gorge waterfalls 30k: w & cr
Race season is officially upon us! And I could not be happier to have it underway. Don’t get me wrong, I am obsessed with offseason (I have so many stories I meant to tell…). But this weekend at Daybreak Racing’s Gorge Waterfalls reminded how much I absolutely love to race.
It’s hard to find words to express the satisfaction that comes with starting the season off strong. Not only did I race to the women’s win in the 30k, but to 2nd place overall and a new course record. The performance was a big dub but there are a few other things about the process I’m celebrating too.
I managed to fuel the most I ever have while racing, with 110g/carbs per hour going down fairly easily.
I rocked some new Brooks prototypes that are going to be a game-changer in the world of trail shoes (dropping 3.1.26 — I know it’s far away but I proooomise they’re worth the wait).
I felt awesome running fast, and moderately awesome running technical terrain. Which is a win, considering I’m on the tail end of 6 weeks confined to the roads in Jackson.
And most importantly, I enjoyed being back in a competitive environment. Loving the intensity of race weekend is never to be taken for granted.
If one word could sum up the feelings I leave Gorge with, it is VALIDATION. There’s a lot of work to be done ahead, for sure. But I now have confirmation that everything I’m doing is taking me in the right direction. The foundation is not only laid, but it is STRONG. Heading into this year, my coach, David, and I agreed on a fairly unique training approach, relative to my years past. This is the first time I haven’t run bi-weekly track workouts from January to July. I actually haven’t even set foot on a track in a while… Instead, we leaned into my tendencies to go multi-sport to the max, while still focusing on getting in the key training on foot. The decrease in speed and intensity has allowed me to increase my overall volume of training. I’ve been stacking more hours per week on a back to back basis than ever before. And it seems to have unlocked a new level of fitness. Training numbers have hinted at this for months, but there’s nothing quite like a good race performance to solidify suspicions of improvement.
And what’s more, Rachel Drake set the former record on this course last year, and then went on to have a stellar season. On top of being a professional overachiever and a badass mom, she placed 8th at Western States, 4th at Mammoth Trailfest (where we had our epic dual for 3rd), and set a new course record at JFK 50 Mile that went down as one of the most legendary female trail performances of all time. I respect and admire the heck out of Rachel and breaking a record she set on the precipice of her phenomenal year last year feels really motivating. If I can have even half the year she had after Gorge, I am in for a treat!
And can we take a moment for the waterfalls too?! Because they were truly insane. The race course was an 18 mile point-to-point along the Columbia River Gorge, ending in Cascade Locks, Oregon. The trail passed by 7 incredible waterfalls. And when I say “passed by”, I also mean passed behind and passed through. If you ever get the chance to hike, run, or race on this trail, take my word for it: say yes. It was epic and here are some photos if you need more encouragement.
Performance and course aside, one of the coolest parts of the race weekend was watching a few athletes I’ve been coaching come across the finish line of the 30k with huge smiles. I’ve been working with a small number of athletes for almost a year now, most of whom started as close friends before we started tackling their training together. I haven’t shared much about it with the internet up to this point… but this weekend feels like a turning point. After feeling how gratifying it can be for everyone involved, I think I am ready to start shouting from the rooftops that I am coaching!! (I’ll continue to share more, but I have openings and am excited to take on new athletes!! Especially mountain people with multi-sport tendencies looking for guidance blending activities.) Coaching has been such a highlight for me. Hearing friends say they feel the best they ever have, and watching them tackle things that intimidate them is what it’s all about.
Soooo what am I up to the next few weeks?!
After recovering my sore legs (I always forget that the first race of the year hits different), I’ll spend a week riding bikes and running around Bend with Rennie and the Kooks! There’s also a high chance of corn ski adventure — or a few.
Then I head out for a surf trip to Nosara, Costa Rica with one of my absolute life besties. We have a lot to celebrate with Annabel headed off to med school in July!!!
We are scheming few big ski missions in the PNW and hopefully some long days on the bike late April… Before heading back to the Tetons to unpack/repack/cram some backyard adventures in early May.
Where you can find me competing the next few months — tentatively:
ZEGAMA (Spain) — Holy heck I’m stoked for this one. I’ve wanted to race it for years, but it’s 42k long and has historically been in the middle of my track season. Getting to race Zegama was honestly one of the early reasons why I felt drawn to focus on trail in 2025. It’ll be the start of my season with Golden Trail World Series (GTWS).
Sunapee (New Hampshire) — A big goal for the year is to qualify to represent the USA at World Champs in September. This race is the qualifier for the Classic discipline.
Broken Arrow Ascent AND 23k (California) — A biiiig double weekend with the Ascent discipline qualifier for Worlds, as well as my second GTWS event of the year. And even if there was no greater reward, just racing at Broken Arrow would be enough of a draw for me. You probably already know I love this event.
Hopefully a sweet weekend racing bikes to close out June… can you guess where?? — but I am waiting for some final pieces to fall into place before I can confirm or deny…
For now, though, let’s just keep this good energy rolling.
gorge(ous) photos: Somer Kreisman
