My husband and I were in New York city in 2008. At this point I weighed 250lbs, I'd been going to the gym, was doing one of those weight loss programs where I had to go for weigh in's 3 times a week, and was starting to feel better about myself.
On our trip to NYC, we wanted to take in as many of the sites as possible. The Statue of Liberty, World Trade center site, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, Yankee Stadium, Broadway, Macy's (ok, that was only me), Grand Central Station, and of course the Empire State Building.
What they don't tell you about the Empire State Building is that it's NOTHING like in the movies. If you've ever watched Sleepless in Seattle and see Jonah walking around looking for Annie, its a farce. They stuff the people into those elevators and rush them up and back down again like a herd of cattle. Bodies are pressed so tightly together that I felt like the pimento in the olive. The heat is stifling and the smell of sweat and mixed perfumes is enough to make your stomach roll.
You have a choice when going up to the observation decks. The first set of elevators stop at deck 80. If you want to catch another set of elevators, you get to wait for the next 30 minutes for the next ones to be free. OR, you can climb up to the observation deck. We chose to climb along with about 100 other people. Up 6 floors. In August.
WHAT THE HELL!!!
I figured since there were so many of us, the pace would be one I could keep up with. Families were in front of us with little kids; surely I could keep up?
Flight 1 was ok. Flight 2 left me short of breath. Flight 3 was where I started to feel the burn. Flight 4 left me thinking I was going to die. I had to pull over to the side of the stairwell and let all these people pass me. I had to keep my head down out of sheer embarrassment and couldn't believe I was so out of shape that I couldn't keep up with young kids!
It put such a damper on an experience I was so excited about. When we got to the top, I was red faced, hot and cranky might be putting it mildly. I was humiliated and couldn't get my mind off my perceived failure.
When will the day come when I quit letting myself down?
So this post is going to mark a new chapter in my empire state sized body. In 10 weeks, my husband and I are planning a second trip to New York city. I have 10 weeks to get myself in "training" for round 2. My goal is to make it up those flights without stopping. My goal is to get up there and push my way proudly through the throngs of people instead of hanging back trying to figure out if oxygen would ever enter my lungs normally again.
Now, I've set timelines and made lists of things for myself for years now. Never have I set a fitness goal. I think that's laughable considering the amount of goals I've worked towards. My last post talked about my lack of motivation, but I think booking this trip is the kick in the butt I needed to get started again. Eating right, getting back on my treadmill and doing my wii workouts as well as my stepper... that's a recipe for an empire state sized success.
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