I just got done registering for the 2007 Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Stair Climb 2007 Challenge. The stairclimb takes place on March 22nd at the First Federal Plaza in Rocheter, NY. They have a bunch of different events: 2 person, and 4 person relays, firefighter in full gear races, etc. I registered for the individual event. I have never competed in a stair climb event before. I have however run a full marathon, a half marathon, and an off road duatholon. I figure how hard can running up 19 stories be? It will be different in the fact that my training has been primarily for aerobic endurance. The stairclimb will be extremely anaerobic. So I’ll prbably sucking wind seriously by the time I get the top. But who knows.
It cost $50 to register, and I can collect donations. I already have one $25 pledge.
At a meeting of the group I work in, my manager announced that I would be running the stair climb, and ask if anyone else wanted to do it, maybe form a relay with me. I told him, that the rest of the group was free to form a relay, but I was doing it solo.
I haven’t been doing any stair climb specific training. I have been training for the May 27th Buffalo Marathon, so I have run 31 miles in the past week, and will continue adding miles.
I think the stairclimb will be fun, and an interesting challenge. It will be interesting watching the firefighters running up those stairs in full gear!!!!
My Proform J6si is still working pretty good. I bought it used last year for $250. The frame cracked, and I got that re-welded, and even re-inforced. But the thing is noisy, and I keep playing with the idea, of buying a better treadmill. I keep an eye out on Craigslist.
A friend of mine just bought a Horizon T54 treadmill for $350. It was missing the plastic key, and needed new bearings or bushing or something. But it turned out the treadmill was still under warranty, so she got a fantastic deal.
Today a Horizon treadmill popped up on craigslist in my area for $300. The ad says they bought it a couple years ago for $1000 at the local sporting goods store. They didn’t list what model it was. I almost emailed the guy, but then thought, I really don’t need a new treadmill. What would I do with the Proform? I cancelled the email. He had a couple pictures of the Horizon treadmill. So out of curiousity, I looked around on Amazon. Looking a the pictures, it looks like the treadmill is a Horizon CT61 treadmill. According to the specs, it only has a 1.75hp motor, but is supposed to be ultraquiet. Interestingly, I can buy the treadmill new off of Amazon for $500 (list price is $1000) with free shipping.
At this point I think I will just stick with my Proform. But who knows. If a gym quality treadmill pops up on Craigslist for a good price, maybe I’ll go for it.
I apparently had eaten enough today. I think I had a couple bananas for breakfast, and a Healthy Choice french bread pizza for lunch. I ate a candy bar before karate class. Besides my karate class, I did some spinning on my bike for about 20 minutes earlier today. Nothing big. I headed off to karate class around 5:30. I was scheduled for two classes. The first from 5:30 to 6:30, and next from 6:30 to 7:30. The first class went okay, but I felt very fatigued. It took more effort than normal to get my legs up for kicks, and just to keep going. Second class left me feeling even more fatigued. Pretty soon, I began to feel light headed. I have had this happen before, and knew what was happening. My blood sugar was dropping, and I was begin to bonk. At this point I began to take it a little easier. Following class, I ate some conversation heart candies from Valentines Day. These helped. I had planned to do some grocery shopping after class, but instead, went straight home. When I got home, I ate some food, and quickly began to feel better. But I learned a lesson. I need to make sure I eat enough on days when I am going to be working out. But thinking about it, thats 7 days a week. 
I have slowly pieced together my own small home gym. I didn’t want to spend a ton of money, but have wanted decent stuff, so I have been patient, and bought stuff used.
The first thing I bought was a Treadmill. I had been watching for a while, before I got a good deal on a Proform J6si for $250 off of ebay. It was local, so I didn’t have to pay any shipping. This treadmill is what I use the most for my training.
The next piece of equipment that I bought was a Precor 718e climbing machine for $50 also off of ebay. I have used it a little bit, but haven’t so much since I started running, and training for marathons.
The next piece of equipment was free! It was a Cycleops wind trainer. I had been considering buy a trainer of some sort to hook my bike up to. But then one day on my way to work, something caught my eye. Someone had placed a wind trainer out on the curb. I stopped my car, and threw it in the back seat. I now have my Trek 1000 bike set up on it. I goof around on it mostly, maybe doing a short spinning session about once a week.
My next purchase was a Proform 545e Elliptical machine. I found it listed on Craigslist, and paid $80 for it. But I was forced to dissamble it to get it into my car to get it home. In the process of taking it apart, I mangled the axle caps to removed them. I ended up paying $20 (mostly shipping costs) to order replacement parts. So the total cost of the elliptical machine was about $100. My wife primarily used this machine.
The day before yesterday I woke up with a sore throat. Throughout the day I got stuffed up. Then yesterday I was even more stuffed up. I was scheduled to run 6 miles yesterday (and an aikido class). I debated… Should I still run? Should I not run? Should I may do the miles, but just walk them? I ended up skipping the 6 mile run.
Friends have suggested that it is okay to run if the cold is above the neck, and bad if the cold is below the neck in the chest.
Today I am scheduled to run 8 miles (and a couple hours of karate). I feel a little better today. I think I will run it but just take it real easy. The heart rate monitor should give me a clue of how I am doing. It worse comes to worse, I can always walk the whole thing, or cut it short. I will be doing it on a treadmill, so the cold outside is not an issue.
Later-
I did run my 8 miles. Well actually I walk most of it. I got on the treadmill, and start off slowly for a warmup. I slowly built up to a slow run. But I was feeling fatigued. So I ended up slowing down to a walk. It was a fast walk at about 14:00-15:00 minute per mile pace. But I did finished the 8 miles. My legs were feeling it later though. Even though my heart rate was below the zone where I have planned to be, it still felt like a good work out.