US Bank Tower Stair Climb Race: Training/Tactical Advice?

Be sure you have dental insurance. A big problem is falling face first into the stairs due to fatigue and smashing your teeth.

Also, check with the organizers to make sure they clean the stairwell. Unused stairwells, which don't usually have building ventilation, are notorious for dust build-up. Dozens of runners kicking up the dust can make you feel like you are choking.

Yes, go two steps at a time. That's what the world's best do.

Good luck,

Carlos

I’ve always thought that this is an interesting problem. The ESBRU record is 9:33 over 1576 steps with some short horizontal sprints at the bottom and top.

At 2 steps each that’s 788 strides just for the climbing. Add in the horizontals (which include the many stair landings- as many as 100) and you’re probably up to approximately 900 total strides. At 9 and ½ minutes that is a stride rate of 95/min, which on the climb would be quite formidable. Accepting that, it seems you need to use the arms wherever you can. Additionally, it would help to know the stair configuration (know your course) and how you would most efficiently turn on the landings. (I would think the arms are indispensible there)

And of course, practice your technique.

http://www.nyrr.org/races/2008/r0205x00.asp

Let me just say that the machine is nothing compared to the actual stairs. I use to work in a 22 story building and would walk the stairs at night and could do it about 5 times, taking the elevator down. When you go to the gym 110 stories on the machine is like a half hour at 75% difficulty.

Find actual stairs.

Carlos Formosa wrote:

Be sure you have dental insurance. A big problem is falling face first into the stairs due to fatigue and smashing your teeth.

Also, check with the organizers to make sure they clean the stairwell. Unused stairwells, which don't usually have building ventilation, are notorious for dust build-up. Dozens of runners kicking up the dust can make you feel like you are choking.

Yes, go two steps at a time. That's what the world's best do.

Good luck,

Carlos

Dental Insurance - Check

Clean Stairwell - Considering it's one of the more "prestigious" tower running events, I sure hope it is.

Two steps at a time - I can't argue with experience. With a record time around 9:30 for 1500 steps though, that's about 79rpm if taking single 8" steps and just 39-40rpm if skipping a step and making each step 16". 39-40rpm is such a low cadence, and that'd be for record time. These guys must have some crazy strength in their quads/glutes/hip flexors!

People in glass houses wrote:

Let me just say that the machine is nothing compared to the actual stairs. I use to work in a 22 story building and would walk the stairs at night and could do it about 5 times, taking the elevator down. When you go to the gym 110 stories on the machine is like a half hour at 75% difficulty.

Find actual stairs.

I can understand the importance of finding actual stairs, but to say the stepmill is NOTHING in comparison might be a little shortsighted. I'm a pretty solid cyclist and I can wreck myself on that stepmill every bit as bad as I can on the bike. Maybe you are talking about the old stairclimbers where you never actually lift your feet up to the next stair?

JWiley,

I have been running stair races for a little over three years. I raced in the 2007 Empire State Building along with all the Chicago area races and one in Indianapolis. I haven't done the LA race, but I'll share some of my experience to help answer your questions in no particular order:

1) The stair master is a great way to train for these races because it best simulates the kind of fatigue you experience in the race. What you need to take moderately are the results from the stair machine and trying to equate them to the race building. I have been in a dozen different stairwells and they all have different heights and angles of ascent. Plus, the stair master works without any "break" on the landing between floors so that adds on a couple seconds per change in stair direction.

2) I am primarily a runner first, stair climbing is fun when the weather here in Chicago is crappy from December - March. The best stairclimbers I have met have a cycling or mountain running background so the training you have done will prepare you aerobically for the event.

3) Use the handrails as much as you can. Most guys, including myself, use both hands on the railing. It's in your best interest to use some upper body work to take the stress of your legs.

4) If you don't have a building to climb, hard cycling with high resistance does a pretty adequate job of simulating the kind of experience you will have on the stairs. If you like to run, hills are another great way to build some resistance to that kind of fatigue.

5) The guys who run these do not "bound" up these stairs. It's more like a fast walk, taking two steps at a time. The guys who win the Empire race are moving pretty fast, but those guys are a notch above what you will find at the LA race.

JWiley,

I have been running stair races for a little over three years. I raced in the 2007 Empire State Building along with all the Chicago area races and one in Indianapolis. I haven't done the LA race, but I'll share some of my experience to help answer your questions in no particular order:

1) The stair master is a great way to train for these races because it best simulates the kind of fatigue you experience in the race. What you need to take moderately are the results from the stair machine and trying to equate them to the race building. I have been in a dozen different stairwells and they all have different heights and angles of ascent. Plus, the stair master works without any "break" on the landing between floors so that adds on a couple seconds per change in stair direction.

2) I am primarily a runner first, stair climbing is fun when the weather here in Chicago is crappy from December - March. The best stairclimbers I have met have a cycling or mountain running background so the training you have done will prepare you aerobically for the event.

3) Use the handrails as much as you can. Most guys, including myself, use both hands on the railing. It's in your best interest to use some upper body work to take the stress of your legs.

4) If you don't have a building to climb, hard cycling with high resistance does a pretty adequate job of simulating the kind of experience you will have on the stairs. If you like to run, hills are another great way to build some resistance to that kind of fatigue.

5) The guys who run these do not "bound" up these stairs. It's more like a fast walk, taking two steps at a time. The guys who win the Empire race are moving pretty fast, but those guys are a notch above what you will find at the LA race.

JWiley,

I have been running stair races for a little over three years. I raced in the 2007 Empire State Building along with all the Chicago area races and one in Indianapolis. I haven't done the LA race, but I'll share some of my experience to help answer your questions in no particular order:

1) The stair master is a great way to train for these races because it best simulates the kind of fatigue you experience in the race. What you need to take moderately are the results from the stair machine and trying to equate them to the race building. I have been in a dozen different stairwells and they all have different heights and angles of ascent. Plus, the stair master works without any "break" on the landing between floors so that adds on a couple seconds per change in stair direction.

2) I am primarily a runner first, stair climbing is fun when the weather here in Chicago is crappy from December - March. The best stairclimbers I have met have a cycling or mountain running background so the training you have done will prepare you aerobically for the event.

3) Use the handrails as much as you can. Most guys, including myself, use both hands on the railing. It's in your best interest to use some upper body work to take the stress of your legs.

4) If you don't have a building to climb, hard cycling with high resistance does a pretty adequate job of simulating the kind of experience you will have on the stairs. If you like to run, hills are another great way to build some resistance to that kind of fatigue.

5) The guys who run these do not "bound" up these stairs. It's more like a fast walk, taking two steps at a time. The guys who win the Empire race are moving pretty fast, but those guys are a notch above what you will find at the LA race.

Empire Racer, thanks for taking the time!

check this out - it might help

This one tells a lot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TxgFSwb7Og&NR=1

I'm competing in one of these in a few weeks. I do it every year and finish in the top 50 or do for the same reason any respectable runner finishes well in a turkey trot - most people there are in it for the socialization.

I'm trying to take it seriously this year, and was wondering if anyone had some training tips to share. I know the best way to train for a stair climb is to climb stairs, and I have access to a 30-plus story tower (my race is four climbs of about 40 stories), it I'm not exactly sure how to approach it. On real stairs, even "easy" days are anaerobic slogs. You wouldn't lift weights every day, right?

I'm hoping that someone here has some training experience to share, or perhaps someone can theorize about the science of training for this, using running principles.

I like to run all different types of things/places/environments but this just sounds horrible.

wow just wow wrote:

I like to run all different types of things/places/environments but this just sounds horrible.

It really is. It's horrible, both from a lactic burn standpoint and an aerobic standpoint in that you are gasping for air pretty quickly. It's impossible for it to be fun. You can't ever put it on cruise control like you can on a run.

jwiley wrote:

With a record time around 9:30 for 1500 steps though, that's about 79rpm

No you idiot, that's 158 steps per minute.

1500 / 9.5 = 158 steps per minute

Pull a Rosie Ruiz and take the elevator.

My race was this past weekend in Chicago, and I'm happy to say I finished in the top 20 out of approximately 1,020 finishers (about 250 people, by my count, only 1 to 3 of the 4 towers.

I'm so glad it's over, and I'm curious to see how the transition back to running goes now. If anyone is looking for a change of pace and a big challenge, I'd recommend taking part in one of these. But, my God, is it painful. (Both the training and the actual race.)