Day 30: 30-Day Pushup Challenge

Well, I forgot to post this on Sunday, but I did keep up with my daily regimen, and made it to 15 consecutive pushups. I feel pretty good about this since I started with three just a month before. 

Nowhere near 50 yet, but I'll keep working on it...

Days 17-19: 30-Day Pushups Challenge

Day 19 = 16!

Day 18 = 10

Day 17 = 15

Days 13-16: 30-Day Pushup Challenge

Been slacking off on posting the videos, but I haven't been slacking off on the actual pushups. Check it out:

Day 16 = 15

Day 15 = 14

Day 14 =10 

Day 13 = 8 (just focusing on form)

Day 12: 30-Day Pushup Challenge

Twelve!

Day 11: 30-Day Pushup Challenge

Eleven!

Day 10: 30-Day Pushup Challenge

Ten!

Day 9: 30-Day Pushup Challenge

Nine!

Day 8: 30-Day Pushup Challenge

Back up to seven!

Day 7: 30-Day Pushup Challenge

Dang... back to six. Seems to be my sticking point...

Day 6: 30-Day Pushup Challenge

Seven! I took someone's advice and tried to do eight, so I almost made it. Another tip was to clench my butt to stabilize my core and support my lower back. I think it helps. 

Day 5: 30-Day Pushup Challenge

Five... not sure why I couldn't get six like yesterday... 

Day 4: 30-Day Pushup Challenge

Six!

Day 3: 30-Day pushup challenge

Five! After an intense 30 min. jump rope workout... 

Day 2: 30-Day pushup challenge

Three!

Day 1: 30-Day Pushup Challenge

For those of you who were jocks in high school, motivation to workout is unnecessary. For the rest of us, motivation to get active in adulthood is elusive.  Frankly, I would rather do absolutely nothing than move my body to the point of getting sweaty and out of breath. However! I am aware that daily movement and sweat = looking good.  Also, health = feeling good. But let's be real, it's about looking good. So, in the pursuit of vanity, I have decided to adopt the (almost entirely arbitrary) goal of doing 50 consecutive pushups.

Those biceps!

Step one is a 30-Day challenge to do as many pushups per day as possible. Pretty sure this will tone my arms nicely. I've always wanted to have better upper-body strength and look more like a soldier than a muppet. 

No biceps to speak of.

Today, I can do approximately 1.5 regular pushups, or 10 on my knees. It's going to take a while, I guess, but if I do as many as I can every day, then I should probably be able to reach my goal sometime before Christmas. 

Lynn Peak

Yesterday was the hottest day of the year so far – about 30C in the sun – but that didn't stop Adriana and my other friend Carolyn from ascending to Lynn Peak on the North Shore. What a spectacular view! 

This is a pretty steep (720 m elevation gain) trail most of the way, and the round-trip (9.8 km) takes a solid four hours (including a short break for lunch at the top). Make sure to take enough water, especially on a hot day, because you'll be sweating enough to need to re-hydrate. We were almost entirely under the cover of the forest canopy, but it was still pretty muggy in the trees.

Another bit of advice – go early. This trail seems to be comparable to the Grouse Grind in terms of its draw for fitness buffs, and as such it gets very crowded by midday. We saw a lot of people coming up the start of the trail as we were coming down, but were fortunate to practically have the trail to ourselves for much of the way up. 

Also, dogs are allowed on the trail, but for most of it are supposed to be on leash, and there was a ranger who passed us who reminded us of this fact. 

All-in-all an excellent hike for both enjoyment of nature as well as an opportunity to stretch the legs and get a good workout. Highly recommended. 

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It's two days post-hike and I'm feeling it (weirdly) in my ankles and calves – I forgot to mention, this is one of the most challenging trails in terms of footing because of all the loose rock along a lot of the path. Last piece of advice: wear good shoes or hiking boots!

St. Mark's Summit

Longest hike of the season so far – this time with a group of friends to St. Mark's Summit, at Cypress Mountain on the North Shore. This trail is a 4-hour (11 km) there-and-back that starts at the Cypress Bowl ski lodge parking lot. It's is fairly technical climb in parts, with a lot of exposed roots, steep sections (elevation gain is 460 metres), and some slippery snow in parts near the top that require patience and a humble attitude because you WILL fall on your face and/or butt at least once. But the view from the top makes it all worth it. (Or so I've heard... but even without a view, the mist is pretty magical.)

Also, the wildlife you get to interact with at the peak is pretty fantastic. We hand fed whisky jacks and tiny chipmunks, both of which were happy to land/crawl onto our hands and enjoy some free cashews and seeds. 

My recommendation is to go early in the day because it's a popular trail that seems to get busy by the afternoon. We passed a lot of people going up as we were heading down the mountain around 1 p.m.

Lost Lake and Brothers Creek

Despite the drop in temperature and the clouds, Adriana and I had another successful venture on the North Shore on Sunday, this time up the Brothers Creek trail again, with an extended bit (1 km) up to Lost Lake. 

The woods in this area are spectacularly lush and surprisingly under-populated. We passed maybe only four or five other hiking parties during the entire there-and-back hike (12 km total), and saw no one at the lake where we stopped for lunch. Again, a great place to work up a sweat and enjoy the beautiful terrain replete with new spring growth and raging waterfalls along the side of the path. 

Lynn Loop

Yesterday Adriana and I set off early to Lynn Headwaters Regional Park, to hike the gorgeous Lynn Loop (we went as far as the Third Debris Chute, which is a 12 km circular route, but it's possible to turn off early and do half that, or, if you have all day, to keep going all the way over to the peak of Grouse Mountain!). 

The trail follows a gentle incline through the forest before turning back and following the shore of the stunningly beautiful Lynn Creek. Both Adriana and I kept exclaiming, "Look at the light on those ferns!" and "Wow, this is so pretty," and basically couldn't quite get over how lovely it was to be in the woods on a sunny Sunday morning, with the birds singing, and the leaves an almost supernatural green. 

There really is no better place to be in the world than the North Shore mountains on days like these, especially when you can stretch your legs and work up a bit of a sweat on the inclines. Feeling pretty good about our hiking progress – and looking forward to exploring more trails and peaks as the weather continues to work in our favour!

Next step is to start doing short, steep hikes, like the BCMC, and then longer treks, like the Diez Vistas, to test our endurance. 

Admiralty Point

Yesterday afternoon I took a break from adding and multiplying fractions to go for a solo hike, and checked out the Admiralty Point trail. This trail starts from the same parking lot at the Belcarra Park picnic site that begins the Jug Island hike, but goes in the opposite direction. Like the Jug Island trail, this one is an out-and-back of about 6km round-trip, but this one takes you along the seashore the whole way, and it's breathtakingly beautiful on a sunny spring day. It's an easy 1.5 hour walk in the park, but a great little hike to get the legs moving and be away from the city and feel like you're out in the wilderness for a while. Highly recommended.