16 sets of 2 flights of stairs. 135 avg heart rate, 10 min.

Knee started to get a little twinge that felt like a harbinger of something much more painful.

I have way to many more stairs to climb at work before I can retire, so quitting when the knee started feeling funny was probably a good career move.

44 trips up and down the two flights, two stairs at a time.

Heart rate 156, time 30 min.

Was shooting for 50 trips and the Empire State building number of stairs, but was feeling pretty woozy. No point dropping dead on concrete stairs at work.

Cardio: 50 trips, two stairs at a time.

155 avg heart rate, time 34:15

I've been trying out a different Polar heart rate monitor (HRM)wristband. The original one is a Polar F1 that has one button and just displays your heart rate. Which I liked - a lot.

Then I came across a Polar A3 wristband for super cheap. It works with the same chest transmitter, and has some added features. It's dual-purpose - works as a watch and a heart monitor. I gave it a go. It just adds unnecessary complexity that distracts from exercising. Can't say I am thrilled with that, so I'm going back to the F1.

One thing I noticed today doing stairs is that since the F1 only displays heart rate, I paid more attention to that. Since I was paying closer attention to my heart rate than the gizmo, I realized is that the last 20 trips up the stairs have to be managed quite a bit.

By the time I've gone 30 trips, the old bod is pretty stressed. The speed of the trips up need to be gauged, and a 3-5 second rest at the bottom is usually a good idea during the last 10 sets. At least at this point in time. It may improve with less weight and improving cardio fitness. We shall have to see how it plays out.

Right now I'm just happy to have done (almost) two back-to-back Empire State Building elevation climbs.

Had one day off, and I spent it wrangling with rusty parts underneath the Subaru. It felt like fighting WW II and losing, until the very end, when I won. No stairs though, due to a day off.

Today, 50 sets of stairs, full Empire State building elevation gain.
It got split into two parts as I was called away for a couple of minutes.

First set: 28 trips, 17:45 min, 154 avg heart rate
Last set: 22 trips, 15:40 min, 164 avg heart rate

Today again, 50 sets of stairs, full Empire State building elevation.
34:10, and 156 BPM avg heart rate.

Two days in a row now! It did require an aspirin ahead of time. The knees were a bit sore from the previous 50.

50 sets of stairs
34:00 even, 158 BPM

That's three days in a row for the Empire State Building climb . I wish I could say that it's getting easier, but it isn't!

Well heck. I was hoping to climb 50 sets of stairs last night at work, but I was too tired. I missed out on doing it 4 days in a row.

I did get it done tonight on night shift. This would have been 5 days straight if I'd only put in the effort last night

On a happier note, I weighed in at 203 lbs this afternoon when I woke up for work. Haven't been that low in quite a while. Down a pants size and had to punch a couple of new holes in the belt. Still have a way to go yet.

Daily intermittent fasting and keto, baby!

50 sets of stairs, 2 steps up at a time.
33:56, 158 BPM

I'm starting to wonder if going the full 50 is too much about goal-setting and ego. To be honest, I'm pretty whipped at 40 sets, and the last 10 are brutal. Am I gaining anything fitness-wise out of that last 10 sets?

Yesterday I had the day off, but now I'm back - this time on day shift. I ate a bunch of junk Sunday - leftovers from church fellowship. Cupcakes, potato chips, lots and lots of ice cream. No actual food until dinner. Then I had New England Clam Chowder (mostly potato starch), with a slice of sourdough toast covered with half an avocado. I think the avocado was the only food I should have eaten all day. Then I had another three scoops of ice cream.

Slept for 8 hours, interrupted somewhat by reflux - I wonder what could have caused THAT?

The reason I wrote all that down is because I killed it on the stairs today.

50 flights: 30:30 (3-1/2 minutes better than any other day), 155 BPM avg.

It was either the sleep or the carbs. I'm calling it carbs, because I've slept well before and never felt so strong doing the same stairs. We shall see if it falls off as I get back to fasting.

I've been doing keto and intermittent fasting. I may have to add in some complex carbs, like oatmeal.

204 lbs this morning. 29.3 BMI - the upper end of overweight.

50 stair sets.
30:12 a little bit better than yesterday. 154 BPM heart rate.

I had an ice cream sandwich last night after work, and two more cupcakes. I probably won't have any more after this, because the icing is soaking in and they are getting squishy.

I am digging having the carbs for added energy.

203.4 lbs. New low.

50 stair sets. 3rd straight day of the old Empire State Building climb. I'll shoot for four straight tomorrow - Fingers crossed.

29:10 a full minute faster than yesterday, 158 avg. heart rate. Maybe I'm finally getting a bit more cardio fitness. Anyway, it's not too bad for an OFG - that's Navy slang for an Old Guy.

Saw some big numbers on the heart monitor toward the end though. When I realized that I might be able to improve on yesterday's time, I sped up and saw 174 briefly.

Tomorrow I'm cooking breakfast burritos for the crew at work, so since I'll be eating early (and a lot), I'll try to skip out on having anything tonight.

203.6 lbs

50 stair sets. 4th day in a row Each set is 2 flights, so 100 flights per day for the past 4 days.

Today's time is 28:15 so I knocked almost a minute off yesterday's time. Happy with that.

I have a week off work, so probably not too much cardio activity for a bit - not sure what home assignments are going to look like.

Stay on this roll Spud, way to go!

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement, Thud!

Back to it after a nine day hiatus. Seven days were due to scheduled time off work, and two were due to an uncooperative shift partner. I was stuck in the control room the entire shift, away from my beloved stairs

I managed to stay pretty busy during my days off, both with chores and fun stuff , but I didn't exercise. Being bent over to perform those other activities caused a lot of soreness, and it made exercise at the end of the day unplatable.

Anyway, back to the stairs!
50 trips
30:12 159 BPM.
Not a record, but not too bad, considering the long-ish break.

Another 50 trips up 'n' down

30:32 158 BPM

Slowing down. Most likely because I only had 4-5 hours' sleep yesterday, and no carbs.

Stairs, 50 Trips

Took it easy, just wasn't feeling it due to lack of sleep

30:45, 147 BPM

Oddly, heart rate was off by 10 BPM, but time wasn't all that different from last time. Normally I start out pretty fast to get the heart rate up quickly. I might try pacing a little more at the beginning and see how that works out, time and intensity-wise.