Tonight, since I was in Hurricane visiting at my parents home, I knew I still needed to get my daily exercise in. It was too late to drive to St. George and go to the St. George Recreation Center's Family Fitness Center where I usually go, since they close at 10:00 PM. What was I to do?

Not to worry! Fortunately my folks' home has a basement. That means stairs. I decided I would climb up and down the thirteen stairs between basement and the main floor over and over. That should let me work up some sweat. So I began.

Climbing real stairs works slightly different muscle sets than those "stair climber" gym machines, especially when you take into account that when climb and descend a set of stairs, you also go descend, while in the gym, you are ever ascending. Now I carry a little, ahem, extra body mass on my frame, so that means I expend more energy to climb one floor than those who are at optimum body mass. These two facts worked against me. That means I only climbed a measly 75 floors in 40 minutes. That's pitiful!

I figured that's the equivilent of climbing up about three fifths of the way to the highest structural point on the Eiffel Tower in Paris which is about 984 feeth high (300 meters), not counting antennas, spires, etc. which add another 79 feet (24 meters) in height, then descending back down. In total, I ascended and descended about 600 feet (182 meters). Like I said, pitiful for a 40 minute work-out. That's about what you'd ascend hiking in the hills around here in Southern Utah.

So what's my goal? Well I'd like to get to the point I can hike over Pine Valley Mountain again. I hiked over from the Oak Grove campground, camping on top, and hiking down to the town of Pine Valley on the other side when I was a teenager with my father, brother, and cousin. It was a blast, and the view from the 10,365 foot summit (Signal Peak) was stunning. I want to get up there again. And in order to do it, carrying a backpack, I need to increase my endurance significantly, because that's a 3,500 foot hike (up and back) or thereabout.

I've got a ways to go. But I will get there! I am getting there. Two years ago, I would have died huffing and puffing even up and down a hundred feet, let alone six hundred, nor could I have jogged a single city block, let alone a mile (albiet slowly, on a treadmill, not a real on-the-pavement mile which is harder). I can see progress, but it's just so slow. I need to learn patience.

iTunes update: I've bought 35 songs so far. I guess that means I like it!

Oh, and thank you very much, Janna (that's my sister) for the Trogdor the Burninator tee-shirt! I love it! Now I need to go burninating...