I run between 7 and 12 km daily and that at a decent pace: christian louboutin replica I recently finished a 10k race in 49.45 minutes and I'm working on getting down to 47 minutes by the end of october. so while I'm no bekele I'm probably not as abysmally bad as I used to be either.

I also live on the fourth floor of a pre war building with high ceilings and the stairs are killing me. I am huffing and puffing with a flushed face every time I get to my apartment. some of that may be that it's summer and warm around here but shouldn't it get easier the more I train? how come I can run a 5.15 at cruising power (meaning I am using 70 80% of what I've got) but climbing stairs doesn't get any easier? the hill sprints certainly aren't killing me anymore!

I'll grant you these are two different exercises but I'm a bit disappointed that my workouts haven't made situations like this one much easier. male, 1,92m, 98kg, low heartrate (no high christian louboutin replica blood pressure here). I have a coach but I won't see him until tuesday and so I asked you.

posted by krautland to Health Fitness (30 answers louboutin replica total) 6 users marked this as a favorite

Stairs really are a different exercise than any other type of running they're intense, even walking them. I'm more of a tourist when it comes to running than a born and raised local, but I dated a chap who was a fanatical runner (8, 9, 10 miles every day) and he talked about how embarrassing it was to feel winded when he'd bound up the christian louboutin shoes replica stairs in the subways in NYC, so he started running up bleachers and the steepest hills he could find. It seems like the only sure fire way to be able to handle stairs is to run them.

posted by MoreForMad at 10:56 AM on September 13, 2009

When you climb stairs, do you just seem to have cardio issues, like huffing, or do you get the lactic acid burn in your legs as well? What kind of running has ever made you feel like you do on the stairs now?

Can you define your hill workouts in more detail? You say these are sprints, but how long are the hills, what kind of slope are you dealing with, and what kind of pace are you using there? louboutin replica

I have found that slogging up steep, relatively long hills on my heavy mountain bike is what has made stairs much more manageable to me than they used to be (less heavy replica louboutin shoes breathing, less lactic acid burn and leg tiredness). I went up 6 flights in a hospital with extra high ceilings a few days ago, after a 15 km ride that included some of those long hills, with just a little leg burn on the last flight. The same stairs last year were a lot more difficult.

But as MoreForMad says, stairs are a different critter, too. If I want to climb the CN Tower next year, replica christian louboutin the only way to train for it is to climb lots and lots of stairs.

posted by maudlin at 11:04 AM on September 13, 2009

The incline distinguishes stairs from any other sort of running. Try running at an incline or running "stadiums" (up and down sets of bleachers) if you want to get a different kind christian louboutin shoes replica of workout.

posted by achompas at 11:11 AM on September 13, 2009

As others have said, stairs use your muscles in very different proportions than running. However, you might note that running stairs a lot is probably not great for your knees, especially replica christian louboutin shoes if you've had problems with runner's knee in the past.

posted by Salvor Hardin at 11:21 AM on September 13, 2009

I've actually noticed that the more I run, the harder it is for me to climb stairs. (My office is up one lousy flight of stairs that have become the daily bane of my existence.) So I don't think it's quite as simple as just not being used to climbing stairs.

My running coach strongly recommended against using stair steppers or running stairs, because it overdevelops muscles you don't use for running, and that ends up slowing you down. I suppose it might work the opposite way, then if stairs make you worse at running, running might make you worse at climbing stairs. That's been my experience anyway, though I don't know exactly why.

posted by adiabat at replica christian louboutin shoes 11:33 AM on September 13, 2009

When you climb stairs, do you just seem to have cardio issues, like huffing

I am only out of breath and it's only embarrassing. sometimes a little post exercise sweating comes in on top. this is unlike running where once I reach the point of exhaustion I get stitches, my legs get heavy or I just can't find sixth gear anymore. you know that feeling when you want to sprint but it's just not there anymore? that's total running exhaustion for me, I concentrate on lifting my knees back then and replica christian louboutin slug through it. it's wholly different than stairs, which seem much more mundane to me. that exhaustion is also gone within a minute. it's a very shallow sense of being out of breath if that makes any sense.

Can you define your hill workouts in more detail? You say these are sprints, but how long are the louboutin shoes replica hills, what kind of slope are you dealing with, and what kind of pace are you using there?

I do multiple hill exercises. there are the short hill sprints, which are 300, 400 meters at the most. we do these after running replica louboutin shoes 5 6k at cruising pace, then spring that little hill up 5 6 times and cruise back home where we come in at around 10k. the other hill exercise we do is a hill of about 1 km that is a pretty steep climb. we run up this hill at cruising speed, which is taxing, back down and do it three four times over until we continue on our route. this, too is part of a 10k and we do one of these routines every other week.

I have found that slogging up steep, relatively long hills on my heavy mountain bike is what has made stairs much more manageable

I understand replica louboutin that. I also feel that these two hills, especially the long one, have given me a lot in terms of running condition but I am stunned to realize stairs haven't gotten that much easier.

posted by krautland replica louboutin at 11:38 AM on September 13, 2009

It's because you're lifting your weight "more vertically" when you climb stairs. You're not used to louboutin shoes replica lifting your weight that way. Running is almost linear.