a fine time up the Grind

I got home about 45 minutes ago after getting up bright and early for a jaunt up the Grouse Grind. I know what you're thinking: a jaunt? Really? Dictionary.com defines jaunt as "a short journey, esp. one taken for pleasure" - surely you don't find a rainy early-Saturday hike up a mountain pleasurable. And that's where you're wrong. I find it highly pleasurable and don't do it enough. Rain or no rain, I like hiking. It would've been nice to have had the dogs trekking along with me, but, alas, they are not allowed on that trail.

After meeting my friend KB at the base of the trail just before 8 a.m., I pushed the buttons on my watch that make the numbers rise and up we went. However, KB was under the weather and that made for slow progress early on. We took a few breaks as he tried to fight through the queasiness, but just past the 1/4 mark, he decided that he better not risk anything more severe and opted to turn and return to the bottom. I was feeling pretty good, very good actually, and continued with the wet ascent. From that point on, I managed to summit without taking another break. I was feeling very, very good. So good, in fact, that I'm thinking of going for a one-hour run* with the dogs after publishing this post (which will be roughly two hours after reaching the Grind's peak).

Here's a brief summary of today's Grind time:

45:00 - KB turns around a little past the 1/4 mark.
53:00 - I pass the 2/4 mark.
1:07:00 - I pass the 3/4 mark.
1:18:00 - I summit.

I am pretty sure that the cost of the gondola ride down was $5 the last time I was there, and so was surprised to learn that the cost today was $10. If it wasn't for the rain I would've kept my money and hiked back down, but since I didn't want to risk a slip on wet wood, onto the gondola ten bucks lighter I went. On drier days it'll be hike up, hike down, fo' sho'.

Of note, I was back in the car at 9:55 a.m. and at 10:30 a.m. I was turning the car off in our driveway - pretty quick, eh? Especially considering I didn't have the carpool lane option on the highway. And now, I runnnn. C'mere doggies..

[* The run - one of my best in a long time - was actually completed in a time of 47:12. Today has been a very good day. Now to get stuff done at home with playoff baseball and regular-season hockey (including the Canucks' first game of the season!) playing on the television in the background.]

Today's run route and time

Today's run route
From our front door, run south on the Trans Canada Trail in Coquitlam River Park, left to cross the pedestrian bridge near Patricia Ave, left to go north along the Trans Canada Trail / Coquitlam River, turn around at David Ave, retrace route in reverse to our front door.

Today's run time
50 minutes 57 seconds

A wet run is great fun. The dogs didn't notice any of the many herons.

Today's run route and time

Today's run route
From our front door, run south on the Trans Canada Trail in Coquitlam River Park, left to cross the pedestrian bridge near Patricia Ave, left to go north along the Trans Canada Trail / Coquitlam River, turn around at David Ave, retrace route in reverse to our front door.

Today's run time
52 minutes 48 seconds

Today's run route and time

Today's run route
From our front door, run south on the Trans Canada Trail in Coquitlam River Park, left to cross the pedestrian bridge near Patricia Ave, left to go north along the Trans Canada Trail / Coquitlam River, turn around at David Ave, retrace route in reverse to our front door.

Today's run time
51 minutes 4 seconds

Today's run route and time

Today's run route
From our front door, run south on the Trans Canada Trail in Coquitlam River Park, left to cross the pedestrian bridge near Patricia Ave, left to go north along the Trans Canada Trail / Coquitlam River, turn around at David Ave, retrace route in reverse to our front door.

Today's run time
51 minutes 17 seconds

Today's run route and time

Today's run route
From our front door, run south on the Trans Canada Trail in Coquitlam River Park, left to cross the pedestrian bridge near Patricia Ave, left to go north along the Trans Canada Trail / Coquitlam River, turn around at David Ave, retrace route in reverse to our front door.

Today's run time
51 minutes

I'm making a promise to myself to do more non-running-related posts, beginning very, very soon. If you're reading this, please hold me to it.

Today's run route and time

Today's run route
In Coquitlam River Park, start near Gabriola Dr and Cortes Ave, south on the Trans Canada Trail, left to cross the pedestrian bridge near Patricia Ave, left to go north along the Trans Canada Trail / Coquitlam River, turn around at David Ave, retrace route in reverse to starting point.
Today's run time
51 minutes 39 seconds

Today's run route and time

Today's run route
In Coquitlam River Park, start near Gabriola Dr and Cortes Ave, south on the Trans Canada Trail, left to cross the pedestrian bridge near Patricia Ave, left to go north along the Trans Canada Trail / Coquitlam River, turn around at David Ave, retrace route in reverse to starting point.
Today's run time
51 minutes 25 seconds

I felt like crap today. I happened to look at my watch just as the one-minute mark passed, and thought, 'okay - I just have to run that distance fifty more times'. The next fifty minutes and twenty-five seconds were brutal; my legs felt like they weighed two tons each and were attempting to move me in the opposite direction.

Friday's run route and time

Friday's run route
In Coquitlam River Park, start near Gabriola Dr and Cortes Ave, south on the Trans Canada Trail, left to cross the pedestrian bridge near Patricia Ave, left to go north along the Trans Canada Trail / Coquitlam River, turn around at David Ave, retrace route in reverse to starting point.
Friday's run time
49 minutes 10 seconds

Today's run route and time

Today's run route
In Coquitlam River Park, start near Gabriola Dr and Cortes Ave, south on the Trans Canada Trail, left to cross the pedestrian bridge near Patricia Ave, left to go north along the Trans Canada Trail / Coquitlam River, turn around at David Ave, retrace route in reverse to starting point.
Today's run time
51 minutes 26 seconds

Today's run route and time

Today's run route
In Coquitlam River Park, start near Gabriola Dr and Cortes Ave, south on the Trans Canada Trail, left to cross the pedestrian bridge near Patricia Ave, left to go north along the Trans Canada Trail / Coquitlam River, go about ten minutes before turning around*, run south along the trail, turn around near Lougheed Hwy, cross the pedestrian bridge near Patrica Ave, right to go north along the Trans Canada Trail/Coquitlam River, end near Gabriola Dr and Cortes Ave.
Today's run time
48 minutes 03 seconds

* The turn around was due to several people in different spots along the river telling me that a bear was a little farther north on the trail. I am fairly certain the bear wouldn't have been a threat, but I didn't want my off-leash dogs to provoke it.

Monday's run route and time

Monday's run route
In Coquitlam River Park, start near Gabriola Dr and Cortes Ave, south on the Trans Canada Trail, left to cross the pedestrian bridge near Patricia Ave, left to go north along the Trans Canada Trail / Coquitlam River, turn around at David Ave, retrace route in reverse to starting point.
Monday's run time
50 minutes 11 seconds

Sunday's run route and time

Sunday's run route
In Coquitlam River Park, start near Gabriola Dr and Cortes Ave, south on the Trans Canada Trail, left to cross the pedestrian bridge near Patricia Ave, left to go north along the Trans Canada Trail / Coquitlam River, turn around at David Ave, retrace route in reverse to starting point.
Sunday's run time
52 minutes 46 seconds

The runs

Thursday's run route
In Coquitlam River Park, start near Gabriola Dr and Cortes Ave, south on the Trans Canada Trail, left to cross the pedestrian bridge near Patricia Ave, left to go north along the Trans Canada Trail / Coquitlam River, turn around at David Ave, retrace route in reverse to starting point.
Thursday's run time
47 minutes 31 seconds

Please, encourage me to run more frequently

If you'd like to see what I've been up to lately - other than watching and playing tennis (and the Little League World Series, minus the playing) - make like a bunny and hop on over to Detected Errors where you'll find plenty of goofs and gaffes to shake your head at. As a bonus, I make some very clever remarks such as, "My wife may write the writer a letter regarding the latter"; and I am not biased in the slightest. I know I pointed that blog's way in a recent post, but that's because I'm not sure how often I'll be posting on this blog from here on out. I won't stop fully completely, but once a month or so sounds about right, while Detected Errors is updated almost daily. Also, my book blog deserves more attention.

Today's run route
In Coquitlam River Park, start near Gabriola Dr and Cortes Ave, south on the Trans Canada Trail, left to cross the pedestrian bridge near Patricia Ave, left to go north along the Trans Canada Trail / Coquitlam River, turn around at David Ave, retrace route in reverse to starting point.
Today's run time
51 minutes 27 seconds

Blogging and running, again

Alrighty. It's coming up to two months since I last posted on The Luck Key. There are three main reasons. Firstly, our son, who is just over five months old now. Secondly, we recently moved out of Vancouver, which, with a five month old son and two cats and two large dogs, was no small feat. In fact, we are still in a state of chaos with unpacked boxes everywhere and a completely empty living room and dining room as we have stripped off the carpet and are painting the walls before laying down laminate. Actually, the rooms aren't entirely empty - the bigass china cabinet is on a dolly and that is gonan be a bit*h to get off the dolly once the flooring is done. Thirdly, all my blogging time is used up by Detected Errors (with the remaining computer time dominated by ESPN's Streak for the Cash).

It's for the above reasons also that before yesterday it had been two and a half months since my last run. I can not express how much of a pleasure it is to be able to run on wooded trails with the dogs without having to drive at least twenty minutes each way to do so. Yesterday was suitably painful (it'd been two and a half months after all) and I still loved it. And to think, it's just gonna get better and better!

Yesterday's run route
Starting near Gabriola Dr and Cortes Ave, south on the Trans Canada Trail along the Coquitlam River, turn left to cross the pedestrian bridge near Patricia Ave, turn left to go north along the Coquitlam River, turn around at David Ave/Elizabeth Dr, retrace route in reverse to starting point.
Yesterday's run time
49 minutes 14 seconds

Yesterday's run route and time

Yesterday's run route
In Pacific Spirit Park, start at Sasamat Reservoir, south on Sasamat, right at Council, right at Salish, left at Sword Fern, left at Long, left at Salish, left at Council, left at Sword Fern, left at Long, left at Sasamat, end at Sasamat Reservoir.
Yesterday's run time
49 minutes 35 seconds

NHL playoffs shakeup

I came across an interesting idea in a recent Georgia Straight article regarding NHL playoffs in future years. Here's an excerpt:

The top finishers in each conference get to select from the lower-ranking qualifiers in the first round only. In the NHL's case, let the three division winners in each conference pick from the teams that round out the playoff field. The first-place team would get to choose from the teams finishing fifth through eighth. The second-place finisher would then pick from the remaining teams, and the third-place team would be left with two teams to choose from. The fourth-place finisher—not a division winner—would still get home-ice advantage in the opening round and would face whichever team was not selected by the three teams that earned the right to choose.

Read the whole article by clicking here and then let me know what you think by sparking the glow under this post. I'm all for the changes suggested, for the reasons found in the article.

Today's run route
In Pacific Spirit Park, start at Sasamat Reservoir, south on Sasamat, right at Council, right at Salish, left at Sword Fern, left at Long, left at Salish, left at Council, left at Sword Fern, left at Long, left at Sasamat, end at Sasamat Reservoir.
Today's run time
50 minutes 38 seconds

Today's run route and time

Today's run route
In Pacific Spirit Park, start at Sasamat Reservoir, south on Sasamat, right at Council, left at Sword Fern, left at Long, left at Salish, right at Council, left at Sasamat, end at Sasamat Reservoir.
Today's run time
35 minutes 51 seconds

Today's run route and time

Today's run route
In Pacific Spirit Park, start at Sasamat Reservoir, south on Sasamat, right at Huckleberry, right at Hemlock, right at Salish, left at Sword Fern, left at Imperial, right at Salish, left at Clinton, left at Sasamat, end at Sasamat & Imperial.
Today's run time
47 minutes 31 seconds