Racing

This stair climbing project has been a somewhat lonely endeavor. This doesn't bother me, but it did lead me to wonder at times whether I was the only person doing this. Well, it turns out I am not. Sort of. read on:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/sports/31staircase.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Of course these racers are going up actual towers, not "virtual towers" within their homes, but a bit of digging on the web reveals that some actually do train in their homes. This led me to wonder, do I want to run a real race up a real tower? Maybe. The 10 minute time listed for the Empire State Building is insane. I did my Empire State Building equivalent climb today and even sprinting at my fastest it takes me 9 seconds to get up my two flights which would translate into a 10.7 minute total time. But that would be impossible for me as I can barely sustain that pace for two or three cycles, let alone the 71 needed. More realistic is my slowest time as I complete the last cycle which is 14 seconds and therefore a 16.5 minute time. Even this is questionable as I am essentially interval training by having the down run inserted every two flights. The Empire State Building apparently has some flat stretches, but the sustained up is certainly far more than in my house, so my slowest time here would be even slower there.

No matter though, winning wouldn't be the issue or the goal, but participating and surviving might be fun. Empire State? CN Tower? Hancock? I'll have to think about this...