I’ve been climbing mountains lately.

Well… what I’ve been doing is the Grouse Grind, which technically is climbing a mountain.

I’ve gone from not having hiked it in years to doing it every weekend for the past month.

I once said the half marathon wasn’t the most physically challenging thing I’ve ever done – the Grind on the other hand could very well be my toughest endeavour yet.

It all started one Sunday when I decided to tag along with Pearlsa and her friends.

Among the group were an Olympic medal rower and a couple of guys climbing Everest in September! Yeah, it wasn’t intimidating at all.

As I climbed through the relentless rain and cold panting to a point of hyperventilation, I had a moment of clarity… the Grind is so hard, it makes everything else seem easy.

This was a week to the half marathon and I knew it couldn’t be worse than the Grouse Grind.

I liked the way I felt after the climb; I realized I could substitute it with my run especially in the hot summer months.

Pearlsa and I went back on Canada Day did horribly; I think it had something to do with not having those ultra athletic men to cheer us on.

Our next try wasn’t any better but I was able to control my breathing thanks to the yoga class I’m no longer taking because I can’t wake up early enough on Sundays.

Last weekend, Paul who’s been doing the grind for almost as long as I haven’t came with us and with a few tips I managed to finish it in under an hour and the half.

I’ve written about the Grind before in December 2002 and August 2003, which was the last time I did it

I want to stick to it this time. I want to be good at it, I want to be like the annoyingly fit perky blonde and her Ken boyfriend who were hi-fiving each other and going… “Yeah, 51 minutes baby!”

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