04 May 2013

Howe Street stairs

I was determined to sleep in this morning and to this end I shut off my alarm. It didn't work. As usual, I was up at 4:30 AM and rolling over (and over and over) was not helping any. Luckily it's the first day of Giro d'Italia and you can watch it live on CyclingFans. Nice.

Since I'm going for a ride tomorrow it seemed appropriate that I do something on my feet today. And since I can't go for a proper run yet, stairs have turned into my go-to workout. I'm still only running stairs one step at a time because 1) I'm not supposed to subject my ankle to lots of impact yet and 2) running them two at a time is freaking hard! But even one at a time stairs are an excellent workout so no worries.

ASIDE - did reason #1 sound like an excuse there...? It kinda was.

I think today is the warmest and brightest stair session I have experienced in ages, perhaps years? Historically I would always do this workout in the winter (read: in the wet, in the cold and in the dark) as cross-training for cycling. Now it's serving not as cross-training but as regular old training! Change is inevitable.

Three fun things about today.

  1. I met David Mann on the stairs! Like me, he's a bicycle racer that is transitioning to running. He was out with some buddies from his gym doing a few flights. Go Dave!
  2. I think I found my favorite pair of road shoes today, the Brooks PureCadence 2! It was my first day wearing them and right away they felt perfect. They're very light, super comfy, and yet seem to have enough support. I'll find out for sure when I hit the road but today was awesome.
  3. I used my Garmin Foot Pod for the first time. It's a cadence and is primarily used when you run on a treadmill but outdoors it will still tell you what is going on. Stats are fun.

Okay, some more fun things about today.

  1. I started out feeling a bit heavy [Which I always seem to say about a stair workout... I don't think there is any other way I can start this kind of effort...] but then picked it up, kept it steady and ended posting my fastest pace yet! Yeah for me.
  2. There was a group of four guys out here today and I lapped them four times. At first they were faster than me on the way up but they would always take time to shoot the shit and fist bump and drink water every time they got to the top and to the bottom. It's amazing how quick you go if you just never stop.
  3. I have been told by my doctor and my PT that I should not go down stairs fast. Using this Foot Pod proves that I am not overdoing it.

One no so fun thing is that I feel like a sore throat is just around the corner... not enough sleep to fight this off I bet.

Sleep 6
Waking HR  
Body Weight  
Body Fat  
Breakfast 6:30 AM - 2 small bananas w/almond butter, 16 oz. Kombucha
Lunch  
Dinner  
Workout Food large bottle w/2 scoops HEED
Injuries  
Therapy  
Time of Day 9"10 AM
Workout Type strength, endurance
Weather mid 50s, sunny, dry
Course Howe Street stairs
Results  
Time 1:02:34
Distance 18 flights (3.05 miles)
Pace 3:29/flight
Equipment Brooks PureCadence 2, Garmin fenix
Clothing Brooks 5" Essential Run Short, Brooks Podium SS shirt

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