but when i do, i like it to be on a snow-slick sluice heading steeply into trees on either side of a single-track trail.
i like it to be on legs wearied from miles of running in a furrow just wide enough to place both feet side-by-side.
on one calf held together with a compression sleeve and one knee freshly driven into hardpack in a predictable yet somehow hilariously surprising fall.
yeah, that's when the glissading gets good.
***********
the 2018 wallace falls trail race was good. very good.
***********
the 2018 wallace falls trail race was good. very good.
it was cheerfully difficult and wildly beautiful and occasionally painful and completely exhilarating... everything trail running (like life itself) aspires to be.
the course was made up of three distinct sections ~ the climb, the snow, and the descent ~ each with its own wicked charm.
 |
| falling slowly... |
a week and a half before this race i suffered a rude left calf strain. which is to say it just showed up one day, unannounced, and stayed for several more, undeterred by my yawns and other obvious hints that it was time for it to leave.
rude.
despite diligent rehab efforts, two days before the race there was still plenty of doubt whether the calf was healed enough to hold up for 22.4 trail miles.
i decided to go find out, because compartmentalization is real and so is a steadfast belief that good things can randomly happen to people who make dumb decisions. besides, chuckanut was in a couple weeks and i was way behind on training miles. let's run this thing!
where was i? oh, the climb! and the advisability of scaling steep terrain on a potentially unreliable calf.
where was i? oh, the climb! and the advisability of scaling steep terrain on a potentially unreliable calf.
maybe it was the compression sleeve, or maybe it was the distraction of wallace falls and upper wallace falls (which were breathtaking). but while the muscle was sore at the outset, it held up throughout a 1,600-foot ascent in the first four-ish miles.
in fact, the farther we got into the course, the better it felt. who knew the cure for a running injury was more running??
***********
part two: the snow.
disclaimer: i've run in snow before, many times...but never this far in this much snow.
disclosure: it was really hard and amazingly fun. kind of like running barefoot on the beach. if, you know, the beach were cold, forested, and covered in frozen precip.
the carpitla (snow glazed with ice) started on the trip up the woody trail, just past the upper falls. literally every step was an opportunity to slip and stumble back down the hill ~ like a winter version of the princess bride.
at the top, the course spilled onto the upper grade logging road, which on this day was less a road and more a sunny, snowy slot car track. the path ~ narrow, uneven and fraught with ankle-peril ~ led to to a very welcome and welcoming aid station at wallace lake.
further on, jay lake appeared, signaling the turnaround toward the greg ball trail and a rendezvous with the glissade.
in fact, the farther we got into the course, the better it felt. who knew the cure for a running injury was more running??
***********
 |
| stay between the lines. |
disclaimer: i've run in snow before, many times...but never this far in this much snow.
disclosure: it was really hard and amazingly fun. kind of like running barefoot on the beach. if, you know, the beach were cold, forested, and covered in frozen precip.
the carpitla (snow glazed with ice) started on the trip up the woody trail, just past the upper falls. literally every step was an opportunity to slip and stumble back down the hill ~ like a winter version of the princess bride.
at the top, the course spilled onto the upper grade logging road, which on this day was less a road and more a sunny, snowy slot car track. the path ~ narrow, uneven and fraught with ankle-peril ~ led to to a very welcome and welcoming aid station at wallace lake.
further on, jay lake appeared, signaling the turnaround toward the greg ball trail and a rendezvous with the glissade.
***********
part three: the descent.
it was all going so well.
every step was an adventure in slush and the laws of physics, but i was winning!
right up to the point where i hit the hard-packed snow like a beginner in his first snowboard lesson. whack!
pain points: left shoulder, left forearm, right knee, confidence in proprioception.
i stayed down for a few moments, on my back, head below feet, telling myself i was okay. "luckily i landed in some snow," i said to no one in particular.
"here we go," i went on, just ahead of a failed attempt to recover.
"here we go!" i said again, and this time time it actually worked. onto hands and knees, then back onto feet.
gravity was working in my favor as i shambled down the hill, more momentum than intention. simultaneously, i began a self-diagnostic on the parts that hurt.
shoulder: check.
forearm: ow. stand by...
forearm? okay, fingers still functional, we're good to go.
knee: it's fine, we're fine...wait. ow!
knee? not fine, repeat, we are not fine!
knee: check that, control, we're good here...
knee: ow, holy hell. not good, not okay!
what's happening, knee? you know, we were surgically reconstructed a few years ago.
knee: fine! not fine! fine! not fine!
 |
| gently...gently! (photo courtesy of charles r. lie, gold bar, WA) |
***********
denouement: wallace falls is a great place to run. brian nelson and the folks at wander bigger running did an excellent job putting together this inaugural race benefitting snohomish county volunteer search and rescue.
the park is only an hour or so from seattle, which means i'll be running here again as often as possible.
when that will be is very TBD because, surprise! two days post-race i re-injured my calf during an easy, innocuous recovery run.
{not finé}
***********
wallace falls 22.4m
5:24:02
11/20 (overall)
1/2 (M 50-59)
shoes:
hoka challenger atr 4
song stuck in my head the entire time: "mountains" ~ lion bear fox
oh girl you hear the sounds
of big black boots stomping onto the ground
gonna crush all this pavement into some dirt
all the girls and all the boys
strung out messing with their toys
they're all dressed to kill sweet mother earth
that's why I say
let me take you to the mountains
take you to the mountains
take you to them hills
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