The Grouse Grind

One of the things I miss most and love most about Vancouver is the mountains. They've been a big part of my life from the moment when I was 4 and pointed over at Grouse and declared it 'my' mountain since the snow on it looked like a K to me. Then there was a large portion of my life where I ate/slept/dreamed snowboarding and went 4 days a week for most of a season. When I was in Grade 8 they made us hike the Grouse Grind(a 2.9km hike straight up the mountain), it took me 2 hours and I felt as if I were about to die. To put that in perspective the fastest time recorded is 25 minutes. Most people seem to average a bit over an hour, according to my eavesdropping when I was at the top.

View from the parking lot.

Since then, I've planned to redo it, and today was finally the day. Tia and I got up and headed there for 10, and I managed to make it up with no stopping in 55 minutes. While it wasn't a walk in the park it wasn't too bad, I think right now I'm probably in the best physical shape I've ever been in. All those HIIT workouts and weightlifting are paying off in full! It's so satisfying to beat yourself, and to see how far you've come. While I was hiking it I tried to not focus on how much farther I had to go, or how much was behind me, but just to focus on one step at a time. Which I think is a great way to live your life as well. There's no point in worrying about the past, or stressing the future or how much farther you have to go on your journey. Enjoy the process, and know that if you keep going you will eventually reach the top!

The beginning of the trail.

Tired hikers at the top.

The feeling when I got to the top made me feel like I was high. Major endorphin rush, which lasted for hours afterwards! I was a bit worried about my knees since they've been giving me trouble when I run lately, but they felt great. I've never experienced a workout high as awesome as the one day, ever. I kind of felt like I could conquer the world(running up a mountain gives you that feeling, I guess). Definitely a success! I'm planning to do the Chief in Squamish next, to try to fit in as much mountain time as I can while I'm here, and I can't wait.

Tia and I after the hike!

I'm also going to try to give Stand Up Paddleboarding a try! I love trying new ways of working out, and it's nice to switch it up once in awhile. I'm lucky that I have friends who are willing to try all sorts of activities with me, workout buddies are the best. I'm normally more of a solo exerciser(no distractions!), but feeling like you've accomplished something with someone else is fun too. Do you prefer working out with a friend or alone?

The view going back down, Vancouver is too beautiful sometimes.

Rest Days

When working out I find taking rest days the hardest. My body will say it wants it, but my head still says that I need to work out, I'll somehow gain 10 lbs if I don't work out for a day, or all my hard work will disappear overnight. It's a way of thinking that's been ingrained in my head for ages(strange how some behaviours stick with you). Rationally, logically, I know this isn't possible. I know you need rest days. Overworking your muscles can destroy them just as well as sitting around doing nothing.

Brenden Brazier is an amazing vegan Ironman Athlete, and also the founder of Vega(an amazing line of vegan protein powders and supplements). He mentioned at one point in his career, when he was training 35-40 hours a week,  that he started gaining fat. Not muscle, fat. Weird, yes? He discovered it was because his adrenal glands were burnt out(as much as working out is good for you, it's also a stress on the body). Your body needs adequate nutrition and time to recover and rebuild itself. Deplete it too much and it starts to turn on itself.

I've been working out pretty hard for the past couple months, and while I was noticing strength gains for a bit, I wasn't really noticing change in body fat composition and it was frustrating. I evaluated my diet, and I know I'm not really overeating(about 1400-1800 cals daily). I work out in the morning and sometimes at night as well, if I feel like it. Frustrated with my lack of progress, I decided to take a break. Not a day or two, but a full on week. I felt like I needed it to hopefully allow my body to recover. I walked around lots, but for the most part left the gym and running alone.

Since I'm back in Vancouver for a couple weeks I decided to leave the heavy lifting alone for a bit, and just focus on cardio. I've been doing mainly HIIT exercises, and a random Aquafit class with my mom :) It felt great to give my body a break. I was sore pretty much all the time the last little while, which I liked, but it was starting to get exhausting. I feel like it's good to give your body a break now and then, you're not a robot. The workouts I'm doing now, I feel like I'm able to do them better, since I have the strength and I'm not just wobbling around with sore legs and arms from my last workouts!

Anyone have any similar experiences?

2 Lbs is No Joke!!

Up until recently I've been using 8 lb weights, so I decided to switch to 10 lbs this week. Who knew 2 little pounds would make that much of a difference? My biceps were dying for 3 days after. Honestly I'd been kind of intimidated to use weights in our gym, but then I realized no one cares what you're doing, they're just focussed on their own workouts. So now I'm over it. Kind of. This morning I woke up at 9:30(sleeping in is a thing of the past now that the sun has decided to get up nice and early and heat up my room making it impossible to sleep). Went to the gym and did this workout:

Bicep Curl to Arnold Press x 15(10 lb)
Bent over Dumbell Flyes x 15 (10 lb)
Overhead Tricep Extension x 15 (15 lb)
Tricep Kickbacks x 15 (10 lb)
Outward Bicep Curl x 15 (10 lb)
Deadlift with Dumbells x 15 (15lb)
Crunches x 15 (15 lb)
Russian Twists x 15 (15 lb)
x 3

and then did some 2 minute sprints with 2 minutes rest on the Treadmill for 20 minutes!

This week's been a little crazy, I shot the cover for an upcoming issue of Chloe Magazine the other day, which I can't wait to see hit newsstands! Last night for dinner my friend Dani and I hit Whole Foods, where I got a ginormous salad(obviously), and stuffed my face not so secretly with chocolate almonds in the bulk food section. And guzzled Kombucha, which for some reason was super bubbly and made me burp all throughout the night(TMI? Possibly. But it happened.) We watched Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, which was hilarious. I don't think I've ever seen Keanu Reeves so unbrooding and chipper.

I also picked up a Black Bean Burger from Whole Foods yesterday and crumbled it up and topped a salad with it today. It was pretty tasty, I think I may attempt to make my own. It's hard to get off this tofu kick I've been on lately, I just can't help it!

I recently found out Lululemon has free yoga classes on Sundays, so I'm hitting that up tomorrow! Why didn't anyone tell me this? I feel like everyone's been holding out on me!! FREE YOGA?!!! I can't wait.