American Lung Association Throws Down The Gauntlet

I sometimes think that I am easily stopped in my tracks. I was going through the mail and, while not surprised that the American Lung Association is advertising for the 2010 Master the Met,
I was surprised to see a star with last year's finish time and a tag line that said Beat Your Time: 17:14.

I've done Master the Met two years in a row and I was thinking about sitting out next year but now that the ALA has thrown down a friendly gauntlet, I might very well have to participate.



And The Met, by the way, is the Metropolitan Square building in downtown St. Louis with 43 floors that will take your breath away.

'Dreathon

What's a 'dreathon you might ask?

It's probably only something that someone as batty as me would do.


I got up this morning to participate in Master the Met, the second competitive stairclimb that the American Lung Association has sponsored. I like last year's t-shirt better than the 2009 T.

Stairs are the great equalizer. It doesn't matter what your fitness level might be; going vertical for 42 levels is going to make you breathless at some point. My legs started to get very heavy on level seven.

I managed to finish in 17 minutes and 14 seconds. That's an average of 25 seconds per floor. Last year, I finished in 19 minutes and four seconds. I felt like I would finish in less time since my fitness level is better. Plus, I was 16 pounds heavier at this time last year.

Master the Met was such an adrenaline rush and since it was a nice day (and because I want to burst through the current weight loss plateau), I headed to Forest Park to walk the 6.2 mile trail.

I know what you're thinking: climbing 42 flights of stairs and a 6.2 mile walk do not make a 'dreathon. Therefore, I continued on my mission to test my stamina and swam 11 laps. And that, my friends, concluded the 'dreathon.

It was nice to be in downtown this morning when it was all quiet -- for the most part; if you don't count the 900 something climbers that were going in and out of Metropolitan Square. I forget, sometimes, how I like the architecture of downtown and I also forget how amazing the Arch is.



I wanted to get a picture from the top of the Metropolitan Square building but cameras were not allowed on the stairwell. MP3 players were actually allowed this time around. I was glad that climbers still chatted and encouraged each other despite listening to their tunes.

Check out this article about people who climb stairs regularly or for stairclimbing events.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/health/nutrition/19fitness.html?_r=1&em

And here's a stairway to health calorie calculator.

http://stairway.hc-sc.gc.ca/calcalc.aro