For the three of you following along, I have decided to ramp things up another level in my walking quest.
If you’ll recall my initial project, I set out to see if the recommended daily level of 10,000 steps was normally possible and just how close I came in the process of my normal life. It is and was. While I averaged just under 10,000 a day for a one week period, I also know that I am basically on target. So, that was good.
What’s part II you ask? Well, I have had a long standing habit of taking stairs over elevators or escalators if at all possible. I normally do about 30 flights over the course of a day working in downtown Atlanta. I figure I’d like to test myself and do enough flights at one time to equal the tallest building in the world. Heady challenge. Even headier when I look it up and realize the tallest building is (based on stories and currently mostly exists) Sears Tower at 110 stories.
My challenge is to, in one non-stop, effort ascend and descend 110 stories. I don’t want to completely kill myself by trying this the first time so I am going to build up to it. I needed a good starting point so I went with 51 stories which is the height of the building I work in. I will add alternating amounts of 5 and 4 flights per day which should put me on target to reach 100 flights in 14 days. Taking into account I won’t be downtown on weekends, I should finish on March 23.
Why do I do this? I like a challenge, as idiotic as it may seem. I like to amuse those around me with foolhardy physical efforts. This pretty much seems to qualify. Off we go.
Day 1
51 flights ascended and descended. I didn’t bring a watch so I have no idea how long it took. I do know that the average flight has 17 steps, meaning I just went up and down 867 stairs. That’s a big number. Post-51, I feel great. No tiredness or leg jumpiness. I could have pulled quite a few more I believe. But, this project is as much about the process as the ultimate goal. And, I kind of want to enjoy the steps along the way.
Day 2 and another 56 flights down. Things I’ve learned. Bring a change of shoes for this challenge. While the ones I wear for work are fine and comfortable, they are not built for this and I didn’t even think about it. The next couple of days will be a bit more painful. Climbing that many flights leaves a lot of thinking time. I had a chance to noodle through a tricky macro (and figure it out), plan out what I would say in front of church next Sunday, and reflect on the fact that while I was doing the stairs, other people were on their smoking breaks.
Man, this thread has really not caught on quite like I thought it would. Oh well, if 1 person reads it and enjoys it, my work is done. And, I read it and enjoy it so I can’t complain too much.
Today was 60 flight day. Took me 22 minutes to do. One thing I have learned, whatever I may choose as my next challenge, I need to take weather into account. It’s not exactly the warmest March Atlanta has ever seen. The 60 flights took 22 minutes which isn’t a bad pace. I could go quicker but I have to balance the need to finish quickly with the need to avoid sweating since they have yet to install that shower in my office I asked for.
60 went quickly. Really quickly. No sooner did I start then I felt like I was finishing. This is a good sign and I hope it keeps up. It get a little overwhelming when I realize that in the course of this week I will be doing 324 flights. My legs may start openly revolting as I get closer to the goal of 110.
One of the best things about this little project is that I really enjoy setting a fairly out there goal and reaching it. The time spent stepping is extremely productive. I can think about deep stuff (where do I really stand on the death penalty), not so deep stuff (singing the theme song of The Muppet Show) and everything in between (what new fruits to try at the store (starfruit, asian pears)).
After the 60 of today I swear I could have jumped right to 110 but like I said before, I want to experience the quiet times of the journey and appreciate the destination when I get there.
2 things I learned in the midst of 65 flights of fun today.
65 is about the level at which I start getting some calf jiggliness going on. That should make the next couple of days this week a whole lot of fun.
The next time I think “I should go to the bathroom prior to this. But, I don’t feel like I have to go yet”, I should be slapped. The ending was most uncomfortable. I was about 2 flights away from walking while being covered in my own filth like a Stephen King short story.
I didn’t know about this latest quest until now, but I’m watching…of course, since I’ll be away starting tomorrow until the 19th, you’ll just have to take it on faith that I’ll be checking your progress upon my return.
So, you actually want to walk up 102 stories as your goal? Does that mean you’ll walk up and down the stairs in your office building twice in a day? Or are you going to randomly wander stairwells in greater downtown Atlanta until you have walked enough to equal 102 stories?
Personally I think my third option would be the most fun. Besides, in downtown Atlanta, it probably wouldn’t even come close to being the strangest thing that happens on any given day.
110 actually. Or, at least that’s the number I found online. Heck, at this point even if it’s wrong that is the number I am aiming at anyway. Too late to turn back now. That will equate to a full 11 times up and down the parking garage stairwell. Nothing like staring at grey concrete for that long.
I would assume much more difficult. The switching of directions really means different muscles get worked. And, it breaks the monotony. Both would probably really start to build up for a while. But hey, I do the best I can with what I have to work with.
69 flights done today and I feel quite good after them. No shakiness, no tiredness. And, I managed to not fling any important high tech equipment from the 10th floor. I am going to try an experiment tomorrow though. Our parking garages have a few different staircases. The one I use is the most out of the way on purpose. I figured fewer people to pass and have to see. But, as it turns out I haven’t seen or heard anyone on these stairs. I haven’t seen any little wads of paper show up or move. Frankly, I think I’m the only person setting foot on those particular stair. So, tomorrow I plan on leaving a dollar bill in what should be the most highly trafficed spot just to see if someone else actually uses it.
What’s more fun than doing 74 flights of stairs? Doing them in the midst of a manhunt.
What’s funner than that? Doing 74 flights in the midst of a manhunt 20 minutes after donating blood. Seriously, 6 more flights and I would have been talking to a space coyote that sounded like Johnny Cash.
Just sitting here thinking that I did 324 flights this week is enought to make me shiver a little. Realizing next week holds a total of 436 makes my legs want to beat me to death.
The dollar bill has been placed. I think it survives the weekend. For full testing, I won’t pick it up until next Tuesday.
Mullinator I take it you work somewhere near the Fulton County courthouse. I’m wondering if that dollar won’t be found real fast today cause you just know every square inch of that whole area is being combed. You just mighta picked a bad day for that experiment.
78 down, about a million more to go (or so it seems). The dollar bill is still there. I may just leave until the final day. Kind of like it is my reward. Climb enough stairs to reach the moon, be able to afford 2 daily newspapers. A fantastic trade-off.
This is fun, but once I reach the goal I’ll dial back to 30-40 flights a day to keep in shape. It just takes so much time to do this. I can’t even begin to imagine what 110 will be feeling like.
The dollar bill was still there? Wow! Just think Mullinator you picked the one stairwell in the one parking garage in downtown Atlanta that is the least likely place for an escaped murderer to go. I figured every square inch of every place around the courthouse was searched Friday. That the dollar bill is still there is interesting. Now I wanna know if it stays til Friday. I am intrigued.
It is a day like today when I send many thanks to the brilliant people that invented elevators and fine technicians that keep them from becoming plummeting meat buckets of death.
83 flights of stairs are a lot. Don’t ever let anyone try to tell you differently. I can definitely feel a difference in energy towards the end, kind of like having an angry, 45 pound penguin strapped to your back.
The dollar bill is still there, though on the off chance that it has simply been overlooked I have now attached a sign to it that reads “Take me please, it’s for sociolog’s sake.”
87 done. I’m wiped out today considering I ran most of them thanks to an insane work time crunch. Tomorrow, I break the 90’s. The dollar is still there. As an added bonus, I have now left a package of Twinkies on the 1st floor landing.
Well that’s a way to start off the day. I’m slammed today. Meetings, people, etc. Knowing that, I knew I wouldn’t have time to do the daily rounds so not only did I wake up early to fit it in, I did it on a day when the temperature is hovering at 40 degrees. Not the funnest conditions.
Anyway, 92 done. I find it a little hard to believe I have to turn right around and do another 96 tomorrow. Good heavens. I know the end is near, but this is some serious volume I’m dealing with.
No movement for either the Twinkies or the dollar bill. I decided to give both one more weekend.
