Role Models

Two more weeks until Chicago!

This week’s post is devoted to all the people & events that have helped me become a better stair climber.

Mr. Paradis: He was my high school X-country running, track, and X-country skiing coach. He was also my Physics teacher and he helped foster my interest in math and science. Mr. Paradis led by example and he trained right along with the team. He would even drive us to local road races on the weekends *.

Derek: The manager at the local fitness center who also happens to be a pretty solid cyclist and triathlete. He runs a mean spinning class. Unfortunately, we’ve never been able to compete against each other at the Pine Bush Triathlon at full strength due to various injuries**.

Scott: A coworker of mine who likes running. He came in 2^nd in the Corning tower climb a few years back (an impressive feat) which is how I heard about stair climbing in the first place! His training was pretty hardcore. He used to wear ankle weights to train (since the stairs weren't hard enough!)

MRG: A friend of mine who got me into cycling back when I only lifted weights. Mike is a talented cyclist & runner who could probably finish the Pine Bush in under an hour. Mike is the type of guy who will keep up with you on a steep hill, start a conversation, and then effortlessly pass you right before the crest of the hill.

My Parents: Although I wasn't very athletic, they had me take swimming lessons the summer after kindergarten. It turns out I wasn't too bad. I even won a local swim meet for the 13-14 year old boys division (special thanks to Eric Weddell, my first swimming coach). Without swimming lessons, I wouldn't have ever trained for the Pine Bush Triathlon... and without that training, I wouldn't have built up a strong fitness base.

Maria: Another friend of mine who is into fitness and is learning to become a massage therapist. She taught me how to do dead lifts and squats. She still can do the squat matrix  faster than I can (squat matrix = 25 squats + 25 lunges + 25 jumping lunges + 16 jumping squats) than I can. Hopefully she will do more stair climbing events!

Mt. Algonquin: The 2^nd highest peak in the Adirondacks. While climbing this mountain I realized that I was pretty good at climbing uphill.


The Pine Bush Triathlon: My favorite event (outside of stair climbing). A few years ago, I managed to place 3rd in my age group even though I rode a hybrid mountain bike. This year I was in much better shape and I rode a true road bike... but managed only 5^th in my age group. I guess next year it will be back to the hybrid mountain bike ^_^

* while grading physics & chemistry papers

** or having my bike stolen while out on a milk-tea ride with MRG a week prior to the race