Waldo Canyon

March 6, 2010

Waldo Canyon

6.8 miles

1:35 hours

Bob sent the query out last night to see if anyone wanted to run Waldo with him; he wanted it to be a group activity. Sure! 8:30 am meet at the trailhead and I'm the last to get there. Bob, Chris, Mike and Jeff are waiting. The weather is great and I'm in shorts and and a long sleeve with gloves.

The trail is very nice to start with; but, by the meadow, we have hit ice on the path. At the loop, we all stop and try to decide which way to go to minimize the amount of ice on the trail. Bob finally makes the decision for us to go the opposite way we usually go and when the ice gets too bad, we'll turn.

We quickly hit more ice on the trail and me without my magic shoes - my microspikes! Darn it!. However, none of us are prepared and therefore, we all take it pretty easy on the slick spots. Chris takes the lead and somehow, we end up doing the entire loop. The steep way was actually better than the way we took; and that helps us on the way down.

Once we hit the meadow, I take the lead and we cruise back toward the trailhead. After a stop on the trail, I take off after a runner heading down in front of us and quickly catch him and ask very nicely if we can pass - don't listen to what Mike says, he's wrong! The runner very nicely moved to the side and now I have open trail with no ice and the impulse is too strong; I stretch it out and pick up some speed then pull back. That felt so good I decide to do it again and again.

Unfortunately, the last time I decide to pick up the pace, the path is strewn with rocks and roots and yes, you guessed it, I trip over a root and head face first down the trail and, according to Jeff who was right behind me, slide quite a bit on my frontside. Ouch. The guys gingerly picked me up and I'm aching all over but don't want to sit; I want to walk it out before I look at the damage, before I realize how bad I hurt.

My walking quickly turns into jogging with a slight limp and a sore left arm; however, nothing appears to be broken - just bruised heavily. Thank goodness. We had about a mile or less left to go and the guys let me set the pace on the final section.

Once we get down, I finally look down and see blood on both knees, and my right lower leg is covered in road rash. I take off my gloves to inspect the hand that has bothered me and it only has one patch of skin missing. The elbow is bloody and so is my right thigh. Chris remarks, "Man, that looks like it hurts." Well, I ain't saying it doesn't Mr. Obvious!

What a silly mistake, to pick up speed over that section; I can't blame anyone but myself. And me, with 20 miles to run tomorrow!

After I got home, I finally allow a few loud shouts in the shower as I cleaned the damaged area. Thank goodness for Tylenol and neosporin! Trust me, the picture above doesn't do the damage justice! We'll see how I feel tomorrow for the 20 miles later~