Fire Drills and Tired Thighs

My "office" (really it's a cubicle--but calling it an office makes my work feel more meaningful) is on the 12th floor. Yesterday, during a staff meeting, we had a fire drill. I work for two separate departements (70/30 split), luckily both are on the same floor. Well, the building that our company rents space from, decided it was time for a fire drill. This occurred yesterday, like I said, in the middle of a staff meeting. Some of the people in one of my departments don't get around so easily, so my boss decided he would have them take the elevators a few minutes before the drill, so they would already be outside. Any of you who have ever participated in a fire drill know that you don't take the elevators in case of a fire. Stairs. 12 flights of stairs. So yesterday, the fire alarm went off, and off we went, down those 12 flights of stairs. Those 12 flights of stairs went so easily yesterday. I was feeling alright about not having been to the gym too recently, and then today happened.

Of course after the fire drill, since it was only a drill, we took the elevators back up to the 12th floor. So today when I was dropping off some papers and running some errands (my job description), I decided I could definitely take the stairs. I thought they were only to be used in case of an emergency, but my supervisor said we could take them, but hardly anybody ever does.They are open to anyone, but to get off on a floor other than 1, you have to have a badge to let you in. The closest floor down that our company is on, is the 6th floor. Easy trip down. No problem. Then down to the 4th floor. Again, easy trip, no problem. I then exited the building and ran some errands outside. When I had finished with my errands, I decided to take the stairs again. However--you can't access the stairs from the first level. I took the elevators back up to the 4th floor, and from there--took the stairs.

So I learned that it is 100 times easier to take the stairs DOWN, the UP. At least it was only 8 flights of stairs this time. But still!!! My legs were on FIRE and I had to sit down. It was sit down, or have my legs fall off. So I sat down. After a short break, I pushed myself all the way to the 12th floor, and by the time I got back to my "office", my legs were jelly and everything I could see was white. Not to mention my heart nearly jumped OUT of my chest. Whew! I'm tired just remembering this. Luckily, my legs are still attached.

New Goal: Take the 12 flight trek UP the stairs at least once a day. I'll go down the stairs from now on, unless I'm in a huge hurry. Then I'll head for the elevators. Hopefully I'll make it up the 12 flights of stairs a little faster, with no stops, and not turning beet red by the time I get to my desk. This is a goal, I'm not stupid, I know it won't happen tomorrow. My goal is to be able to do this by the end of January (I'm going out of town and won't have the luxury of taking 12 flights of stairs for a few weeks during Thanksgiving and Christmas). Hopefully, I'll shed a little excess food storage from my middle, and perhaps a few other places...

Whew! Deep breath, and then the gym!