what do I think about the gym ?
Personally, I hate the gym. And the gym hates me back. It’s a mutual hate-hate relationship. I have terrible form and the upper body strength of a dented paper clip. But, I have strong legs. I’m good at going uphill and climbing things. So I hike like nobody’s business, and by nobody’s business I mean 2-3 times a week.
There is a tourist death trap in the city where I’m from, Vancouver. It’s known officially as the Grouse Grind, and affectionately by locals as Mother Nature’s Stairmaster.
Every year, without fail, rescue helicopters are sent up the Grouse Grind to rescue tourists stranded on the trail. Why? Because it’s a 1.8 mile hike with a 2,800 feet elevation gain, and they wore six inch heels instead of shoes with sole support.
You know the saying…before you marry a pretty girl you should first see her in a bathing suit, first thing in the morning and after an arduous hike? Well this is the hike.
I will get around to answering the actual question, just stay with me here.
Tourists trek up this monstrosity because of the view up top. It’s an otherworldly kind of breathtaking. But locals do it because they’re a part of the Grouse Grind cult following. It takes a person of average fitness 1.5 hours - 2 hours to complete the hike. Competitive locals like to do it under 1 hour, under 50 mins, 40 mins, even 30 mins (this rank is reserved for professional ultra-runners and the yoga-doing, latte-sipping housewives of Vancouver).
It gives me a jolt of dopamine whenever I scamper past tourists in 6-inch-heels. Ha! I win in life! And when someone faster passes me? Well whatever, it's not a race.
The trail brings together people of all demographics, but there are two types of people I meet on the Grind I truly, truly pay my respects to. The 70-and-over club and the, as you say, over-weight people.
Because even as I’m doused in my own sweat and every joint and muscle in my legs are protesting for me to stop, I see these people, and I am brought down to earth and humbled. We are experiencing the same treacherous 90 degree incline, but I don't doubt for a second that they are fighting a harder battle. They don't have the easy advantages of a youthful or lean engine. But what keeps them going is their self discipline. Their personal victories are lost on the casual observer, because they are the slower folks. But they keep coming back, and subject themselves to torturous physical pain.
So when I see these people on my hike, I only hope that when the day comes that I am old or even over weight and worse for wear, that I have the courage to keep coming back, and keep going.
There is a tourist death trap in the city where I’m from, Vancouver. It’s known officially as the Grouse Grind, and affectionately by locals as Mother Nature’s Stairmaster.
Every year, without fail, rescue helicopters are sent up the Grouse Grind to rescue tourists stranded on the trail. Why? Because it’s a 1.8 mile hike with a 2,800 feet elevation gain, and they wore six inch heels instead of shoes with sole support.
You know the saying…before you marry a pretty girl you should first see her in a bathing suit, first thing in the morning and after an arduous hike? Well this is the hike.
I will get around to answering the actual question, just stay with me here.
Tourists trek up this monstrosity because of the view up top. It’s an otherworldly kind of breathtaking. But locals do it because they’re a part of the Grouse Grind cult following. It takes a person of average fitness 1.5 hours - 2 hours to complete the hike. Competitive locals like to do it under 1 hour, under 50 mins, 40 mins, even 30 mins (this rank is reserved for professional ultra-runners and the yoga-doing, latte-sipping housewives of Vancouver).
It gives me a jolt of dopamine whenever I scamper past tourists in 6-inch-heels. Ha! I win in life! And when someone faster passes me? Well whatever, it's not a race.
The trail brings together people of all demographics, but there are two types of people I meet on the Grind I truly, truly pay my respects to. The 70-and-over club and the, as you say, over-weight people.
Because even as I’m doused in my own sweat and every joint and muscle in my legs are protesting for me to stop, I see these people, and I am brought down to earth and humbled. We are experiencing the same treacherous 90 degree incline, but I don't doubt for a second that they are fighting a harder battle. They don't have the easy advantages of a youthful or lean engine. But what keeps them going is their self discipline. Their personal victories are lost on the casual observer, because they are the slower folks. But they keep coming back, and subject themselves to torturous physical pain.
So when I see these people on my hike, I only hope that when the day comes that I am old or even over weight and worse for wear, that I have the courage to keep coming back, and keep going.
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