Monday, January 26, 2009

Onward and Upward

Happy Thanksgiving! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Happy MLK Day! Happy Inauguration Day! It's been a while, and if you know me, even a little bit, you shouldn't be surprised. So let's not spend too much time harping on how long it's been since I last posted...

New year. New year's resolutions. I used to be pretty skeptical about the whole thing, because like many, I would start off the year with the best of intentions and fall off before the end of the month. I realized a couple of years ago that I could set myself up for success by outlining a couple of reasonable goals. If the year could start over, I could start a few things over too. Like the year I decided to get up everyday at 6 a.m. I consider this a moderate success. Two years later, I still wake up at 6 a.m. Unfortunately, I doze off within seconds and often oversleep. At least it's progress.

But 2009 snuck up on me. I lost track of time amidst the holiday madness. It was January 5 before I knew it, and I had made not a single resolution. Fortunately for me, a group of colleagues at the office vowed to get in shape. They committed to climbing the stairs (8 flights) twice a day. I had done this with them a while ago, and we all fell off the bandwagon. As I was sans resolutions, I figured this one was as good as any. This was sure to decrease my RealAge (Yes, I'm still on that kick), and my wedding date is rapidly approaching. As an added bonus, I have a support group that will help make sure I do the work.

So, it's been three weeks now, and how am I doing? Here's a recap.

Week 1 - Ouch! The first day up the stairs, I was heaving and praying for a paramedic by the 15th floor (we start on 12). By week's end, I was so sore that I could barely walk. When I tried to go into the basement to do some laundry, my legs gave out and I ran into a chair at the bottom of the stairs.

Week 2 - Ouch! My legs didn't hurt as bad when I did everyday walking, but they felt heavy as lead when I tried to lift them up the stairs. For some reason, we decided that we would use this time to train for the 42-flight stair marathon in 2010, so we increased the number of stairs to 10 flights. This was pure insanity. One lady was breathing so hard that I thought we really were going to need to call 911.

Week 3 - This #%#@ still hurts! The rest of the team was out of town for an event, and I had to climb the stairs by myself. Misery loves company, so it wasn't easy going it alone. Plus, it was really cold last week, and the stairwells aren't heated. Not to mention, the climb is still hard. My legs wobbled for another 30 minutes after each set.

Week 4 -#$%^&*()_!!!!!!!!!! This nonsense hurts as much today as it did 3 1/2 weeks ago. Today, I noticed that I could breath a little easier, but I was so tired that I couldn't bend down to change shoes. Fashion note: White sneakers don't look good with dark grey cropped pants and black tights.

I'll try to keep you posted, especially if we do that marathon in 2010. Can you imagine what my RealAge would be by then?