Gorge Waterfalls 30K Recap
It’s been 3 weeks since I ran the Gorge Waterfalls 30k and i’m finally sitting down to get some thoughts out about the experience. This was my first trail race since July of 2021 when I ran the Tiger Peak Challenge by Evergreen Trails . I came across Gorge Waterfalls last winter and intended to do it last spring, but I just never made it happen so I wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass this year. The Columbia River Gorge is one of my favorite landscapes in the Pacific Northwest. The chance to explore 18 miles of it by foot, running over, under, and around some of its best waterfalls was something I felt pulled to do. It also gave me a chance to test out some different programming and workouts. Anyway here are a few of my takeaways:
I Wish I Liked Trail Racing Better
I love running in the woods. The burn of ascent brings my body alive. Bombing down long, flowy decents feels like play. And taking pause to rest in the solitude of wild spaces brings me immense peace. But racing in the woods…i’m not sure is my thing. The first 3-4 miles felt like a conga line. Even over 18 miles, with so many runners there was very little alone time. It lacked the solitude that I loved so much about my training runs. Taking part in this race helped reinforce what this pursuit of pushing my body in wild spaces is for me. It’s not about tapping into my competitive energy. It’s about finding peace. Will this be my last race? No. I’m signed up for a VK in September, not to find peace, but to play around with programming to become a stronger climber. And because i’m bored of training slow and looking forward to building more speed and threshold work into my training.
You Get What You Put Into It
When I originally signed up for the race back in September I had this idea I wanted to finish the race in 3 hours. Based on the 2023 results that would have placed me in and around the top 30-40 runners. I felt that the goal would be a reach, but possible if I nailed programming and consistency of training. Looking back I think that still holds true…but you get what you put into it. My September, October, and November training was pretty much on point. Unfortunately December on did not go to plan. I made a decision to pursue some financial opportunities that I knew would make sticking to my program difficult. And come end of February I knew my shot of being sub 3:30 was pretty much gone. March was getting some small treadmill miles in best I could and build up my distance on the weekends leading up to the race. I never made it past 14 miles in the build up and never had any weeks over 20 total miles. I entered into race week saying “3:30 would be a good day when everything went right , but 4:00 is about what I should expect based on my training” I ended up finishing in 3:56…so I got what I put into it.
Finding Failure
I have a difficult relationship with failure. I guess the relationship isn’t with failure itself. The relationship is with the part of me that equates failure to worth. This part of me has subconsciously kept me from pursuing so many things in life. It’s guided me to play it safe, stay in the lanes that lead to high likelihood of success. It’s only in the last 4 years that i’ve been able to bring awareness to this part of me, develop a better understanding of it, and learn to work with it. And mile 15ish of this run brought forth another opportunity. As I watched my watch tick past 3:30 this part of me reared its ugly head. Berating me for not meeting my goal and I got pissed, I started yelling back (in my head…not out loud) . Then I had a moment of clarity…this part of me didn’t need to be met with aggression. It needed to be met with acceptance. And as soon as I did that, the discomfort dissolved, the voice went away, and I was left with a great sense of calm inside. This won’t be my last race, because each race is an opportunity to find failure. To heal this part of me that’s protected, but held me back from so much…so I can consciously push and pursue more.
You Don’t Do It Alone
Very few things in life are ever achieved alone. And while I don’t consider running 18 miles some great achievement for myself, I recognize I am privileged for the opportunity to pursue challenging myself. And I am grateful for the people in my life that support the time and energy that goes into preparing for these types of events. So make sure you pause and give thanks to those people. The family, friends, co-workers, event organizers, volunteers, etc that make the training and race day possible.
All in all Gorge Waterfalls was great. Well organized, fun community of people, beautiful trails, and a killer race glass! I’m in the middle of prep for Seventy48 now, looking to put together some training thoughts for that soon. Cheers, Al.