If you think you might end up in hell some day, bring a coat because I bought a gym membership and Hell hath frozen over.   I’ve been looking to supplement my three hours a day on the bike with some other workouts so I joined the same gym Amy works out at, 24-Hour Fitness.  I’ve never been a gym person but I’m desperate enough that I can look past that temporarily.  Up until this morning, I had just done 65 minute runs on the treadmill. 

My shins were hurting today so Amy suggested I try the Stairmaster.  My Dad had a nice commercial one of these a few years back and I never really thought they provided much of a workout.  It was too easy to cheat when you started to get tired.  I felt the design was flawed and never really paid attention to these type of machines.  This one is a little different with a real set of stairs on a treadmill like belt.  There’s no real way to cheat or you will fall off, similar to a running/walking treadmill. 

Amy said her previous record was level 6 for 45 minutes so of course I started at level 8 and set it for 61.  This thing was a monster.  Even though I must have looked like I was just plodding along like a lazy bastard, I estimated my heart rate to be in the 160’s and within 20 minutes, my t-shirt was completely soaked.  I struggled through another 30 minutes and then upped it to level 9 for the last 10.  When I was done, I was so knackered that I could barely stand.  I walked over and did about 36 minutes on an elliptical trainer next to Amy which didn’t really do anything for me.