1,320 stairs. That is around the number of stairs for the number of stories in the World Trade Center tower. A few years back I saw online a fireman dressed in full suit on a stair climber at a gym climbing 1,320 steps in honor of those firefighters who lost of their lives battling the flames from the towers.
I’ve been trying to stay in shape mainly by bicycling with a few short slow runs mixed in between. But at the end of the day I felt led to try climbing 1,320 stairs but only in basic workout gear nothing close to comparing to the men and women of the fire protection community.
After a quick search for an outdoor stadium with enough steps to push me, I was able to find a local high school close by with 42 consecutive stairs.
After I had completed about 40% of the total stairs in 90°F heat I thought nobody asked me to do this, I didn’t tell anyone but my wife I was doing it so maybe I’ll only do half and it’ll still be a good workout for me.
I grabbed a drink of my Gatorade and said, I’m going to push through to finish. I’m no where near the shape I used to be years ago and climbing steps is much different than mostly flat land runs I’ve been doing. But it’s inspired me that I want to go back next week and do more stairs…probably not 1,320 stairs but maybe around 700-900. I feel they give me an extra push in my calves that I’m missing.
If you workout, look for opportunities that you can help shine a light on a greater cause in the world while still getting in your workout. I recently saw a friend run x.x miles because his birthday so he ran 3.9 miles for turning 39. There are many other things you can do to mix up your workouts, please share in the comments some that you do to mix them up or that you do to celebrate or honor something.
Until next time…take it one step at a time!
Brian K Inman 