They Don't Call It Mount Royal for Nothin'
Grading student quizzes is frustrating. I need a break.
Fortunately, there's the blog-o-sphere.
I was in Montreal last week. I always enjoy checking out the running prospects in new locales, and before I got to do my run, I saw a large number people out running at all times of the day. So that was certainly promising. I saw on my map (a 2-D map, mind you) a large park just north of my hotel, and thought it would be a nice place to run. The trails winding about the park looked to be close to a 5K, so I thought I would have a nice short outing on my hands. While the map told me that my destination was Mount Royal Park, it did not tell me that it was Mount Royal Park. While the route was in fact about a 5K, the 600 feet or so of elevation gain certainly made it more strenuous than I was expecting. Even before I hit the park I was going up, up up. And I managed to time my run so that it was just before the start of a football game in the arena at the park (who knew the Montreal Alouettes were a team that attracted several thousand Quebec residents every week of the season?), so a good portion of my effort for the first mile was expended in dodging rowdy mobs of fans.
Once I was in the park, there were a couple of flat straightaways, including a very nice trail around a small lake, but for the most part it was a good 5% (or steeper) grade, with long switchbacks the whole way. At one point I decided to forego the switchback and take the smaller trail staight up to the top. Fortunately that was very close to the end, so I managed to make it all the way to the chalet at the top of the Mount without passing out. The view was spectacular, and what was even more exciting to me was that I made it from my hotel to the most spectacular view of the city in 29:59. If you ever find yourself in Montreal, I highly recommend you check out the trails in Mount Royal park.
Fortunately, there's the blog-o-sphere.
I was in Montreal last week. I always enjoy checking out the running prospects in new locales, and before I got to do my run, I saw a large number people out running at all times of the day. So that was certainly promising. I saw on my map (a 2-D map, mind you) a large park just north of my hotel, and thought it would be a nice place to run. The trails winding about the park looked to be close to a 5K, so I thought I would have a nice short outing on my hands. While the map told me that my destination was Mount Royal Park, it did not tell me that it was Mount Royal Park. While the route was in fact about a 5K, the 600 feet or so of elevation gain certainly made it more strenuous than I was expecting. Even before I hit the park I was going up, up up. And I managed to time my run so that it was just before the start of a football game in the arena at the park (who knew the Montreal Alouettes were a team that attracted several thousand Quebec residents every week of the season?), so a good portion of my effort for the first mile was expended in dodging rowdy mobs of fans.
Once I was in the park, there were a couple of flat straightaways, including a very nice trail around a small lake, but for the most part it was a good 5% (or steeper) grade, with long switchbacks the whole way. At one point I decided to forego the switchback and take the smaller trail staight up to the top. Fortunately that was very close to the end, so I managed to make it all the way to the chalet at the top of the Mount without passing out. The view was spectacular, and what was even more exciting to me was that I made it from my hotel to the most spectacular view of the city in 29:59. If you ever find yourself in Montreal, I highly recommend you check out the trails in Mount Royal park.
posted by KWK at 5:05 pm
2 Comments:
Montreal sounds so great. Currently, it's 73 degrees in Montreal.
That's 30 degrees cooler than it is here in Springfield, Mo.
and this morning the weather lady said it was going to be hot here at 88 degrees...
a recent run of mine went similarly--I was running at what I felt like was a really good clip, but turned out to be a lot, lot slower than I anticipated, because of the freaking 800 feet in elevation gain and loss (granted, that wasn't just one hill, it was up one, down the back and partway up the next... and then back down, up, and down).
Which is why this morning I was happy to run in the gym on the treadmill, under the air conditioning vent, watching the weather on the news. Because the elevation was 1.
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