Friday, October 23, 2009
CN tower stair climb
Tomorrow is the public stair climb fundraiser for United Way at the CN Tower. 1,776 stairs to the top of the tower, three times more stairs than the one that I am training for here. This is one advantage to living in a smaller city where the tallest building only has 600 stairs! I would think that you would have to train much differently to climb 1,776 stairs as opposed to 600, one is a marathon, the other a sprint.
It seems that there are stair climb races everywhere! Stay tuned for more posts on this topic.
My training
Training is going well, some workouts are better than other.
This week I did two workouts on the step mill machine at the gym, 4 minute sprints with about 4 minutes rest (walking or slow climbing) repeated x3, the third workout I did in my condo stair well, 7 runs up 127 steps. The step mill machine is harder because you don't have to stop and go back down to the basement, but I'm a bit faster on my condo stairs because I'm not as worried about falling off a machine that is basically an escalator. Also, the step machines do not have an emergency stop, you have to look at the keypad and firmly press a little red button no bigger than the top of my thumb to stop it!! So you either have to pace yourself or risk not being able to hit that little button. The ironic thing is that the treadmills, which are infinitely less risky than the step mill has a huge, red, easily pressed emergency stop (stair mill designers take note!).
I've also been trying to do some intense cardio burst during bootcamp, today I did a circuit consisting of 1 mintue skipping, 3x30 second sprints on the treadmill, 3x30 second bike sprints with shoulders, and 2x3 ladder cycle. I repeated circuit twice then went back to the weight circuits on the board.
The plan for next week is to do 4-5 minute sprints on the stair mill, cardio circuits at bootcamp and another stair climb in my condo (and pilates and yoga to balance things out).
This week I did two workouts on the step mill machine at the gym, 4 minute sprints with about 4 minutes rest (walking or slow climbing) repeated x3, the third workout I did in my condo stair well, 7 runs up 127 steps. The step mill machine is harder because you don't have to stop and go back down to the basement, but I'm a bit faster on my condo stairs because I'm not as worried about falling off a machine that is basically an escalator. Also, the step machines do not have an emergency stop, you have to look at the keypad and firmly press a little red button no bigger than the top of my thumb to stop it!! So you either have to pace yourself or risk not being able to hit that little button. The ironic thing is that the treadmills, which are infinitely less risky than the step mill has a huge, red, easily pressed emergency stop (stair mill designers take note!).
I've also been trying to do some intense cardio burst during bootcamp, today I did a circuit consisting of 1 mintue skipping, 3x30 second sprints on the treadmill, 3x30 second bike sprints with shoulders, and 2x3 ladder cycle. I repeated circuit twice then went back to the weight circuits on the board.
The plan for next week is to do 4-5 minute sprints on the stair mill, cardio circuits at bootcamp and another stair climb in my condo (and pilates and yoga to balance things out).
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Fitness tips
Here are some general fitness tips from the stair climb website.
Fitness Tips
Check your body!
- Consult your doctor and have a medical exam before starting any fitness training program or event.
Plan your program!
Your complete fitness program should include aerobic training, resistance training, and stretching. Be sure to practice on the stairs or on a step machine to ready yourself for event day.
- Ten minutes of aerobic activity will prepare your body for resistance training or a more intense cardio session.
- A resistance training program will increase your muscular strength and overall aerobic capacity.
- A good stretch after a resistance training session keeps your body flexible and helps prevent injury.
- Eight or more glasses of water per day will keep you hydrated and ready for action.
- Prepare nutritious, balanced meals and avoid fatty or sugary foods.
- Get a good night's rest to help your body and mind recover.
- Enjoy your training by planning your fitness sessions and avoiding overtraining.
Bisbee 1000 Great Stair climb
Check out this stair climb that took place yesterday in Bisbee, Arizona. The Bisbee 1000 Great Stair Climb, is a 5K run with 9 sets of outdoor stairs (1034 steps total) thrown in! Fastest time was 30 minutes, 42 seconds. Looks like a fun event and I'm sure Arizona is much warmer than here!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Adding protein to smoothies
I bought some egg whites in a carton that had some interesting smoothies recipes. I've tried to add protein powder to smoothies, but they either alter the taste or texture, ruining the sweet fruit flavor that I like. Egg whites in a carton don't really have any taste, and since they are pastuerized you can add them straight into the smoothie. I generally don't use a recipe when I make smoothies (it's easier just to dump everything into the blender and mix), but here are the recipes from the egg white carton.
Basic
1/4 cup egg white
1/2 cup ripe banana, chopped
1/2 cup fruit juice
1/4 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
Berry Powerful
1/4 cup egg white
1/2 cup frozen raspberries, blueberries or strawberries
1/2 cup cranberry juice
1/4 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
1 tbsp liquid honey
Peachy cream-free (no fat, no lactose)
1/4 cup egg white
1 peeled, pitted peach, chopped
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 silken tofu
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
Skinny Mini
1/4 cup egg white
1/2 cup chopped honeydew or cantaloupe
1/4 cup lime juice and water
1/4 tsp cardamom
1 tsp liquid honey
My favorite smoothie is strawberry banana with yogurt and milk, now I'll add egg white to it as well.
Basic
1/4 cup egg white
1/2 cup ripe banana, chopped
1/2 cup fruit juice
1/4 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
Berry Powerful
1/4 cup egg white
1/2 cup frozen raspberries, blueberries or strawberries
1/2 cup cranberry juice
1/4 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
1 tbsp liquid honey
Peachy cream-free (no fat, no lactose)
1/4 cup egg white
1 peeled, pitted peach, chopped
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 silken tofu
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
Skinny Mini
1/4 cup egg white
1/2 cup chopped honeydew or cantaloupe
1/4 cup lime juice and water
1/4 tsp cardamom
1 tsp liquid honey
My favorite smoothie is strawberry banana with yogurt and milk, now I'll add egg white to it as well.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Thanksgiving climbing
Happy Turkey Day everyone!
Since today is a holiday 6 am bootcamp was changed to 8:30 am, more reasonable, but still early.
One of the challenges of training to climb 30 flights of stairs, is finding places to actually climb stairs. Fortunately, I live in a 6 story building which has a great stairwell for exercising (though I'm sure my neighbours think I'm crazy!). Unfortunately, there are only 127 steps to the top, far short of the 600 steps I will be climbing on Nov 15th. You can go up and down, but going down 127 steps is much easier than going up, so it's not the same as just climbing up 600 stairs. Regardless it's still a good option and very convenient. So, after an hour of bootcamp, I came home and ran the stairs 6 times in a row (6 x 127 =762 steps up). My legs were already tired from bootcamp, so it was a challenge. I slowed down after two or three runs, I ran to the top in 57 seconds on the first round, by the last round my time was 1:03.
I've earned my turkey dinner, that's for sure!
Since today is a holiday 6 am bootcamp was changed to 8:30 am, more reasonable, but still early.
One of the challenges of training to climb 30 flights of stairs, is finding places to actually climb stairs. Fortunately, I live in a 6 story building which has a great stairwell for exercising (though I'm sure my neighbours think I'm crazy!). Unfortunately, there are only 127 steps to the top, far short of the 600 steps I will be climbing on Nov 15th. You can go up and down, but going down 127 steps is much easier than going up, so it's not the same as just climbing up 600 stairs. Regardless it's still a good option and very convenient. So, after an hour of bootcamp, I came home and ran the stairs 6 times in a row (6 x 127 =762 steps up). My legs were already tired from bootcamp, so it was a challenge. I slowed down after two or three runs, I ran to the top in 57 seconds on the first round, by the last round my time was 1:03.
I've earned my turkey dinner, that's for sure!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Krispie Granola Bars
I love anything peanut butter and these homemade granola bars have lots! I also like easy recipes and this recipe definitely qualifies for that! Thanks to Cathy for sharing the recipe with me.
Krispie Granola Bars
My notes: I cut the apricots into smaller pieces because I thought they were too big as quarters. I didn't use toasted sunflower seeds, because I forgot to toast them! (I was making this at 11 pm). Also be very careful not to burn the sugar, I was about 10 seconds away from a burnt sugar mess. I don't think that you can cut back on the honey or peanut butter, because the bar might be too dry and not stick together very well. I cut it into 32 pieces.
Next time I might substitute raisins or dried cranberries for the apricots and use natural peanut butter to cut down on the sugar.
These granola bars are definitely not low calorie or low fat, but they are healthier than the store bought ones with all the preservatives and other unpronounceable chemicals in them. They will be good as a post stairclimb workout snack.
Enjoy!
Krispie Granola Bars
- 2 1/2 cups rice krispies
- 1 cup dried apricots, quartered
- 1 1/4 cup oatmeal
- 1/ 1/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup honey
- 3/4 cup peanut butter
My notes: I cut the apricots into smaller pieces because I thought they were too big as quarters. I didn't use toasted sunflower seeds, because I forgot to toast them! (I was making this at 11 pm). Also be very careful not to burn the sugar, I was about 10 seconds away from a burnt sugar mess. I don't think that you can cut back on the honey or peanut butter, because the bar might be too dry and not stick together very well. I cut it into 32 pieces.
Next time I might substitute raisins or dried cranberries for the apricots and use natural peanut butter to cut down on the sugar.
These granola bars are definitely not low calorie or low fat, but they are healthier than the store bought ones with all the preservatives and other unpronounceable chemicals in them. They will be good as a post stairclimb workout snack.
Enjoy!
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