Colton Gale

A little Burn action this weekend, but I waited until mile 24 to light the match. @daybreakracing 's classic Tillamook Burn 55k was exactly what I needed to end a 112 mile training week. My first time running in this dense, wet, and tricky forest was a ton of fun. I broke the race into 3 phases. 1- After @kieran_nay disappeared off the front, I kept a smooth approach and snacked my way through the early miles. Ultras are long. It was a stunning, cool morning to explore new trails and dip my feet into a number of chilly streams. 2- A quick pack change with @brittrunstrails 's excellent crewing at mile 12 put me in a good position to focus up and move smoothly. I spent a little time flag-hunting and added a couple minutes in confusion, but the gap from the lead didn't grow any. Stride length and intensity increased as I climbed back around in the far loop. The trails were engaging, the sun was pleasant, and my legs felt strong. 3- Britt got me fired up with some quick happy words and another pack change and then it was off to the races from mile 24 to the end. There was a relaxed inhale, exhale, and audible "Go." Periodically I'll remember that I once said publicly "I'm not here for the view, I'm here for the climb." It was about time to live it. The long rolling final climb reminded me of a section at Wasatch I was forced to walk. It reminded me of the training on harder trails over the last few weeks. And truthfully it just flowed. When I took the lead at mile 29, it gave a flashback to when @robking06 passed me at Gorge with intention to not make it a race. The fire was, and is, burning hot. Woke up today surprisingly intact and excited for more. Awesome event, stunning trail, and motivating competition. Can't really ask for more! This was a fun stepping stone and pulse check for what's to come.

Tuesday morning Bachelor sunrise! The tradition continues, and it’s so much better with @americolt . 😊🌄 Mountain season is coming early this year. (this is usually a June thing)

Coach @americolt recently finished as the 5th place male in the Gorge Waterfall 100k. He gave one of his athletes this advice prior to their race that weekend: ‘It’s going to get tough as it always does. When that happens, smile. That’s the moment. That right there is why we’re here. Don’t forget to have fun.’ Clearly Colton practices what he preaches 😁 Next up @wser 100 🌊🌊🌊 ↟ ↟ ↟ 📸: @thetcam #northcoasttrailrunning #eyesnorth #chasethetreeline

Time of day: 7:58am Elapsed race time: 2hr 58min Weather: Cloudy ~52°F with a light rain Heart rate: 132bpm Yeah, I kept it pretty chill. That was the point. The advice I received was "Run so so smooth and the speed will take care of itself." It allowed the fuel to go in easy and the rocks to not take too much of a damaging toll. I found a good rhythm and rolled while the rain fell. There were times when I was convinced I was hemorrhaging time on the field, but the aid stations kept telling me I was only 10 or so minutes back from the lead. The field splintered pretty early and it left most of us on an island for a lot of the day. Super rarely got to share miles with other runners, but I didn't mind. The first half was all smooth, relaxed, happy vibes. I don't get to race in the rain much (except apparently all my April 100ks) so it brought a ton of joy. It was awesome! Definitely plan on carrying that feeling forward to upcoming races. 📸: @jamesholk

In a little different groove with training this year. The numbers may not appear all that different, but it feels a lot different. Racing the Gorge Waterfalls 100k was the focus of the spring. Finally some redemption on a DNF in 2017! If I'm being honest I was hoping for a slightly better showing but am absolutely happy to come away as 5th place man in 9:08 (and for sure Top 3 in the Most Fun Had category). @daybreakracing , @runfreetrail , and @acg put on a spectacle of an event! The course was super fun with great support along the way. I just didn't have quite enough gas to motor up those last handful of climbs and I'll be thinking about that feeling every day until the end of June. Gorge was a solid dress rehearsal for the big dance in a couple months. It provided an opportunity to see where I'm at, to test some new gear/strategy, and obtain great data for the next phase. Also, something about picking wet spring races with passion oak? I need to stop doing that. Definitely some spots showing up already. Oof. 📸: @thetcam

Badger Mountain Challenge (3/27-3/28)- such a fun weekend! I raced the 50-miler on Friday while @americolt & JodiBug crewed me. 🏃🏼‍♀️ Then we swapped and Colton raced the 55K on Saturday. 🏃🏻 While I don’t race often myself, it was definitely fun to switch roles for a day and get after it. Helped that I had great weather and just the best crew. 🐾😊 B: 50M, 8.2K ft gain:🥇woman, 8th OA (8 hrs, 24 min) C: 55K, 5.6K ft gain: 🥇OA (4 hrs, 20 min)

I'm nervous. I've been stacking quality miles all season and making progress that I'm proud of. But maybe that's why there's these lingering butterflies. I'm just going to try to have the most fun I can and the hard work will come with the joy, and vice versa. I'm happy to be a little anxious. Let's F'n Gorge (100k). 🤙🏻 📸: @liampickhardt at a local spot I've driven past 100 times but didn't know was there.

Springtime goes hard. 🌞🌻🐎⛰️🐕🍔🌊🥍🌩

Headed over to the coast for a couple days and was quickly reminded of a few things; 1- Sand is sometimes squeaky. 2- 🏜 + 🌤 > ☁️ + 🌊. 3- I'm def not ready to train for a road race anytime soon. 4- Rain jackets are only useful at the beginning of an activity, or if the temp drops. 5- Humidity sucks. Getting a change of scenery is great to reset the mind a bit. But honestly the collective sigh of relief when we came back over the pass to dry roads was audible. 📸: @brittrunstrails

Happy Friday. 🤙🏻 Throwback pic but the sentiment remains the same. Last year was sick. I'm sensing something incredible in this next one. 📸: @brittrunstrails

Freezing fog down low ➡️ Blue sky up high! Black Butte is in springtime conditions right now! Chasing the sunshine had it feeling like May. That inversion sitting on town has been crazy. By the upper parking lot, the sun started to poke through and the temperature jumped. Can't argue too much with great running weather this time of year. It's been so nice lately that I'm almost bummed to not be peaking for a winter desert race here soon. But there's bigger goals on the horizon. I'm just thankful to be able to enjoy this base mileage time while still being able to get up high and on dry trails. And even better to share them with the best company! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️🐕

This fall and winter has been more unstructured than usual from a training perspective. It felt necessary as a transitional time. Not time away from the sport, but much more laid back with less emphasis on the numbers. More adventures with @brittrunstrails in more unique places. Much less obsession over the metrics. I've been feeling the draw back towards pushing effort again. Today we turn the calendar on the season and look towards the goals taking shape this spring and summer. My race calendar is solidified and an excellent support and guidance team has been put in place. All that's left to do is... everything. It's been an awesome few months, but I may as well get to it.