This Stairway to "Heaven" may prevent us from arriving "there" prematurely

Led Zeppelin's, "Stairway to Heaven", was and still remains a classic rock and roll song from the 70's.  In fact, it served as the theme song for many high school proms after its release, including one I happened to attend. However, when they wrote it, I am sure that that the band members weren't thinking of it as an alternative running venue like my friends and I do when the foul weather hits and prevents us from "takin' it to the streets".   Please forgive me, because I really didn't mean to reference the work of another 70's band.

Yesterday, the inclement weather finally reared its ugly head in central Ohio, as rain hadn't been much of an issue over the last few months, at least during our morning workouts.  As a consequence, we were forced indoors for a date with the track, weight room, and the stairwell.  Since we have been trying to develop our a "rhythm" for this GFR concept, running on the track offered a perfect opportunity to work on our cadence counting, 180 steps per minute.  Unfortunately, we haven't quite mastered that syncopated rhythm, but as they say, "we're working on it".

After a few laps around the track, with only one hand on the wheel mind you, we headed to the weight room to pump it up.  Weight training isn't one of our strong suits, but as we have all learned, it is a necessary evil, particularly as the years have rolled on by.  Following our brief but long overdue visit to the weight room, we decided to throw in a few stair sets.  Of course, during our little ascent up those treads, it occurred to me and the others that this was our recipe to help prevent an early "invitation" to the "eternal rec center".  Incidentally, none of us saw the bright light at the top of the stairs either.  I'll take that as a good sign.

As you can imagine, morning workouts are most definitely influenced by a number of factors, not the least of which is the weather.  However, even when the rain is falling hard enough to hear it on the roof, I know a group of guys who are willing brave the elements for a little exercise.  In this case, when the "heavens" opened up, we knew enough to come in from the rain.  Although, the Doobie Brothers may have takin' it to the streets, Mother Nature had other plans for us.  However, I guarantee you that when we were done, we had been heard all over the "stairways", and that may just keep us from taking that other "eternal" stairway anytime soon!