Andreas and I are lucky enough to live just a few blocks from Seattle’s Volunteer Park. I love Volunteer Park. It’s got great big sloping feilds, the original black hole sun, a conservatory, and a rousing late-night gay cruising scene. In addition, the park was voted “Best Place To Have Sex In A Car!”

It’s also got a water tower.

Last week, Dre and I started running the stairs at the water tower. I call it “Running The Gauntlet,” and really the word running shouldn’t be in there because I can only run a few steps, and then I just wheeze and huff and puff and walk as fast as I can. There are 180 steps, and I go up and down them all three times.

By the time we head home, my legs are all a-wobble and I’m typically nauseus and gasping. Ah: excellent work-out!

I’m slowly improving, though. The first time we did the tower, I was only able to run 50 steps. I was sore to the point of being a limping cripple for THREE days. The second time, I was able to run a 60-step set and then another 30 steps before slowing to my wheezing crawl. And I wasn’t sore at all. Today I managed to run two 60-step sets, and then half of another one.

Go body!