I Ain't Scared of No Stairs

When my fellow gym rat, John, asked me to participate in the 2012 American Lung Association Fight for Air Climb, I was a bit leery.  After all, stairs are supposed to be the nemesis of people of my advanced age, and this event involved running up the 23 floors of a downtown skyscraper.  So I decided that I would run up 598 steps, and that if I could still walk afterwards, I was in.  

That Saturday I ran up the stairs in my house – 46 times.  Of course, this meant going back down 46 times – which is actually much harder on the knees.  I felt a slight twinge the first two times up, but after that, I was warmed up and there was no pain at all.  I signed up for the Climb.

Time to train!  I had been doing my treadmill time working on speed.  (You can’t win races with a nine-minute mile – even if you are over 50.)  I slowed down a bit and upped the elevation on the treadmill to get that uphill practice.  I took advantage places where I could run more than 13 steps at a shot – a hotel with three floors gave me 54; the path to the upper condos gave me 42.

When John asked me how many times I intended to run the steps, I once again shamelessly pulled the over-50 card and told him I’d start with once and see how I felt.  But – when he asked me if I wanted to be identified as a “multiple climber” – I said yes.  And when I picked up my race packet, I saw that he had put a “Strive for Five” sticker on my envelope.  The encouragement worked.  I actually ran the stairs 5 times. 

 

The event itself was amazing! Hundreds of climbers, some in costume, ranging in age from 5 to over 70, climbed the 23 flights of stairs.  The climbers encouraged one another all along the way.  Most inspiring were the firefighters, who made the climb in full gear – that’s an extra 50 pounds!   On the top floor, once a climber was finished, there were food and drinks and – get this – massages!  It felt wonderful to have a massage therapy student rub down my quads.  I felt like a real athlete.  

I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had the second-fastest time in my age group – and was only 30 seconds behind first place.  Next year – 10 climbs and first place!

And by the way, when I told John and Rob my real age, both told me they had me pegged for mid-40s.  And that, my friends, is what I love about running!