Training

My mother in law is dying. We went to see her today to say goodbye. I'm super close to her so this is super hard for me.

I'm not a social kitten by nature but I really don't feel like going to Boot Camp tomorrow and putting on a friendly face for my classmates. I feel like a solitary day is in order for me. I don't, however want to go another day without doing SOME form of exercise and since it's going to be a high of 33 tomorrow biking is out.

Tomorrow I'm going to my mom's place to work on stairs.

It's 17 stories. The most I've done so far is 6 stories of 100 steps and both times I'm huffing and puffing at the top.

I went looking to see what  I could find to help me train and push myself and get the most out of the stairs.
The first thing I came across actually made me cackle and snort:

Sample Running Stairs Cardio Workout

Find a flight of stairs that has at least 20-30 stairs (a track with stadium seating at a high school or local college is ideal).
Walk up the stairs to the top and then down the stairs to the bottom 3-5 times. After this warm-up you will begin the workout.
1) Sprint from the bottom of the stairs to the top as fast as possible
2) Then walk down.
3) Repeat this routine for a total of three to five sets. Your legs should be pretty sore the next day. Work your way up to a total of ten sets.
As your conditioning improves you have many more options to continually challenge your anaerobic system.
Run more flights of stairs
Increase your sets
Use a weighed vest

While I totally dig the weighted vest idea and it's been something I've wanted to invest in for a while and might before all of this is over, the sprinting up the steps as fast as possible is what made me laugh.
I might be vain, and stubborn and a bit of a Pollyanna when it comes to these sorts of things but that I know I cannot do yet.

I think tomorrow my plan is to walk up the steps one time and count them so I know what I'm dealing with and then head right back down and go up again trying to take the steps two at a time.
No extra weight, nothing but my IPod and a bottle of water and my camera to record the whole thing.

I have to do this in baby steps. One at a time, one foot, one step at a time. I have to remember that I'm not competing with anyone but myself on this one...