Stairway to Heaven

Workout:
7 Rounds for Time:
1 trip up the Stairway to Heaven
15 squats
20 hip raises

Today was a stair day. As painful as it was, it was worth it. In Arvin gym, there is a set of 118 stairs that covers five floors from the basement to the 4th floor. I was eager to get my sweat on. I was feeling strong after a day of rest and some active recovery. The only concern I had was the IT bands, which run along the outside of each knee. They were feeling a little tight. I have had an inflamed IT band before, it takes a long time to heal and is painful. The IT band is a tract of tissue that starts at the hip and is connected at the knee. Excess intensity and running can inflame this tissue around the knee, causing friction with the bone, thus the pain. A gradual buildup of intensity is the way to prevent this. It is a common problem here at school seeing as it is hard to keep consistant with intensity due to certain requirements, and then students are expected to give their all on short notice...but this is the unkown and unknowable, which is Crossfit's methodology in that it is important to be prepared for these things.

I stretched, warmed up and determined that IT band discomfort wasnt going to be a concern. The first three rounds went great, by the time I got to the top of the stairs in the fourth round, I was toasted. It takes only about 30 seconds to reach the top of the stairs, but it drains the tank fast. The squats and the hip raises at the top of the stairs were a rest period compared to the stairs. The first round took me 1:50 to complete, which certainly didnt hold up, but that was the point. I originally intended to go for 20 minutes, but I was going so slow by 18 minutes, that I stopped it at whole number on round 7. It took me a total of 18:48 to complete the workout.