that Christie here had her own business and It was the business model. That was like exactly what I wanted to do, which is training people in their homes training people in their offices Setting up group workouts at local parks that kind of thing You know no overhead and just kind of meeting to meeting people where they're at So I just reached out to her like basically a cold call and she like miraculously answered me Yeah, the email and we yes, I sent you an email and we met at Olympic Crest coffee shop Yeah, and I remember we sat down and you were like so uber professional about it Intimidating You're like, so what do you want from me? I remember that's what you said and I felt like I was at this like major job interview and I told you what I could bring to the table not only with Being a personal trainer on your team, but also offering marketing support for the business and that's where it all started That's where it all started in 2010. Yeah, I was a little surprised because I think I had just started the business and I Was just reaching out to government agencies and businesses and we I just did a radio commercial Local radio commercial and I remember telling you I don't know a lot about marketing and you're like, I think you're doing great on marketing Yeah, like I think you guys figured out, you know, yeah But we did we aligned as far as what our vision was or that business Yeah, we did and then once I got started with that with her I then was introduced to the sport of a stair climb racing also, thanks to you and That started a whole other journey in itself. I think that's the story for another day But I don't know if they're climbers and it kind of ties in I mean because at the time I had just gone through My first back surgery. Mm-hmm, and I had to find alternative Work out low-impact Aerobics and so I was doing stairs and this fireman was showed up at the stairs because the outdoor staircase and He's like laughing me here. I thought I was doing pretty good. You know, I'm like He's like back and forth back and forth and I'm like, oh shit and then he introduced me to he's like Hey, do you know that there's stair climb races and I'm like what so then I look it up And he is like one of the like top runner runners of in the sport and I'm like, okay now I don't feel so bad that I just got labbed by like the top guy and the whole thing. But yeah, it's we really in Emerged ourselves in that sport. I mean you were ranked what in the top ten Um Gosh I are all females. It wasn't even just your age group It was because you and my sister Julie both Ranked in like the top 15 or both of you were like right up there There are two separate rankings that that I was in and one was the national ranking one was an international ranking so I think Obviously the higher ranking would be the national ranking at the international because it is it was an international sport for I don't even know If it's really still even a thing anymore. I don't really see much about it anymore. I actually just got an email for the The Columbia Tower here in Seattle. Oh, well, yeah, they definitely do the Columbia Tower and I know they still do the The one in Vegas the stratosphere and they still do the Space Needle here in Seattle, right? Which we've never done because it's just wickedly expensive because every single stair climb race If you've never done one is a fundraiser for a cause it's not just hey It's a race and we're just getting together at a race You have to pay an entry fee and then you have to it's a minimum a minimum fundraising Yes You need to meet a fundraising minimum and I know after a while when we were doing it the Columbia Tower Especially became very very popular and if you didn't register within like 24 hours of of it opening You probably weren't going to get in. Well, that's when they also opened up the second stairwell for people who weren't racing They were just doing it for fun. Just doing it to climb the tower, but not for a placement or a time It wasn't timed. It was yeah, so they had two stairwell staircases So it was less pressure and less people because it yeah, those stairwells were got really busy and crowded They would get really crowded and if somebody wasn't Experienced and just was like, oh, we're just gonna get a team together and just for for this fundraising benefit For those of you have never run stairs before it's brutal and it's very unforgiving and it's merciless and if you don't Practice or train ahead of time? It's going to just kind of smack you in the face really hard We watched that happen with me many many people. Yes, and a friend of ours did get vomited on Only one of us did I think only one of us. I think there was a couple people that got maybe a couple I do specifically remember one because she had vomit in her in her hair It was terrible. Yeah, because a lot of people they think I'll just like start going off fast and that means I'll finish faster It's like no, it means it's gonna kick your ass faster and you're gonna end up hunched over You're gonna think you're having a heart attack Your lungs are going to burn like you've never felt a burn in your life you're gonna feel like you inhaled a million micro razor blades and It gets worse before it gets better which is what I can say about it too and a lot of people that Were the runners the runners were the ones that were like, oh I run all the time I run up hills. I got this and then after they're done. They were like, yeah, that's a whole different workout It's they had no because it is straight up. So you've got your elevation besides you're just You know the stairs themselves and you know, yeah, it's it's a whole different If they don't compare in any way if you're a runner, that's great You have a good base to work from but unless you've actually run the stairs running You know pounding the pavement and doing stairs. They don't they don't compare It's like you're sprinting because I know for me like the tallest towers because if so the towers had to be 50 flights or above to count towards a placement or to get points for ranking system and so when People don't realize that you are sprinting So for me, you know anything that was about what 55 to 60 flights I was sprinting for 15 minutes straight. I mean, I know I did the Columbia Tower in 15 minutes I did the stratosphere in 10, you know 15 I don't remember what my time was in San Francisco or anywhere down there. But yeah, it's you're sprinting You're sprinting it's not in trying to pace yourself I think the hardest one for you was the stratosphere because they pulled all of our audios so nobody could have headphones Right. Yeah Well, and it's those stairs were different too because those flights were very just long it wasn't it was like switchback switchback switchbacks Yeah, when you're hiking switchbacks, right? So it was a little more gradual and not such a very Aggressive Straight up up up which made it a little bit better But yeah if you for a lot of us who do these types of things our music is what gets us through it and I had a very specific playlist of music With the songs in a very specific order that helped me to get Through it and it kind of helps you zone out a bit because you can zone out and do it because you're just going up Up up up and if you are unable to do that, you know Your brain goes to different places that can be a little more loom and doom where you're thinking yourself like a quarter of the way Up, what am I do? Why am I here? Why am I doing this? What is wrong with me? Why am I doing? Well, and also it helps you pace yourself So, you know at a certain song you need to be at a certain flight, you know I mean you're pacing yourself based off the of the music like okay I'm on my third song which never would happen. I think we would listen to songs that we were at the top, right but Yeah, it's it's the the pacing and everything So I ended up chanting like doing this little song in my head and just kind of paced myself that way I don't know how what you did, but I don't I don't I don't know I tried to just tune out and just go like Very robotically and just not think about it. And well, I would focus on my breathing mostly You can focus on your breathing breathing. Well you try Thank you so much like giving birth inhale exhale, you know Just do some Lamaze just do some Lamaze up there And then I know some of the repeated races that we would do I would just be looking forward to the water station like I know there's water on this I know I never took water. I had to take water I would just take the water and just shoot it back and then just crumple a cup and toss it Yeah, a lot of people would toss them and then hit other people down below. I try not there Well, no, I was I was through my cup like in the very corner of which of like, you know the turn So I would kind of throw it but there'd always be a collection of cups there So I would throw I will say the race that that I always found really really challenging and kind of frustrating was the cystic fibrosis one Because when you do a race To prevent the stairwell from getting so cluttered up with people You let one person go and then you typically count to like 10 and then you let the next person go and the lady who was Letting people go really wasn't doing that. It was just like go go go. Okay. I see your number go go Okay, you're wearing a timer go go and she was just letting everybody go like Wild West style and so you would get big clusters of people and There is an etiquette to it. A lot of people didn't follow the etiquette and I know that there was one year I Might have been my first or second time doing it. This guy just would not get out of my way He just he just was in with you just focused and just didn't know that you were there It's possible He could have been but at one point, you know It's like I'm sick of this guy's ass being in my face in front of me So I'm like sir, please can I go can I just pass you you said please? I don't really I don't I don't think you think please of those moments. You know, like get move just move Can you just fucking move? Passing just move I'm passing but yeah that's what you would have to say because if you were slower than other people you had to stay on the outside of Of the stair and then the people that were going faster were more on the inside so they could turn the corner Well, because they're also using the rail using a rail to pull yourself around those corners. Yeah whip yourself around Yeah, you had to do that, which which one was which one was the hardest for you not I Mean you said the cystic fibrosis one, but what was the hardest? What's the one that really stuck in your head? That was like the worst event As far as like as it being physically difficult Yeah, the most challenging one for you the very first race I ever did with you Yeah, the very first race ever did yeah, because you why cuz you didn't know what to expect or I didn't know what to expect I didn't know how I was gonna feel at the end of it I did not know that my lungs were gonna burn to a level that I did not even know was possible Which is called runners hack. Yeah. Yeah our track hack track hack Yeah, cuz I don't know if you remember that we got to the top and I was just clutching at my chest It's like am I gonna die? I think I might die That is very memorable to me I literally thought but you're like a greyhound with a rabbit in front of you Like if somebody is in front of you, you are like casing them You're like until you pass them and then you see somebody else and you got to go after them Like you just keep going me. I'm just like very consistent and like I pace myself And okay, I know I'm gonna get there I can get through this You know, this is hell for like, you know, 10-15 minutes, but I'll get there. I might be a little competitive just a bit It's like well, you know when you when you drive and if you're the type of person who likes to drive kind of fast You don't want to get stuck behind so you just don't want to get stuck behind someone's when you're passing them in the plane I don't have no idea what you're talking about Okay, New York City taxi driver I've only had to like white knuckle the side of your car door a couple times But we always got where we needed to go nobody died no not yet No, um, yes, I don't like I don't like getting stuck behind anybody. I just can't handle it Yeah, like you're slowing me down. You're in my way I know I can go faster than this and I just I don't want your ass in my face What was what's the what was the funnest one? You did the one that you had like the most fun at probably the stadium high school climb. Yes It's my talk about that. Okay, cuz it's outside. It is outside. It's scary though. Yeah. Yeah, it's called unleash Unleashed I mean at the Stadium Bowl in Tacoma and it actually is a fundraiser for animals and Organization that I can't remember. I'm sorry kindred souls. Yes. Yeah. Yes the fundraiser for kindred souls They have it every August. Mm-hmm, and you go around the stadium the stadium Bowl Going up and down the stadium stairs the stadium high school and the stadium itself is very very steep very steep It is very old. I can't remember what year that was built, but it's been around a very long time so it's not like your typical like aluminum stadium stairs It's all concrete and not uneven they're uneven there's no rails They're very and each step is very high. Yeah, it's not your typical step. It's um, I Would love to know what the actual height of each step is but it's it's not the measure right now. We'll be right back But yeah, no, yeah That was probably my favorite as well and also very very challenging because with it being in August Being with that AstroTurf It was extremely hot even if it was only 70 degrees, but when you're in that bowl, it felt like it was 90 Yeah, it's a hot it's a hot one. But you know, they play music outside and it's it's a good well done It's very well done. And I think they keep improving on it every year. We should do it this year We should do this you haven't done it in years. Yeah There's many reasons for that, but you haven't done any stairs in many years They're climbing thing is has been retired now for probably what seven years Yeah, and for me, it's been Health reasons or injuries that you know with knee injuries and and everything else that I? Just kind of had to back off on it. Yeah for me. It was more mental health reasons. It was anxiety. Yeah great anxiety because you know like you mentioned I was ranking for a while there and You want to keep doing better and better and it's almost like you're expected to do better better the more people find out about it And that leads to a lot of pressure because if you start to go in the wrong direction you know, what do you look like then and then it's like is your time up doing this thing that you love to do and Some people took it all did take it a different direction and there was your typical team rivalry type thing and It wasn't a lot of good sportsmanship I would say it started getting ugly it kind of did it kind of started in clicky is what happened clicky and ugly because Like they would Lobby to be the first ones in the stairwell They would be the you know like they instead of just joining on in and just taking your turn They wanted to be the first ones to go so there was no but no chance of anybody being in front of them and slowing Them down and all of that instead of just you know yeah hanging out with The normal people is what I would say yeah There was definitely an elite elitist attitude that kind of came in to play after a while And then but I mean for for my personal reasons It's just it got to the point where the morning of a race. I would be Feeling very sick and very stressed out very anxious, and it's like okay. This isn't fun anymore mm-hmm. There was one morning I really honestly was hanging out in the bathroom thinking. I was gonna throw up, and I'm like yeah, you did Yeah So it just wasn't fun anymore So that's why I just was like yeah I'm gonna take a bit of a break from this maybe come back someday and just have fun with it and not worry about Being competitive. Yeah, it's not like we won prizes You get like a medal, and you get on a ranking or something, but it's like you're not getting corporate sponsors No imagine if I was in the sport where there was something like that yeah like Spartan racing Yeah, something like that or like oh god. I wouldn't last a month You know you better come in first or you're gonna cut your sponsorship right I quit I quit it all for me I'd like to because I could travel because in the sport the United States was divided up into four sections And so you had certain amount of buildings in each Region and so I bounced like I did I went up to actually to Canada and that that one didn't count But the wall and and that was great. I loved that one and then I also did San Francisco and Did another one down in California I can't remember which one it was now. Oh, I did it. They did two of them down there But that's a good Portland. We did Portland, Idaho, Boise I didn't do poison then stratosphere stratosphere Yeah, and then for twice one that was always on my list that I never did was the well actually two I wanted to do the Sears Tower in Chicago And then I also wanted to do the Empire State Building which you had to apply for that. It was invitation only and But that one they didn't stagger people. No that was Wild West that was Wild West that was unleash unleash the hound Like they really like just clamor over each other Yeah, if you if you go on the web and you look at some of those pictures like they're diehard, you know And I'm just like, um, somebody's gonna just trample over me. That's too much for me I'm like, I don't think I can do that. I just wanted to do it Yeah, I mean to have the experience just kind of be nice, but you know anyway Yeah, so that's stair climbing. Yeah, I can't you're right. I miss it. I I want to do the Columbia Tower in 2025 you do. Yeah, you don't want to do it this year No, there's no time to prepare this year. We'll just do it and just not See you I want to be ready for it. Is that competitive person? And yeah, see me I'm just like and I just do it and not care about my time. Just the fact that I would I completed it I just want to know I want to train for it Yeah, and I know I'm not expecting to get like any time close to what I used to get But I just want to at least be somewhat trained for it, yeah Yeah, and you know, it's a month and a half away two months away Well, yeah, cuz it's in March So, but yeah, I would I mean yeah, and I wonder I just wonder how busy it is because like I said I said they sent me an email and I'm like, I haven't gotten anything from them in years. Oh Well before that to you. I didn't even look at it. I was like, yeah But I don't know I might want to do the Let's look at the dates on that. Oh, it's usually like early August. Yeah, there's plenty of time to train for that one Yeah, and I don't remember like what the the minimum Donation or Fundraising was I don't think they have a minimum. You know, I mean, I don't think they did I think could have changed since then but I don't think they did. Oh and the last time I think we did is when the military bomber crew Crew They put in there. They were in their whole Suits, they're in their military suits. Yeah, that was crazy how much and those weighed? I don't remember how much they said those weighed I know they look like they kind of look like people who are in those giant samurai suits that yeah fight each other Yes, and yeah, I mean just looking at him. I felt bad for them. I was like, oh my god, that's torture I mean, I think they need to level up on that. I think they need to start doing like dress up in those Inflatable t-rex costumes, um, I would fall on my face I would be hurt because everybody with those stairs and I know hey, I know handrails Oh, yeah, I would I would bite it hard. I think you'd see a bunch of tumbling Tumbling t-rex There goes another start placing bets on how many are gonna fall next great like I I think 10 Anyway, yeah. All right. Yeah Listen to my heavy breath there. Okay. I Think we're gonna have to use these little covers next time we're gonna yeah, I know. Yeah Now that we have this diary. Well, let's uh Let's end here and Listen on the computer and see what we've got. See how these newbies are doing. That's right. Okay. Bye. Bye