In follow up, the senior advisor replied promptly and professionally. We went through unpairing and re-paring the watch again but started it as a new watch as opposed to backing it up from historical data. It took less than a few brisk laps around the house (no stairs) for me to accumulate 6 flights of stairs. The senior advisor advised me my only option was to send the watch for repair and pay $299. She was very respectful as was I as I shared my disappointment with:
1. a 14 month old $400 watch that is useless for my needs
2. paying $299 to get another Series 4 that potentially has the same problems
3. lack of acknowledgment from the multiple Apple Support staff I spoke with regarding the number of issues on the community board regarding the ame issue I've encountered
4. Apple appearing to not stand by their products
So what did I do?
1. I researched other wearable fitness devices and they just don't offer the same features
2. I researched replacing my watch with another Apple Watch and found that Apple sells Series 3 and Series 5 watches on their website but not Series 4
3. I purchased the Series 5 on Costco.com with a $25 discount and $110 trade-in for my Series 4
4. I paid for AppleCare
5. When replacing my 6+ year old Orange Theory Fitness heart rate monitor and being asked if I wanted to wait for the HR monitor that's compatible with the Apple Watch (and only the Apple Watch), I shared that I was not inclined to spend $140 for a device that would be useless if the issues with the Apple Watch continue.