What are your limits?
By: Cara Baskin
When I first moved to the Upper Valley, I read a book by Rich Roll titled Finding Ultra, which chronicled his transition from a self-proclaimed overweight and unhappy lawyer to a vegan ultraman athlete. It’s an extreme story, but it catalyzed a shift in my thinking. At one point he was running 5 miles a day, stopping at an arbitrary limit because it seemed to be the norm. Any more would have been too much. Eventually he questioned what would happen if he just kept going. Sure, 35 miles a week can be a lot, but what would happen if that became 40? Ten miles is a good long run, but what about running 15? It’s not like his body would have shut down from continuing on. I began to question my own training. Eight miles was my long run. What would happen if I ran 8 miles on Saturday and did it again on Sunday? It turned out physically not much, but mentally a complete shift in what I thought was possible. Rich taught me that we walk around in our daily lives with a capacity that is so much deeper than we realize. You only need to peer over the edge of where you think your limits are.
Since 2015 I’ve been very slowly peering over the edge with curiosity. Inspired by the endless outdoor access in the Upper Valley and the seemingly endless pool of athletes, I’ve challenged myself with pursuits that were once scary, but are now in my wheelhouse. My runs became longer, more technical, and hillier. I started going alone, then in the winter, and in the dark. I feel more comfortable being a dreamer and setting big goals. But what is the limit?
Two weeks ago, I witnessed an epic feat of physical and mental endurance. A new friend attempted the fastest known time (FKT) on the NH 48, summiting all 48 NH 4000’ers as fast as possible. Imagine all of the longest traverses in the Whites and then stringing them together with short drives and very little sleep (in a car no less) over 4 days straight. He hiked 176 miles and 66,000’ of vert in that time, with zero complaints, 9 total hours of sleep and a smile throughout multiple rainstorms, thunder and lightning.
I’m so grateful we shared miles on the trail as I paced him over 10 peaks. Seeing his effort firsthand completely blew the door off what I thought was possible. As I filled his flasks from a spring, at 11pm in the pitch dark, in the middle of the Pemi loop, while he ran out and back to West Bond, I was struck by how at home I felt. I never could have been in this position 8 years ago, but creeping over the edge inch by inch led me to this experience. And that was just to pace!
We started his final climb up Moosilauke at 1am on a Thursday. To say that was an adrenaline rush is a vast understatement. I told him no less than 3 times during his attempt, I couldn’t imagine anything cooler than being on the trail with him in the middle of the night, pursuing something absolutely insane while the rest of the world slept. He corrected me that the only thing cooler would be sleeping. Fair point for a sleep deprived man. I’ve hiked these mountains nearly 12 times over, and to think about them sitting there overnight, completely accessible to those who want to adventure in them, felt like a new world to explore.
While he did not get the FKT, which was held for almost a full year by our very own Alyssa Godesky and broken again just last week by a 60 year-old badass from NH, he set the goal, trained and dove head first into a mind-bogglingly difficult endeavor. Who would have thought that the 21 year old working in Madison Hut a decade ago could make the leap to contend with the FKT? Steve resetting his limits became an open invitation for me to do the same and I am very grateful for that.
Our bodies are capable of so much. I fully acknowledge there is a point of too much, in terms of intensity, what you’re trained for and how it impacts your emotional wellbeing or health. That being said, dreaming is free, and we are all capable of more. It’s truly empowering to question and test our capacity. It feels like a secret experiment, tests we can run day after day.
Where are your limits drawn and can you begin to erase them? What would happen if you suspended disbelief? Could you go longer or faster or try a new sport entirely? Peer over the edge and see.
