The weather this week didn't start out as nice as last week's run but it did bring out a small group of six. All the runners were KK veterans so the BP route was well known.
We started out at 8:05 up the familiar Grouse uphill section. The group stayed together almost the entire way to Mountain Hwy with Dave doing a bit of charging to pull away. The rest of us reached Mtn Hwy in about 1:05. We regrouped and refueled for the HILL training section!
We proceeded up Mtn Hwy at a steady sustainable pace. Dave again pulled ahead and soon was out of sight. We wouldn't see him again until the Grouse Mtn Chalet. At the beginning of the run Dave mentioned something about downhills giving his knees a pounding but obviously they worked fine going uphill! The rest of us stayed loosely together in a couple of groups and enjoyed the steady climb. You could feel the temps dropping as we got higher, but it never got too cold. I think we were all glad that it wasn't a hot day to begin with.
We regrouped again near the top where the sign points the way to the "Top of Grouse Mountain". As we caught our breath and downed some food we saw a couple of other runners and a dog coming up the road behind us. I recognized Matt Sessions' distinctive running style - flames coming from the soles of his shoes. Matt and Mike, along with Ziggy, arrived a little late and set off around 8:15. They did a great job of catching up to us. After some brief introductions we all headed to the Top. The peak had managed to poke through the cloudcover so we actually got some sun. It took us approximately 1:40 to get to the top from the bottom of Mtn Hwy.
Arriving at the Chalet we found Dave enjoying a hot cup of coffee...I think he snuck in a little nap as well! He decided to take the tram down but the rest of us were too cheap to fork over the five bucks and agreed to take to the trail. We choose the BCMC trail. The BCMC is more of a true trail and definitely less crowded than the over-hyped "Grind".
All of us did great on the steep footing with no mishaps until we were near the bottom. It seems as though Matt will spend the money he saved by skipping the tram ride on beers for those witnessing his slipup. Nice scars Matt, watch those loose rocks! We finished up with a total time of 3:30 including the short breaks. Mtn Hwy is a l-o-n-g climb, but everyone seemed to enjoy a little changeup to the traditional KK training run route. Great idea Mike (Wardas)!
Cheers.