Stairs to Heaven

My boot campers and I are challenging ourselves with a trip to Vancouver in a few weeks to take our first trip up THE GROUSE GRIND. Which to those who may do this hike regularly may seem normal, but for us island folk who's toughest climb may be Mt Finlayson, this seems both exciting and terrifying.

Yesterday morning (Saturday) we made our way to a beautiful set of stairs just slightly out of town and after counting the steps from bottom to top ( 230) we made it a point to run them 10 times in order to get 2300, which is just slightly less then the Grind.

Although everyone ran / walked at different paces and in their own comfort zone, it was still very much a team effort. In total it took us 1 hour to complete ten sets. From that we subtracted the time it took to go DOWN and multiplied that ten, giving us 47 minutes of straight UP!!!

We left tired, shaky legged and pretty stoked on ourselves!!!

*This is only the first 71 steps, the next 159 were shorter and steeper.....and concrete*  These were runnable, but the second you hit the concrete set, it felt ...lol very UN RUNNABLE~



2300 Stairs - First 71








After the shaking stopped, or at least slowed down we all went our separate ways for the day before meeting up again later for a well deserved BBQ and movie night!

Kev and I headed to Starbucks where we both ordered the Chocolate Banana Vivanno half sweet, made with water. I order this often and some baristas think nothing of the water request, however this guy seemed to think we were from another planet. He actually took his head set off, pushed his neck way out with a super confused look on his face said " You want WATER?????"
I always try to be polite but i think my tone was a bit of " GO F yourself" ...
"Yaaaaaa.... water"
anyway, it was delish and He learned something new......:)

The rest of the day was filled up with a consultation with a new ( super cool, super motivated) new client, and a day of shopping with another!!!
It gets tough for me knowing what to call some of my clients who become friends...... You are told not to befriend your clients, and to try to stay very professional. This is fine and acceptable with some, however, as a personal trainer, you are in most cases a really important part of some peoples loves. You are who they confide in and trust with their biggest struggles, and so it DOES become personal and I DO become invested and i care, therefore, we become friends. Not for  second do I regret or feel wrong about it either.... I have a job which allows me to spend my day with people who I can call my friends and who I simultaneously am able to help reach a happier healthier point in their lives!!!!

~THAT IS A FABULOUS FEELING~

The BBQ was delicious, with way too may appies, which filled us up before the BBQ was even turned on...... 

There was the usual veggie platter, cheese and crackers, and then there was prosciutto wrapped zucchini with ricotta, 4 types of prawns, scallop potatoes, mini turkey tacos ( adorable and tasty), kale chips and then for the main course, there was salad, grilled asparagus ad zucchini and chicken.

We all collapsed in the living room for a movie and watched the dogs take the main stage for most of the movie...... 4 little dogs with 4 large personalities. Any pet owner can appreciate how awesome this was.

11 o'clock came and I was exhausted, so home to bed, with high hopes of waking up for morning yoga.......

Its the morning.... I'm home:)

However I DID just have a great workout........ 30 minutes looked like this:
1 minute each / repeated 3 times

SKIP
PUSH UP
SPLIT LUNGES
KNEE TUCK ON STABILITY BALL( CORE)
BOX JUMPS
PICK UP PRESS UP (L)
PICK UP PRESS UP (R)
PLANK WALK UP ROTATION
SNOWBOARDERS
CRAB DIPS

I'm finishing the day with a spa visit..... and CAN NOT WAIT!!!!!

Wishing you all a happy and healthy end to your weekend,
~KY
xo