Tackling the Tower

So one of my goals this year, like most people, is to get healthier. Specifically, I want to greatly reduce my reliance on my inhaler. I’ve had asthma since middle school, and it seems to have gotten worse after I left high school, probably because I don’t play an instrument anymore (lung capacity) and I haven’t been great about regular exercise. So I’ve been busting my butt at the gym all January and now into February to help reach this goal.

I’d been toying of the idea of Tackle the Tower since the beginning of January. I work in the Wells Fargo building, and every year the American Lung Association hosts the Tackle the Tower challenge. You race to the top of the 23 story building…on the stairs. It’s a short race, but anyone that’s climbed a couple flights of stairs and huffs and puffs after reaching the top can imagine it’s not an easy race. I got an email from our chief editor here at the station saying they’ve got a team together that’s going to do it, and I thought, perfect! I can contribute to a condition I know intimately, and get fit from training and the race!

If you’ve never had asthma, let me explain it for you. Think of the red air quality days here in the valley. You feel like you’re constantly congested, right? Can’t quite hack up that crap out of the lungs? Well, imagine that, and then imagine your lungs shrink, and you can’t get the air out, because when you try, your cells in your lungs enlarge. The best way you can try to feel what it’s like is to run around the room, and then try breathing through a straw. And don’t cheat and breathe through your nose! It is the worst feeling not being able to breathe, and anything I can do to help find advancements in treatment for asthma is all the better.

So, I’ve signed up to Tackle the Tower. It happens Saturday, February 28th at the Wells Fargo Building. I do have to raise at least $100 bucks to participate, so if you’d like to contribute, I have a page on the ALA’s website where you can do that…

https://www.mrsnv.com/evt/e01/part.jsp?id=2282&acct=0753069392&rid=0

I’m off to the gym tonight to start training! I’m excited to participate, as I haven’t done something athletically competitive since I played soccer in middle school. Here’s to trying new things and breathing easier!