Sunrise, Sunset

Sunrise sunset, sunrise sunset,
Swiftly fly the years,
One season following another,
Laden with happiness and tears.

I'm not sure why I never did Sunburn Solstice in the past, maybe it was the time of year, or maybe it was the small loop. After my 1 mile loop 100 miler, I have definitely changed my opinion to prefer shorter loops.

I had free race entries to use from volunteering, and I chose the full solstice, running from sunrise to sunset. Somehow I thought, "15 hours is not much longer than 12 hours, and..." I don't know, it somehow didn't seem that long to me and I suddenly realized WAIT! it is a really goddamn long time to run!

The Burly crew before the carnage.

I had no particular goals heading in, except that I would like to run an ultra distance. I thought it would be theoretically possible to run 80K, but I was absolutely not mentally prepared to run 80K. 

Stepping outside at 4:45 am, the air was fresh and thankfully not disgusting humidity soup. The first 20K went by fairly quickly. I would describe the trail as "1.5 track" - not wide enough for people to pass unless they were right on the edge, and with a long out and back section plus super speedy runners on the course, I was constantly jumping out of the way as people came up from behind and towards me, and this made me very, very anxious.

Trying to feel better with Harry hugs.

I sat down for quite awhile, and the thought of having to dodge people for 12 more hours made me want to cry. I thought about calling it quits, but that also made me want to cry. But I just couldn't make myself get out of the chair and keep going. I had some phone and text conversations with Audrey and Greg, and decided that the best course of action would be to find someone to keep me company and to distract from the constant people dodging. I asked X to run with me, but he was racing with his relay team and couldn't. I asked Nancy, and she said yes.

Nancy: the ray of sunshine who
managed to get my butt moving.

Audrey showed up for a visit and did another loop with me. Then I did a few loops solo and hit another bad spot 40K in. I wasn't particularly tired, injured, hungry, overheated, or anything like that, I just didn't feel like continuing. X came over and said Mikaela would run with me if I wanted. Now having only met Mikaela about a month ago, I'm a bit leery about running with someone new. But I said yes.

She kept me going, at whatever pace I wanted...one loop at a time...thank you!

I saw Brian and my stomach felt pretty bad at that moment...maybe I shouldn't drink Fireball. Maybe I should drink Fireball because my stomach felt bad!

I definitely didn't feel worse after Fireball.

I had a semi-fleeting thought to hit 71K for 44 miles, but decided it was best to not push myself to hit distance goals. The loop was not quite 4K, so I crossed the finish and wanted to hit 60K on my watch. I crossed the finish line at 59.36K and 59.5K in, my vision went black, I got seriously nauseous and I had to sit down right there. It's like mentally crossing the finish made my body shut down and say, "fuck you, we're DONE!". After Mikaela got me some water and Audrey returned for another visit, I did manage to hit 60K on my watch.

I will say that this was definitely the worst race I've ever had mentally, although you could argue that I was mentally strong for having managed to pull myself out of the dumps twice. I don't think I did anything wrong except not being prepared to run for that length of time, and the out and backs really threw me off. Anyways, not an "A" race for me..now a few weeks until Tally 12 hour night.

Conquer the Canuck 2022 - Classic Canuck

 I registered for this two day race in the Before Times, thinking that it would be great training for building up to 100 miles. After being cancelled for 2 years, this race no longer had a specific training purpose, but running long on back to back days (with the longer distance on the second day) was still something I hadn't ever done.

Day 1 - 25K

Great weather, cool and sunny. Carpooled with Audrey. I had to resist the urge to bring my ultra bin and All The Food - had to keep reminding myself that it was only 25K and to pack lightly. Ducked off trail to do my business before the race and got about 10 mosquito bites on my face and scalp! 

My first pic with Harry.

The course was 3 loops of 8.33K, I tried not to go too fast to have some gas left for Sunday. 

Finishing the 25K, not DFL. Photo: Audrey

I feel like it was worthy to mention that afterwards, Audrey and I went to Reverence Barrel Works for refreshments. The chef came out and explained that he was developing some snacks, would we like to sample some?

I ate cantaloupe.

and the most delightful mushroom pate.

Then I went home, and spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch with my legs up, and tried to do as little as possible in order to rest up.

Day 2 - marathon

The forecast called for rain, I brought a jacket, but it only ended up raining during the first loop. I got about 10 mosquito bites on each calf, despite wearing compression socks. The race felt as I expected: really shitty for the first 5K, and then a dull ache the rest of the time. I had my special 'cinnamon flavoured sports drink' after loop 2 (of 5) and got a great boost as usual. There was a girl who would beat me out of the start/finish area every loop, but I'd pass her again. The final loop, I assume she had had enough and absolutely took off, I did not have enough gas in the tank to catch her again. There was a spot where there was an out and back, this girl gave me a shit eating grin when she passed me, and what sounded like a faintly sarcastic "good job" at the finish. I don't think I would do this 2 day challenge again, except for training purposes to get some huge weekend mileage numbers in. And I will definitely remember to wear even more bugspray.

Photobomber. Photo: Robin