Preparation

For the last 6 weeks they have had Health & Wellness brown bags once a week here at work, to promote healthy living. In the last few weeks they have talked about the Salt Lake City Marathon, Half-Marathon, 5K, and Bike Tour. They encouraged us to sign up and participate on April 19th, so in conjunction with my newfound relationship with the treadmill, I signed up for the 5K. If you want to sign up, it's not too late! You can sign up at the link below (for any of the events).

http://www.active.com/framed/event_detail.cfm?EVENT_ID=1461582&CHECKSSO=0

I believe the following experience was to teach me 2 lessons: 1st--Judge not lest ye be...punished and 2nd--I may not be ready for the 5K. So here is the story....

I work on the 12th floor, and having some errands to run on the 9th and 2nd floors, I hopped in the elevators (okay, I didn't really hop, I just got in the elevators...) and pressed the button for the 9th floor. The elevator immediately stops on 11 where 2 men get on the elevator. They promptly get off on the 10th floor. Now, here comes the first part of lesson #1. I thought to myself, "Why don't they just take the stairs?? It's one floor!" In fact, this is a thought I have frequently here at work--why people get on the elevator to go down one floor. By the time you have waited for the elevator to come pick you up, you could already be at your destination. So I get off the elevator on 9, conduct my business, and just to prove to nobody, that I'm not above taking the stairs even though it is 3 flights, I enter the stairwell. I walk up to 12, and can't get out. It's then that I realize I'm in the wrong set of stairs. You see, there are two sets of stairs in our building. One is for the convenience of exercising your legs, and one is for the sole purpose of exiting in an emergency. "Oh Krap" (I spelled it with a "K" mom--that means it isn't really a dollar word) I think to myself. So I trudge back down to 9, in hopes that I will be extremely lucky, and be able to exit there. Not true. I roll my eyes at the blasted Utah weather because, despite the fact that it was beautiful and sunny at the moment I was trapped, I walked outside to an inch of snow and a steady fall of fluffy flakes Thursday morning. So of course I had to wear my boots (as you may remember--I ride the bus)--my dressy boots that have a beautifully painful 3-inch heel. (OK--not too painful). So, I'm trapped in the emergency stairwell, on the 9th floor, kicking myself for not bringing my cell phone so I could call for help. So I begin the long descent to the dungeonous space below the building. I stopped at every floor that we have people on and tried the doors, having no success at all. Here is the second part of the lesson. I was punished because I thought I was better than the people that get in the elevator and go down 1 floor. So, to continue. After the 2nd floor, the stairwells continued without numbers. I must have gone 3 or 4 flights deeper. Every descending flight was accented with the pungent odor of mold, and a serious lack of lighting. I thought pretty soon Harrison Ford was going to jump out and hand me a fire stick and push me out of the way of a giant rolling boulder. No such luck. I got to the place where finally, I saw a sign that said "Exit" and wasn't preceded by "No". Instead, it just said "Emergency Exit ONLY". I panicked. In order to save myself further embarrassment (by setting off a fire alarm), I turned around, whimpered, and began back up the stairs. The odor lifted, and the light began to flood in again, and I soon arrived back on the 2nd floor. My legs were on FIRE!!!! So I just stood at the door and peered out the window just waiting for someone to pass by. After about 5 minutes, a man walked by and I started knocking on the door. He kept walking but did a double take, and realized I was trapped. Thankfully, he breached security and let me back in. Also, lucky for me, I had business to conduct on the 2nd floor, so I finished my business and took the elevator back up to the 12th floor. I went to the gym last night and nurtured my relationship with the treadmill, followed by a little iron-pumping. This morning when I got up, my thighs again, were on FIRE!!!! Methinks I may not be ready for the 5K after all (Lesson #2). I suppose the treadmill will be seeing more of me than it would probably like (and more than I would probably like too) for the next month as I prepare for the 5K. I guarantee I won't be running the whole thing. I think that would kill me.

So, if this hasn't completely discouraged you from joining me, click on the link above and register and come with me! It sounds like it will be quite the celebration. And remember, the next time you think a mean thought, Just Hum Your Favorite Hymn (which, by the way, I was singing), Sing Out With Vigor and Vim, You Will Find It Clears Your Mind, Hum Your Favortie Hymn. This will prevent severe punishment from following!