Back to the Grind

The theme of my week has been goals.  Earlier in the summer under the influence of only adrenaline, I set a goal of completing the Grouse Grind in under 50 minutes.  Brave, enthusiastic, unrealistic…me and my big mouth.

July flew by as did August.  I did think about my goal now and again but there never seemed to be enough the time to make the four hour door to door trek (not to mention how busy it would be as well as the heat).  When I compiled my list of things to do on my end of the summer vacation the Grind was on the list (as was cleaning out my closet, it is now a work of art and I am not proud to say that it no longer contains any velour, bling or camo).

With school back in session last week and still my on my vacation (yes, I totally planned it that way – yay for being self-employed) Conny and I headed to up Grouse Mountain.  We had perfect grinding weather, mild temperatures and cloudy, and the trail was pretty quiet.  My June time to beat was 52:36 (which I was pretty impressed with at the time, so again why do I go and open my big mouth?) and I was determined to beat it.  I started out fierce and maintained a good pace for the climb. When I popped out of the trail and hit the clearing I was able to quicken my pace into a slow run to make it to the Grind Timer…

…50:38, not quite the goal although a 3.7% improvement.  Could I have gone any faster, I guess I could because I was able to quicken my pace on the rocks, I did exchange pleasantries with other grinders, I could have passed a few people a little quicker than I did, and I didn’t throw up at the end (kidding).  As Tuesday curling is no more, I was able to re-attempt the climb again on Tuesday.

Tuesday was beautiful, sunny and mild and I had my game face on.  No messing around this morning.  Conny set a quick pace for me and off I went.  There were no pleasantries (I resisted the urge to comment on the flip flops that I passed) in fact I was a bit of an animal up the stairs, calling to the left or the right three or so stairs before I was even ready to pass (I did say thank-you as a I passed).

I could see the top and looked at my watch, it read 48:41, I went back to one of Conny’s funny stories where she actually timed out a minute to make a point…a minute is a really long time when you say nothing.  So with just over a minute remaining before exceeding my goal time, I hit the last set of stairs in my beastlike fashion, but as I came out of the trail this time my run to the Grind Timer was pitiful and non-existent…

…50:05…SFM!!!  Ok, a 4.8% overall improvement but short of my goal by 6 seconds. As summer doesn’t officially end until next Wednesday, I am not sure where I will pull these 6 seconds from (I did think that I may vomit this time) but I will keep you posted.