I survived '12 Staircases of December Challenge'

 

It all started in early November when UCLA Today editor Cyndy Lee mentioned an email she received from UCLA Recreation challenging all Bruins to be more active by running stairs throughout campus for 12 days in December. As a runner, I was intrigued. After hearing me express a little interest in doing this, my colleagues doubled the challenge: If you do it, they suggested, write about it.

 

Because the goal was to demonstrate that there are easy opportunities around campus for anyone — regardless of fitness level — to exercise, the organizers kept the parameters loose. You could climb any set of stairs 12 days in a row or increase workouts progressively (do a staircase once on the first day, twice on the second and so on), or find one step and do step-up/step-downs, adding sets each day. Or you could even climb stairs for 12 minutes daily.

 

I used the next month to scout some locations — Bunche Hall, Drake Stadium and Janss Steps, to name a few. After my first practice walk up the eight floors of Broad Art Center left me with mild lactic acid burn in my thighs and a slightly sweaty shirt (sorry, office mates), increasing repetitions each day was OUT. Instead, I decided to run some stairs 12 work days in a row (skipping weekends).

 

Day 1: Franz Hall. The first few floors are easy. But between the fifth and sixth floors I can feel the burn creeping up the outside of both thighs. By the seventh floor my thighs are quivering, and I slow my pace to make sure I hit every step. Still, it takes only 1 minute 30 seconds to go up eight flights (Do the math: at 24 stairs per floor, that’s 192 stairs). I pause for 30 seconds of heaving breathing and then descend. My leg muscles are shaking so I steady myself with the railings.

 

At the bottom of the stairs, I look at my watch. Astonishingly, I’ve "worked out" for less than four minutes. Seriously? It took me four minutes to change into my clothes (the backseat of a Toyota Corolla is small)! I ascend again after a minute of stretching. The burn ignites around the fourth floor. "Why did I agree to write about this?" resounds over and over in my head. By the time I get to the top 1 minute 40 seconds later, I am hyperventilating much faster than after my typical 3.2-mile run.

 

Day 2: The next morning my co-workers want a status report. "Fine," I say, though every step triggers a little discomfort. That night on the way to Franz, I add a run up the Janss Steps for fun (87 total: 33 in the first set, then two sets of 27). After going up and down Franz twice, I see the towering 11-floor Bunche Hall taunting me in the distance.

 

Day 3: Franz again. I notice far less burning and muscle quivering. The biggest concern is discovering that my deodorant has broken as I’m changing into nicer clothes to attend a talk at the UCLA Hammer Museum after running. I hope no one has to sit next to sweaty, potentially smelly, me.

 

Day 4: After three nights of running solo in the west staircase of Franz — my footsteps echoing in the emptiness — it’s time for Drake Stadium. I count 80 steps as I descend the stairs at the south end of the stadium. As I get to the north end, I’ve run 15 staircases (up seven and down eight). I do some arithmetic and realize that running the stadium there and back would mean climbing 1,200 steps (which I learned later is called completing "Drake the Snake"). Surprisingly, my legs feel OK. Getting to level off after climbing 80 steps prevents the severe burn.

 

Day 5: Close the work week running Drake again. As fun as running stairs has been, I am going to enjoy the weekend off.

 

Day 6: I forget my running shorts so I buy a pair at the UCLA Store. By 6 p.m. the temperatures have dipped into the 40s, and I regret buying shorts without pockets for my ice-cold hands. Franz isn’t too far from my office so I run it twice.

 

Day 7: It’s even colder than the night before so I run stairs in Engineering V, which is closer to the office than Franz. With only five floors to cover, I do it four times.

 

Day 8: It’s time to conquer the tallest building on campus. When I get to Bunche, I spend almost 10 minutes running up and down several outdoor staircases that terminate frustratingly without warning. I wonder whether the custodians think of me as a potential terrorist ducking in and out of doors and halls.

 

Eventually I find an indoor staircase that goes from the ground floor to the top floor, which is floor 11. Around floor eight, my legs hurt, but I trudge on. Operative word: "trudge." Finally at the top, my legs feel like hot, quivering Jell-O. I check my heart rate, and it’s pounding away at 170 beats per minute. I am sucking wind. Still, that only amounted to 1 minute 55 seconds of exercise. As I slow-jog down the stairs, I resolve to go on that night to the Broad Art Center. For some reason I can’t exercise for such a short period of time (even though I had jogged to Bunche from Parking Structure 8). The eight floors of Broad go easier than expected. The walk to Broad gave me enough time to catch my breath and stretch the Jell-O out of my thigh muscles.

 

Day 9: It’s Dec. 12. UCLA Recreation holds its culminating event for the staircase challenge with a group run up Janss Steps at noon. The email inviting me said that the first 100 people to show up would get a fanny pack. I have a flashback to the mid-90s. Of the 180-plus people who registered to do the challenge, about half show up, judging by how few fanny packs are left over, said Elisa Terry, program director of UCLA Recreation’s FITWELL.

 

One of the suggested challenges for the last day is to run Janss Steps 12 times. So for the next 30 minutes, our group hits the red bricks. Oddly, at least a dozen people elect to do this in their work attire. I wonder what their office mates will think. At a post-run photo shoot at Drake, I worry what my co-workers will say about me (though at least I had changed my clothes).

 

Although I survived the challenge, I now know that I can bask in the glory of being a UCLA stair master only until next year. That’s when the fine folks at recreation want to "up" the challenge. Are you ready to take on the 17-floor UCLA Wilshire Center in a timed run? I might need the Bruin to chase me.