It Looked A Lot Bigger On Our Bikes

This morning Drew asked if we could go over to the Westside Highway Path and run up the stairs that I had noticed a while ago and then I had pointed out to him on our bikes about a month ago when we were out for a ride. He said that he didn't want to run there because he didn't want to be tired when we got there, but when we were trying to cross the Highway itself, I said we had to run across the street in order to make the light. Then he said that he actually wanted to run the rest of the way there, so I said we should walk for just another minute, and then we started running.

Once we got to the stairs, I think we both realized that they weren't as big as we had thought before. Drew said, "It looked a lot bigger on our bikes." That was the truth. But, since we were there, we didn't really have a lot of options, so we just ran up and down a couple of times. Drew was hassling me trying to get me to go two at a time, but I really didn't want to. I told him that he should worry about his own workout, and I'd worry about mine. I didn't mean it to be mean, but I also don't think I should have to do things that I don't want to or that my body just isn't feeling like doing on a particular day.

My calves were really tired from yesterday's weight lifting and these stairs weren't helping the situation any. I did end up doing a couple runs up two at a time, but most of them were just one by one. Drew also made me do this horrible jumping drill. I sucked at it. I had to jump up two stairs, down one, and then up two again. So, I'm practically incapable of jumping up two steps. I have never claimed to be a good jumper and today was proof that I'm not one. Drew kept telling me that I needed to jump with both feet at the same time, but I was more content to jump with one foot at a time. To jump with both feet at the same time, I had to crouch down really low, swing my arms, and then jump. Way too complicated for my taste! In any event, it took me quite a long time, but I eventually made it to to the top of the stairs jumping up and down.

I can't remember exactly how many times I went up, but I think it was either 10 or 11 times. In order to err on the side of caution, I'll just say it was 10. Drew definitely went up at least one more time than I did, maybe 2. Right when I think our legs were getting really tired, it started sprinkling, so we decided that we should head home (after having done some dips and push-ups using one of the park benches).

We ran part of the way home and then I made Drew look into the Bottle sculpture that's in the park, since he had never looked inside before. Then we walked the rest of the way home. All in all, maybe not quite the stair workout we were looking for, but still better than sitting around the house and doing nothing.

Run There
Distance: 0.70 miles
Time: 6:47
Pace: 9:41/mile
Calories: 85
Maximum HR: 180
Average HR: 171

Stair Run
Distance: 0.25 miles
Time: 17:30
Pace: 70:00/mile*
Calories: 202
Maximum HR: 181
Average HR: 162

Run Home
Distance: 0.65
Time: 5:11
Pace: 7:58/mile
Calories: 67
Maximum HR: 182
Average HR: 173

*Let's pretend this number isn't there, okay? I blame Drew and his jumping on this number. Also, I'm fairly sure the dips and push-ups are included in the time, which isn't really quite fair.