It was going to be one of those weekends. Three days, where at least two were going to be impacted by the weather you would associate with a Super-Typhoon. Windy, rainy and generally not the kind of days where you are outside for any length of time. VonFong (Typhoon 19W) was making its way towards us and while it was predicted to track to the NW, we were still looking at two days of indoor fun.
Saturday woke up and we were on the road early. My wife and I wanted to be out and enjoy a full day outside and in that we just about succeeded. We went hiking and enjoyed about 6 or 7 hours out and about, walking in some fine autumn conditions. There was never any hint of the typhoon that was guaranteed to hit the area in less than 24 hours. The proverbial calm before the storm.
A full day of walking and hiking does wonders to motivate me to workout. Unfortunately the weather was not going to be conducive in any way to my usual outdoor biking and running. I try to complete my regular daily fitness routine with fidelity. 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and recently I have added the old favorite of 100 jumping Jacks. It is simple and I never allow myself to fall into a routine of doing X number of sets, or reps. I knew that this weekend I would need to also throw in some stair running.
I have written before on this topic, and while I would like to say I have been running the stairs with fidelity, it would not be a true statement. Frankly running the stairs is hard. In 20 minutes of running the stairs, my legs hurt more than after a 20K, and I am breathing like I just ran a 5K at race pace. I don’t consider myself lazy, but the stairs are tough. My goal today was to run for at least 20 minutes and to see if I could get 10 round-trips in (up and down). I went a little over the time goal, but I did get in the 10 round-trips. About halfway through I decided to try some stair fartleks. Running up a flight with my normal stride, essentially skipping a step, and then on the next flight I would slow and hit each step. Much like a fartlek on the road, I was soon breathing hard and considered this new tool a success.
The typhoon came and went. We had some serious winds, and some rain, but nothing too bad. Stuck inside for two-days, but I enjoyed two satisfying workouts. Now with the weather cooling off, I might be running the stairs a little more often.
Still Running 