Nashville (29 Stories High Edition)

Pamphlets in the breakroom offered me a modest winter goal. REading about the Flight for Air Climb, a fundraiser that sends runners and walkers up one of Nashville's tallest buildings, I immediately embraced the challenge.

It didn't hurt that the date roughly coincided with my one-year anniversary of quitting the cigarettes. I had not been a regular smoker for years, but I continued to smoke whenever I drank, sometimes burning through half a pack in one night, a lot for someone who didn't claim to be a smoker.

It sounded like a good challenge. We had been walking the stairs in our office building, and it would encourage me to tackle them more often. 

Unlike the scores of 5Ks and longer races I've run, I had to raise funds this time. ALA had a $100 fundraising requirement. Thanks to some generosity of family, loved ones and coworkers, I cobbled together $280.

This climb was not something I could attempt cold. A month of improvised training in the stairwell at work. At best, I walked our stairwell 15 times in a day - 45 flights. A more typical day involved eight to 12 sets.

Snow covered Nashville the night before the race, and the state buildings had not been touched when Nancy and I arrived. I slipped around the tower plaza before we found the entrance, then waited impatiently for the race start.  After years of running 5Ks and all sorts of races, I found myself a little nervous this time. Not only am I out of shape, but I did not know how ascending all the floors at once would feel. I had never done more than three flights before descending to start all over. Call it interval training, but I felt uneasy. The fit condition of the runners surrounding me did not help.

Although I could not sustain it, I jumped off to a running start, tearing up the first five flights before resigning to a fast walk. My heart sped

The stairwell was unremarkable, mud gray walls and pipes broken only by floor markets and fire extinguishers. But the water stops improved the scenery. Because the Tennessee Tower's windows and open floor plan, each stop gave a glimpse into the ascent over Nashville. By the higher teens and low 20s, those water stops began to offer oxygen.

ALA saved the best for last. On the 28th floor, our last,  climbers ran a lap around the building. I had never stood so high in Nashville. After catching my breath and accepting their medal, I tried to absorb the moment. But mostly, I just coughed like the smoker I used to be.