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First thing: I have no idea what’s the deal with pace number. I looked through my history and I think it deserves to be ignored.

I made it through 1100 floors, for the Mount Everest total of 2000 floors. Total is 3160, so that’s 1160 floors to go. I think I have a plan for the remaining climbs, but you will have to stay tuned to find out what it is 😉.

My legs were a bit sore when I started in the morning. Who can blame them for protesting though? I did climb 900 floors just yesterday! Fortunately, my feet were up to it. Right off the bat, I wanted to do today at least 1100 floors, so I would finish the weekend with at least 2000. I warmed up quickly and it was going great!

My Garmin has one limitation that makes sense for pretty much everybody else in the world: it allows only up to 999 floors climbed. Who would be crazy enough to climb more than a thousand floors in one attempt??? Me. The answer is me. And probably nobody else. So I decided to split the recording into two parts. Happy coincidence: after 800 floors, it was just about time for lunch. I took a half hour break to eat a proper meal. I also iced my knees. I figured it would do them some good. While I was at it, I changed socks. When I touched the shoes, I quickly realized I needed a new pair of those, too. It’s a good thing I have plenty of those around 😉.

5 hours of walking up and down the stairs definitely wears on the mind! I usually listen to podcasts, but today it just wasn’t doing it for me. I ended up putting some silly show on my tablet and set it up on the stairs. It helped keep me distracted. Technology can be your friend!

My feet were definitely killing me after a while, but the fresh socks and shoes made it way better. The knees did start protesting, too. I thought of doing another 100 or 200 floors to help me get across the finish line. However, on the last 100 or so, I started to trip over my own feet. I don’t know why. I didn’t feel like I was in trouble. But there it was: a sign to wrap it up and get some rest. Still, 1100 floors in one day is great!

I thought some of you may be interested in what I do to recover after effort like this. It’s pretty much the same as what I do after marathons and long runs: a long cold bath, followed by some couch potato time. I did get a slice of cake and tea, too. Feel free to judge my eating habits 😉

Come back tomorrow to see updates on progress!

When I started this morning, I was doing a lot of mental math, trying toe how many days I will need to finish Mount Everest. At first, it was slow going. I always need a few minutes to get going. It always does. Then I totally hit the stride! After a couple of hundred floors, my right knee told me it wasn’t happy. I put on one of those stretchy fabric knee braces on and it helped surprisingly fast. I was back at it and going strong! To be hones, after a while I don’t even sweat all that terribly much, although I was already totally soaked. I judge by sweat going down my face.

I knew I wasn’t going to last all day running back and forth and after 900 floors, I decided to break for lunch. It was getting to that time of the day and as it is, my Garmin can’t go above 999 floors. I considered starting a new session after lunch. But one part of my body has had enough. I was surprised which one, too: my feet. I am pretty sure that I sweated so much that my feet were wet and it led to the soreness. Tomorrow, I’m changing socks after 500 floors!

I wonder how many floors I will manage tomorrow… It will be key to how long this adventure will take, since I have to work and starting Monday, I will have less time for my stair climbing. Stay tuned for more progress reports!

I decided to throw myself a little curve ball: let’s see how fast I can get to the top of virtual Mount Everest. I did a poll on Twitter if I should do Mount Everest in a week and 69% said I should do it, while 31% said I’m crazy. There were no ‘NO’ votes. Since I am getting mentally tired of this whole thing, I decided to try to do it as fast as possible. I will be starting on Saturday morning. Check daily on the progress!

In the meantime, here is more on the mountain:

Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world, as measured from the sea level. It’s 29 029 feet (8848 meters) tall! It’s part of the Himalaya mountains, which are the tallest mountains in the world. They are located in Asia and go through multiple countries, including India, China and Nepal.

We call it Mount Everest, but locals have two different names for it. In Tibetan, it’s called Chomolungma and to Nepali, it’s Sagarmāthā. Personally, I think I will stick to Mount Everest…

Mount Everest is so tall that it’s in Death Zone. When you go higher up, air gets thinner (that’s why it can be harder to breathe when you travel to the mountains). Death Zone is so high up that a person needs to use an oxygen tank to breathe. Edmund Hillary reached the top first in 1953. The first people to summit Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen were Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler back in 1978. That’s quite something!

Penultimate mountain! No breaks between Denali and Aconcagua – I want to have a rest day on Friday before I start Mount Everest.

So here is some information on the mountain to begin with:

Andes are mountains along western part of South America. Aconcagua is the tallest peak in part called Principal Cordillera. At 22 837 feet (6961 meters), it’s the tallest mountain in South America. It’s only 190th tallest mountain in the world, which doesn’t sound so impressive. But here is the impressive part: 189 ahead of it are all in Asia (Himalayas are huge, aren’t they?).

Due to my Polish roots, I think I’m legally required to say this: Aconcagua is covered by glaciers and one of them is called Polish Glacier. It was named after a Polish team who paved a new route to the top back in 1934.

Andes were created when Nazca Plate (one of tectonic plates) went under South American Plate (that’s tectonic plate South America sits on). Aconcagua itself was a stratovolcano. However, during some other shifts in tectonic plates in the area, Aconcagua got lifted off of its volcanic base. So it’s no longer a volcano!

Aconcagua is the highest mountain that can be easily climbed, without knowing how to rock climb, as long as you go the easy route, which is from its north side. There is one challenge though: Aconcagua is so tall that you will most likely get altitude sickness. If I decide to get started on making my way through these mountains, I may need to move to Denver, CO…

Day 1

It’s a weird experience – 450 floors seemed easy today. My endurance game is strong! My days are definitely bouncing between ‘what the hell was I thinking???’ and ‘I rock!’. I will be done soon enough though.

Day 2

I might be a glutton for punishment 😆. I chose to spend a relatively good chunk of my Mother’s Day on running up and down the stairs. It was fun though!

Day 3

I feel like a champion! I’m on top of the world! Zooming right along! Hence picture with my marathon medals. It just seemed fitting 😊

Day 4

I am getting really excited for another summit! It feels like the workouts have been going great this week! I also decided to create a stop motion animation movie about all this climbing and my training in general. I think keeping my mind occupied with that is what helps.

Day 5

My time was really close to what I did yesterday, but it somehow seemed more exhausting… I am sooo ready for a rest day! I will be reaching the summit tomorrow and then I get one day of rest before Mount Everest. Getting there!

Day 6

This picture took ridiculous number of attempts… I am still happy: I made it to the top of the mountain! A bit of a struggle, especially when my house’s fire alarm started to beep on and off (I think it needs new batteries). But I got there 🎉🎉🎉 Just one mountain left to go!

Can you believe it? I really think many people thought I’d give up by now! As my follower though, you probably know that I don’t give up easily. I just keep going and going and going…

First, here is some info on the mountain:

Many of us didn’t get to learn about Denali in school. we heard all about Mount McKinley. The name wasn’t changed until 2015. During the gold rush, a prospector named the mountain after a presidential candidate (who will become the 25th president of the US later). However, 5 years ago, its name was restored to what it was called traditionally by the local native tribe.

Denali is in Alaska and is part of the Alaska Range. It’s the tallest mountain in North America. It’s also one of the tallest mountains when measured from base to the top. It’s much taller in that way even than Mount Everest, the tallest mountain above sea level.

The first person to attempt getting to the top of Denali was James Wickersham in 1903, but he failed. In 1906, Frederick Cook claimed that he got to the top, but this claim was unverified. It wasn’t until 1913 that somebody climbed to the top and it was confirmed! It was actually four men: Hudson Stuck, Harry Karstens, Walter Harper and Robert Tatum.

Day 1

I took the day before off. Well, it was off from stair climbing. Instead, I went for a run. It was glorious! The only thing is that they promised clouds… You can probably tell by my shoulders that the clouds were not over the sun 😉. It probably would have been nice to give my knees a day off from running and stairs, but too late now!

Day 2

I ended up with 350 floors. Somehow I got a really late start on the day and I just couldn’t do the planned 400. I did the math though – it will still get me to the top in 6 days, so it’s all good. Shoulders are still hurting from the sun burns though 🙁

Day 3

I did the math and I am now over half way into my stair climbing challenge! Yes, I think of silly things sometimes when climbing all these stairs. I have been spending a ton of time on walking 14 stairs up and 14 steps down. And I can’t always be thinking of smart and witty things…

Also: happy Cinco de Mayo!

Day 4

I did 400 floors and still felt great! I am loving this challenge!

Day 5

The only reason I keep doing it is because I said I would… I am so over it! So in case anybody has been wondering: yes, I have bad days too. What made me think this was a good idea???

Day 6

Yay! I made it to the top! That’s definitely helpful. I kept reminding myself the whole climb long that I am getting close to the top. I only have two more mountains left and I won’t bail at this point, but I am starting to think of training after this ends. I look forward to running, biking and swimming!

A friend of mine said that I should actually say something smart about the mountains I have been climbing virtually. So here are the ones I have already finished:

Mount Kosciuszko

At 2228 meters (7310 feet), Mount Kosciuszko is a lot shorter than other mountains from the Seven Summits list. It’s the tallest mountain of mainland Australia and is part of Snowy Mountains. It was discovered by a Polish explorer Pawel Edmund Strzelecki and he named it after famous Polish general Tadeusz Kosciuszko. Mount Kosciuszko is not only shorter than other mountains on the Seven Summits list, but it’s also easier to climb. I read that until 1977, you could drive your car pretty much all the way to the top! I have a feeling mommy is planning a trip there for the two of us…

Vinson Massif

Second shortest mountain on the list of seven summits is Vinson Massif, tallest mountain in Antarctica. It’s only 16 050 feet (4892 meters) tall. Vinson Massif is part of Ellsworth Mountains and is only 750 miles away from the South Pole. It’s so far away from where people live that its height wasn’t measured until 1969. It was named after senator Carl Vinson from Georgia, who supported expeditions to Antarctica. Vinson Massif doesn’t require one to be an awesome climber. However, you have to deal with the usual issues of polar expedition, such as cold winds.

Mount Elbrus

Mount Elbrus, at 18 510 feet (5642 meters), is the highest mountain in the Caucasus Mountains. It’s an inactive volcano covered by snow and ice. Caucasus Mountains are the border between Asia and Europe, which leads to a problem with choosing tallest mountain in Europe: which side does Elbrus belong to? One way people choose to decide is into which continent water flows into from them (it’s called watershed). Based on that, Elbrus is in Europe.

There are several routes to the top of Elbrus. The ‘normal route’ actually involves travelling by cable car and chair lift a good chunk of the way and if you move quickly and efficiently, you can get back the same day.

Kilimanjaro

Mount Kilimanjaro, tallest mountain in Africa, is 19 341 feet (5895 meters) tall. It’s in Tanzania and it’s not a part of any mountain range. It’s an inactive stratovolcano. Mount Kilimanjaro has 3 cones – Shira, Mawenzi and Kibo. The first two are completely extinct, but the last one is only dormant. Europeans tried naming this mountain when they were colonizing Africa and called it Kaiser Wilhelm Spitze. We went back to calling it Kilimanjaro though, which means ‘shining mountain’ in Swahili (local languages).

Mount Kilimanjaro is relatively easy to climb to the top, at least when you’re talking about the tallest mountains on each continent. You can walk up to the top, like on Mount Kosciuszko. There are two big differences though. The road doesn’t get as close to the top, so it takes between 7 and 9 days to get to the top. The greatest challenge is altitude sickness (and from what I’ve been told – some are not ok with lack of bathrooms).

In order to climb up the mountain I must first climb out of my fear of climbing.

Craig D. Lounsbrough

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Off to Africa! I actually know a few people who visited this mountain. To the best of my knowledge, getting there is mostly like a really long hike. So here is my hike:

Day 1

Taking a day off and not wearing the weighted vest turned out to be amazing ideas! Even my knees are starting to feel better! I actually took advantage of it being Sunday and did 500 floors, so I could finish on Friday. I thought of doing two days’ worth of hiking, but I was plenty beat after 500. I actually spent the rest of the day just relaxing.

Day 2

Just ran up and down, feeling great! I even had energy left over for an afternoon bike ride before strength training with my coach 😊

Day 3

Climb 350 flight of stairs and an hour long bike ride just a couple of hours later? Sounds good to me! Kilimanjaro is going great 😊

Day 4

Awesome stair climbing, lunch time run and a bike ride? As somebody put it: I win the productivity award! I think I am getting into the swing of things!

Day 5

Or maybe not… I mean the climb went fine, but I had no energy left over for a run or a ride. I even asked to skip the strength workout with mini-me! I do tend to this to myself: get overly excited about the shape I’m in and overtaxing my body. But tomorrow will be the summit!

Day 6

Hurrah 🎉🎉🎉

I made it to the top of Kilimanjaro 🎉🎉🎉

I got my new Garmin the day before and it was its first trial. One thing it totally failed at: counting floors. I know for a fact it was more than 21 floors!

I think I will need to do a long run this weekend to keep up that running muscle working, but on Sunday, it’s time to jet off to Alaska, so I can conquer Denali!

There are two types of pains, one that hurts you and the other that changes you.

Jettie Woodruff

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Apparently there is a debate out there whether Elbrus or Mont Blanc should be counted as the tallest mountain in Europe. I am going with Elbrus for a simple reason: I am doing it remotely, so it’s not like a real mountain is involved. And Elbrus is taller, so one can say it ‘contains’ Mont Blanc in it.

Day 1

Day off after Mount Kosciuszko and Vinson Massif was nice. On the other hand, I decided to up my daily stair count. Since it was Sunday, I had spare time. I went with 500 floors. This way, I can fit all of it by Friday and have Saturday off.

There was a stain on the carpet on the stairs. I have known about it for a while now. But there is nothing like going up and down those stairs for almost 3 hours to get you motivated to get it cleaned up!

But let me tell you: 500 floors is a lot and I was joking that nothing but a wet spot was left of me 😅

Day 2

So my body was starting to really hurt. My ankles were sharing in the misery that were my knees. I tried wearing my hiking boots and it helped a bit. I ended up ditching the vest though. No part of my body was ok with the 20 lbs pound vest on my shoulders for hours at a time. I am still going to finish the challenge. Just without hurting myself.

Day 3

Guess what? Going without the vest was a pretty reasonable workout! And it hurt way less. Now I am back to thinking I can really do it 😊

Day 4

I woke up without any pain 🎉. Now I really think I can do it. Although the knee support is still useful… That stupid turn is just an accident waiting to happen.

My body may be getting better, but my stairs I think are starting to show some wear and year. I think I will need to get them fixed up once like goes back to normal(ish).

Day 5

I was just flying! I think that a few days away from the vest was just what the doctor has ordered! I’m not going to claim this suddenly became easy on my knees, ankles and feet, but it’s sure easier. And my shoulders are definitely grateful! Tomorrow, I get to the summit!

Day 6

Yay! I crossed that finish line! It was hard, but it gave me a great sense of accomplishment! That’s pretty much all that was on my mind when I was doing the last set of stairs.

I also suspect my daughter thinks I totally lost my mind… She might be right… But I need to entertain myself somehow with during the quarantine, right?

Stay tuned for Mount Kilimanjaro!