Stair Master

In the weeks leading up to the challenge, I had managed to write up a series of turn-by-turn directions for the routes and had them on my phone. In addition to this, I had the map with pins on my Google maps app and photos of the maps with the hand-drawn routes.

Rain was in the forecast for my birthday and unfortunately the predictions were accurate. It rained overnight and was gray and drizzly in the morning. After breakfast, I got my things together and we loaded the little one into the car and drove the short distance to the start of the first route. Since it was only drizzling, I decided to risk not bringing an umbrella or wearing rain boots.

That's Baby Z under the red hood

 I put Baby Z into the baby carrier and covered him with an extra rain shell. Then I put on my rain shell and started up the first set of stairs. The route I started with (which I had labeled Route 2) pretty much follows one street and has multiple sets of stairs that lead up to the next two streets uphill that run parallel. So there was a lot of going all the way up and all the way back down to get to the next set of stairs.

The drizzle got heavier as I walked and Baby Z fell asleep. I was happy with my choice of rain shell coverage since it never actually rained properly and wearing rain boots for a long walk sucks. As I was heading for the last stairway, I realized that I had neglected to include turn-by-turn directions to it. Thankfully I was able to use my map to figure out where to go. After an hour and seven minutes, I had finished the first route which wound up being 2.2 miles long. My husband drove over to pick us up and take us back home.

After resting for about an hour and a half, which coincidentally overlapped with a huge downpour, we set off in the car again to drive to the next route. My husband suggested that if things seemed like they were going well that I could combine the next two routes (Route 3 and Route 4) because they were both short. The finish for Route 3 and the start to Route 4 are very near to each other. In order to link them I had to add one extra trip down the first set of stairs on Route 4. But it seemed like a good way to save some time, since dealing with the baby and car trips was very time consuming.

When we arrived at the start of Route 3 it was pouring, so I started putting on the carrier and checking my gear inside the car. To my dismay, I realized that I had left my phone at home. So we had to drive back to get it since all of the route info was on it. At this point I was a little worried about how long the rest of the routes would take and I was not sure I’d be able to finish before dark. When we got back to the start of Route 3, it was still pouring, so in addition to the two rain shells, I wore rain boots and carried an umbrella.

First stairway of Route 3

I was feeling good when I finished Route 3 so I decided to continue on to Route 4. It took me one hour and 16 minutes to walk both routes which had a combined distance of 2.5 miles. Then my husband came to pick us up so we could go home to rest and have some lunch.

After sitting down for a while, I started to feel tired. The last route I had to complete (Route 1) was the longest and I wasn’t sure how long it would take. I thought it would probably take about two hours and so if I started it by 3:00 p.m. I’d be able to finish before it got dark.

The rain stopped during the afternoon break, so I didn't have to bring any rain gear for the final route. We drove to the start of Route 1 and I started up the first set of stairs with Baby Z in the front carrier. My brother decided to join us and met us at the third staircase. I had sent him my turn-by-turn directions, but then I did a bad job of reading them to myself and told him to meet us at the wrong staircase. We were just about to head up it when I realized my mistake. Then we had to backtrack to the correct staircase.

 

First stairway of Route 1

Most of the last route just felt like a total slog. Up a set of stairs. Turn around and back down. I found another error in my directions and had to check the map to figure out where to go. But despite the delays, we finished just as the sun was setting. We decided to walk back to my place instead of getting a ride from my husband. This added an extra trip down the last set of stairs as well as a 15 minute walk, but we still made it back before dark. It took two hours and five minutes to walk the 4.89 mile route.

By the time we got home, I was feeling pretty beat and Baby Z was more than ready to get out of the carrier. I took a much needed shower before heading out to a celebratory dinner.

I expected to feel sore the next day, but I was in for a nasty surprise when the soreness in my calves lasted for four full days. Every step up or down made me cringe. Who knew that carrying a 23 pound baby around all day as you slog up and down staircases would wreck you?

  

Time: 4 hours, 28 minutes

Distance: 9.56 miles

Stair steps: 4,215