Cross-training workout

ORN: Stairmaster, 20 minutes, 107 floors, biking (hills) 35 minutes, 12.6 miles.

Stairmasters strike me as even more hamster-ish than a treadmill. At least on a treadmill, there is some variety - I can change pace and incline, whereas stairs are just. . . stairs. It was an okay workout - I was getting a bit tired at the end of 20 minutes, but I was also getting really bored. I don't read while I am on the bikes (or any other piece of equipment), and stairs don't seem to require the same focus that running does.

So, I switched to the bike. After about 10 minutes, I decided that the difficulty level I had chosen was faaar to low, and really ramped it up. I know that cross-training is supposed to be a rest for most of my running muscles, but it doesn't need to be a rest for my cardiovascular system as well. My heart rate was steadily dropping through those 10 minutes, and I wanted to actually push myself somewhat. The new, much higher difficulty setting actually provided a workout with which I could be satisfied.

I did notice one thing on the stairs, however. According to the machine, I covered either 107 floors or 2.11 miles. While I can believe the former, the latter just strikes me as ridiculous. On the flat treadmill, I cover about 2.5 miles in that time (on most days). I find it hard to imagine that I would only lose .4 miles while running up some stairs.