***BE THE CHANGE***

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Running: The Santa Monica Stairs

No running stats to share this morning. I awoke to another amazingly sunny and clear day in Soul Cal so I decided to mix it up a bit by heading over to the Santa Monica Stairs/Steps. I've lived here long enough to no longer become surprised at the amount of people running, walking and cycling along San Vicente (and the surrounding area) from sun-up to sun-down...7 days a week! With that said, this morning was no different.

I arrived about 8am and was happy to find that the stairs weren't as busy as they have been the past few times I've been here. There were maybe twenty-five or so people at best. This has its pro's and con's namely fewer excuses to slow down. I've never actually counted the steps but I've heard that there are anywhere between 155 to 190 total. To put this in perspective I believe a standard commercial building has roughly 22 steps per floor. So depending on who you believe, a single set on the SM steps is equivalent to the amount of stairs in a 7 to 8.5 story building.

I started off my first two sets doing doubles. Third through 6th sets were 3/4 doubles and the last quarter of each set I finish with singles. Yes, I was definitely feeling this burn! And the cardio workout was INTENSE. I'm happy that I managed to get through 6 sets this morning. I went into this workout with low expectations considering it's been a few months since I was last here. The stairs are pretty steep so by the end of my 6th set when I began feeling muscle fatigue I knew I was done.

Feeling inspired by such a beautiful day I ambitiously went back to my car to drop off my (non-toxic, non-leaching) Klean Kanteen water bottle and to grab my iPod with the intention of getting in a short and easy run along the Santa Monica cliffs overlooking the Bay. I made it about a quarter of a mile before I realized that it wasn't gonna happen...my legs were worked.

I was back in my car by a little after 9am and decided to hit up Velocity Cafe for a non-fat Chai Latte before heading home. As great as it felt to get my workout in this morning I must add that the highlight of my day came as I was leaving Velocity. I was waiting to make a turn onto Lincoln Boulevard when an attractive black man who appeared to be in his 30's, DRESSED AS THE STATUE OF LIBERTY (crown and all), crossed my path. He was carrying a stack of newspapers in his right hand and was wearing a sign across his chest which said something about 'taxes'. WTF?! We made eye contact and he smiled and waved. I smiled and nodded back and we both went our separate ways. Shaking my head I looked down at my clock and realized that by 9:20am I've already had quite an interesting morning.

Not a bad way to start off Birthday Week!

(photo credit
Steve Proffitt, NPR)

1 comment:

  1. I like that you said birthday week. I think I'll start celebrating my whole birthday week!

    ReplyDelete

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