My chip time in 2011 was an unimpressive 16:37, so my goal this year is to at least beat that (I want to be under 16 minutes). The problem is, since I've been having trouble with my left knee, I haven't been able to run or do serious cardio lately.
The knee is feeling so-so now, and with the race less than 3 months away (March 24), I figured it was time to start training. I've seen the Stairmasters at the "Y" and the crazy looking people that use them, and figured I'd give it a try, too. The machines look pretty intimidating (like a clutz like me could easily hurt myself), so I had one of the staff members show me how to work the controls. Let me just say that before you step on, you better have your act together (i.e. headphones in, water bottle already in the holder, towel draped on the bar), because even when the machine is "off," once you get on, the steps start rolling down! Yikes!
For my first try (this Friday), I managed a pitiful 10 minutes and only climbed about 450 steps. I was sweating like no other cardio machine has made me do before, and I was totally out of breath. This is a totally different beast than the other stuff I usually do.
I came home and told Shin about my Stairmaster adventure and we discussed how I was going to go from 10 minutes/450 steps to 16 minutes/1200 steps. I wondered out loud whether I should gradually increase my time, but keep my pace or set my pace (about 75 steps/minute) and then work on increasing my time. Shin's input was that I should climb the 1200 steps each time (regardless of pace), since that is what I would need to do on March 24.
With that "advice" in my back pocket, I wandered into the "Y" again on Saturday. The Stairmaster only counts "stories," and each story is 16 steps, so doing the math, I will need to climb 75 stories in the Stairmaster world to equal the 50 stories in the Duke Energy building. I hopped on and accepted the machine's default pace of 43 steps/minute. After about 12 minutes, I was ready to give up! But... I told myself, you can make it to at least 15 minutes...get there and we'll re-evaluate.
Well, I made it to 15 minutes, which put me at 40 stories...more than halfway. So, I convinced myself to try to make it to 50 stories... and so on, and so on...until I had tricked myself into finishing all 75 stories. So much for beating my time... this effort took me 27 minutes! Boy, do I have a lot of work to do!!
Today, I went back to the "Y" for my usual 60 minutes of cardio. My thighs were burning, but I decided to hop on the Stairmaster again. Let's just say that my legs were not happy about seeing that machine 3 days in a row. I increased my pace, but only managed to stay on for 10 minutes. 530 steps--not even halfway up the Duke Energy Building! Again... I have a LOT of work to do!
Tomorrow is the day for my "Total Strength" class, so I will give the Stairmaster a rest day. Let's see if I can come back strong on Tuesday!
Today is the first day of 2012...a time when a lot of us are making "resolutions." I'm not a fan of resolutions, but I think we can all appreciate and rise to meet a challenge. This is my challenge to myself...what is your challenge for 2012? Whatever it is, tell others about it...make it public... your more likely to achieve your goal!
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