i might be wrong

NYRR announced some 2008 races and I'm already signed up for the Manhattan Half on January 27. I've also applied to the insane sounding Empire State Building Run-Up. This is the race where you run up all the stairs in the Empire State Building... all the way up to the Observation Deck. That 85 flights of stairs and 1,576 steps. I've wanted to run this race ever since I read about it in Runner's World earlier this year. The writer described how his dad talked him into doing the race. He went on to describe his training and how he would run up every set of stairs he came across. Finally, he described the race. It sounded pretty insane. He had lots of advice for anyone planning to do tower climbs, but one valuable piece of advice was this, work your upper body. You use your arms a lot when climbing stairs and you'll use the rails a lot to propel yourself forward. It pays to have some strong arms.

The ESB Run-Up is invitation only. I've filled out the application and answered all their questions... Other Endurance Events/Training? None. Other "Unusual" Competitions? None. Previous Empire State Building Run-Up participation? None. Total Empire State Building Run-Ups? Zero. Other stair-climbs you have competed in? None.

My chances of getting in are pretty low, but I'm going to train anyway. It's starting to get really cold and windy. I don't mind running in the cold, in fact, I much prefer it to hot summer running, but I think I'll use some stair running to supplement my training this winter. If I get in the race, all the better.

I do really love getting photos of babies in the blankets I made. Here is little Oliver S. C. in his Baby Love Diagonal Garter Stitch Blanket and little Dashiell T. M. in the Big Bad Baby Blanket. Aren't they the cutest things you ever did see.

Two hundred seventy-nine. That is the number of stairs between the 5th Floor and the 20th floor in my office building. I just walked and ran up them and then back down. My chest is burning. It's funny how running up a few flights of stairs for a few minutes makes me feel like I just ran a 7 minute mile.

I've been counting stairs a lot today. The Broadway Junction staircase, the one that leads from the A platform up to the J platform has 71 steps. I counted the stairs leading from the J to the L platform, too but I can't remember how many there are. I'll count them again tomorrow. Then there are the stairs between the L and the street at the Union Square station. There is no shortage of stairs in the city, which is a good thing.

Basically, I've been walking and running slowly up stairs since throwing my name into the running for the Empire State Building Run-up. I probably won't get in the race, but lately I've been having trouble motivating myself to go out for a run. The building I work is 20 stories tall. I figure walking up the stairs once a day is a good way to keep active. However, I don't think it's the best way for me to train for this race. I'm not sure what the best training method is but I have some ideas.

1. Run up the stairs slowly for as long as I can and walk the rest. Do this once a day. Walk back down. Eventually, I'll be able to run up all the stairs.

2. Run up a flight of stairs. Walk up a flight of stairs. Repeat till I get to the top. Jog back down.

3. Run up to the 10th Floor as fast as I can. Walk back down. Repeat this for an hour. Do this 3 times a week, adding a flight every week.

Somehow, I think option 3 is the best way to go. It took me 6 minutes to climb those stairs and make it back down to my desk. It may have even been 5 minutes since I kind of sauntered back to my desk when I was done. Six minutes of stair climbing a day is not going to get me into the shape I need to be in to run up 1,000 plus stairs.

Tomorrow, I step it up. (Terrible pun, I know.)