Stairs (階段)

Kaidan is the Japanese term for stairs. Recently I've been doing a lot of stairs to stay in shape, and it's HARD. I've done a lot of running in my life, and I'd say running on flat ground is the easiest (duh), climbing stairs is way harder, and then the absolute hell is running uphill. I've really surprised I ever survived running the uphill parts during the marathon, to be honest. Stairs are.....ok, depending on how fast one is trying to move up them, I guess, and in a controlled environment. I remember when I took the Stair Climb Challenge in downtown LA a few years ago (the whole objective is to run up about 75 flights of stairs as fast as possible) and thought it was the coolest thing ever......until about floor 6. It's all about pacing...hills for me are just, get over this hill as soon as possible because after the uphill it should be much easier and possibly exponentially easier due to the resulting downhill, Stairs are much more about taking even strides, going at a pace that won't burn oneself out but also not totally embarrassing oneself. It helps to have a couple big fans or some sort of air conditioning within the stairwell to allow for a cooling effect that's sorely missing, as opposed to the natural breeze from running that outdoor runners that is probably part of the thrill.


Stairs is also the metaphor for learning and playing dodgeball....trying desperately to try to get to the next skill level without tumbling back down the stairs and losing it all and having to climb back up. Now with a solid foundation in both disciplines I know I won't tumble all the way back down to the bottom Home Alone-style, but it's also harder to get to the very top. I can see the top and can picture myself getting there, but each step is harder to take and progress slows down due to having to go over the stuff already covered (the toll of the stairs that one has already put behind). It's also difficult to know what exactly is the top: The Stair Climb was 75 floors, but one could keep going to the very very top....to the rooftop. Or go back down and do the stairs again. In dodgeball, there's individual accomplishments like winning the Most Valuable Player award or making a big play in a game, but there's always the next prize or the next tournament....Even the best players in the game don't have a specific title that says, "I'm the best player in the game now," it's constantly winning tournaments with good teams and showing dominance and  superior skill at those matches that proves that they are the best players in the world, or hailed as much by others. No big banner at the end of a marathon, for example, that says "Finish Line," just more steps to climb.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan