Testing My Boundaries

Jane has been trying to talk me into running NB2V for a few months now. I knew I wasn't interested in a 100 miles, or even 50 miles. I thought about 50K and decided I wasn't interested in that either. I've been feeling a bit tired since Big Sur. Running Tacoma two weeks later didn't help. I've mentioned before that I run by feel, and lately, that has meant trying to ease up a bit. Though sometimes my enthusiasm gets in the way of my common sense. Like yesterday. I finally decided early last week that I would run 10 miles or so of the NB2V course with Sydnee while Steve was running his 50K. Eric had plans to run 12 Summits and would meet us for dinner at my favorite restaurant after we were all done. As the week rolled on, there were some course adjustments due to snow at the pass, and Bob, Steve's Dad, decided to join us for the day. I started thinking I'd be up for 15 miles. On the drive up, Sydnee and I looked over the course and settled on our plan. We'd skip the first three mile leg, then run the next three, which should give us right about 16.8 miles. The forecast was for cloudy with some rain, on the warmer side of 50.

We got to the start to see many familiar faces - Shawn, our race director, tc, Arthur, Lesa, Jane, Ray and Jon. We had time for a bit of chat, then to the sound of a fizzling air-horn, the runners left. Steve was shooting for about 50K, Jon and Ray were crewing, Jane was shooting for her first 100, Lesa for 50 (miles or K? I'm not sure), Arthur, tc and Shawn for 100. I haven't seen the results yet, so I don't know how everyone did. Sydnee, Bob and I drove to the first aid station spot and Sydnee and I got out to start our run.

The NB2V starts on the same course as the Mt. Si 50K. The section we were running would keep us on a gradual uphill all day long. My Garmin showed a 1500 foot gain over 19 miles - not huge, but enough to feel like we were always working hard. The weather did not match the forecast - instead we had sun. Much of the beginning was shaded, but the later miles were in bright sun and hot.

So where does the title of this post come from? From me making some silly decisions - to start out at a 9/1, forgetting to bring a short sleeve shirt or tank, only taking one bottle of coke and a handful of mini peanut-butter crackers for fuel, and for not wearing my heart monitor. It was an unintentional test of boundaries, but one that reminded me that I still need them. Our run was beautiful, and fun, and a bit too warm. I bonked hard at about mile 14, feeling the heat, feeling hungry and tired and feeling a tiny signal from my heart that I needed to ease up. Later, I figured out that I ran 19.5 miles (I'll explain that in a minute) on 10 oz of coke, a handful of crackers, one rice-krispy treat and a half a banana. Whoops. I did drink 20 oz of water as well.

At about mile 16 by the Garmin, we began to watch for the chalk arrow pointing us to the single track that would take us down to the parking lot and end our run. We began to wonder if we had missed it as the mileage continued to climb. Finally we found one, then we saw a crew member on the trail, and then finally, the arrow pointing us down. We got into the parking lot where Steve and Bob were waiting - due to the course reroute, all runners and bikers had to drive over the summit and into Easton. Steve was very laid back about this run, not concerned about time, or about having to wait, thank goodness. Apparently this section of the trail was about 2.5 miles longer than we thought, giving us 19.5 for the day instead of 17.

Bob and Steve headed out for the next leg - 11 miles. Sydnee and I met up with Ray, Jane, Lesa and Leslie as they pulled in. They needed help shuttling Lesa's car to the next leg, so I drove it, while Sydnee drove the Yeti. Then we tipped the seats back, propped our feet and hung out till Steve and Bob got in. We'd barely got on the road towards home when Eric called in from his solo run - he was done too, and on the way to North Bend to meet us. After pizza at my favorite spot, we headed home.

Yesterday's run gave me 42 miles for the week. Another whoops! That really wasn't easing up, was it? And then I ran at Soos Creek this morning at a pretty good pace for me, with lots of hills, and tomorrow we are running the 12k Sound to Narrows course - more hills. Oh, and I ran the hill run on Thursday. I will admit, I am having a bit of a problem easing up. My minimum base for any given week is 25 miles, with a preference for about 32-38. That feels comfortable to me. Which, if I had stuck to my original 10 mile plan, I would have done. Oh, well, it was fun and today I'm glad I did it.

So there you have it. Yesterday I tested my heat and fuel boundaries and found out they are still in place. You gotta run a test every now and then, right?