Defeating the Stairs (Or- How did I end up here?)

Today is Administrative Professionals' Day. As such, I and the other office assistants and office techs in our building are being treated to a nice lunch.

Which means no gym during my lunch break. So, of course, I want to get in good workouts on my two fifteen minute breaks to try to make up for the lack of gym time. (I'm also gonna try to go with Bob to the gym tonight, but we'll see how everything goes.)

My usual go-to for a good 15 min. workout is walking up the 7 story parking garage that makes up the lower third of our building. At a fairly brisk pace I can get to the top and back down in fifteen minutes. Today I decided to try power walking (You know, with my arms bent at the elbows, hands lightly fisted) , and though I didn't time myself, I'm sure I knocked at least a few minutes off my normal time. I also jogged little bits of the downward journey, just to get my heartrate up.

I don't know how long it took me, but I'm sure it was less than normal. So as I got onto the elevator to go back upstairs to my desk, I decided to stop on the first floor above the parking garage, which was the 8th floor. I work on the 12th.

As I marched up the four floors of stairs, I thought about the moment I decided I needed to lose weight. It was a few months ago. I was working with everyone else on the 12th when there was a fire drill. As per our policy, we headed to the stairs and went down four floors to the eighth, to be counted and patted on the back for our obesiance. After the drill was ended, I had the bright idea to walk back up the eight flights of stairs with everyone else. How hard could it be?

By the time I'd hauled myself up to the 12th, my legs were threatening to give out beneath me. My heart was pounding like a loud and angry drum inside my chest, and for a while I felt dizzy and light headed. The hard breathing and pounding heart persisted for a half hour after I'd slumped into my desk chair. At that moment, I realized how out of shape I really was.

So fast forward to my current trek up the evil stairs. I reach the top with only a short pause before the last flight. Was my heart pounding hard? Absolutely. But my legs, though burning, don't feel weak at all, and my heart calmed minutes into sitting down (After grabbing my precious water bottle from the mini fridge in the breakroom. I took a swig of icy goodness, and smiled at my triumph. Next challenge; I plan to go all the way from the 8th floor to the floor where the stairs stop (I think it's the 27th). Not anytime soon, but it's gonna happen. :)