This past Saturday was the Hyner Trail challenge.  This was my fourth year of running it. The first two years I did the 25k, last year the 50k and this year I was back to the 25k version. The 50k has qualifying standards, one of which is having finished the race in a previous year in under 9 hours. I missed that standard last year so I went with the 25k this year.

Training plan:

Descending has been my weakness, both from a balance issue as well as muscle failure.  Through the winter I was trying to find steeper hills to run down to build my legs up. I have several steep hills around the house but they are not very long. The hill on the mountain closest to me had too much snow on them to work real well. When I finally was able to get out on the trails and really work hard I used two trails that went straight down over the mountain, one for about a mile and the other for a mile and half.  Both had some technical terrain but nothing quite as intense as Hyner. Still I felt that I was getting a fairly good workout. Throughout the winter I wasn't really happy with my mileage and less happy with my times, too slow on leg turnover and too short of stride length.  Still I was very hopeful of having a good run.  I had also switched to using Tailwind  in my hydration bladder.  For runs up to 14 mile it had worked well.

Gear:

I decided to run in my Hoka Mafates. These have a lots of padding and absorb the hits of the rocks very well. Traction wise they were good enough that I used them in some slippery snow conditions and never had any problems. I was a little concerned about how well they would drain.  I normally use Spenco and Superfeet insoles. Since I was mostly using the Superfeet in the Hokas I stayed with them.  For my weak ankles I had two types of braces. I had used the Mueller ankle sleeves with straps the most. I had also just got a ASO brace that is used by a lot of college athletes. While this seems to be a good brace I was more comfortable with the Mueller's so I used them.  Inside them I went with my double layer Wrightsocks. Never had a blister with them so why change what works? The warmest temps of the year were predicted so I went with a white shirt and a visor.  My son thinks I look idiotic with a visor vs. a hat but I can tell a big difference. White shirts get dirty so quick, but again I can tell a big difference. I was using my Ultimate Direction hydration pack. Many thanks to AT for posting that it was on sale last year. I really like this pack.

Goals:

First is always just to finish, but I'm far too competitive to not have some much loftier goals. I would love to finish this race in under 3:30. At my age probably not possible but I can dream.  Realistically I was hoping for just under 4 hours  and if nothing else I wanted to beat my PR (4:34) for this race. Above all I really badly wanted to finish strong. That meant being able to bomb the last downhill and have no stomach problems.  The past two years the stomach issues have been really demoralizing.

Race Plan:

Go out in the front 25% of the crowd and push the pace to the single track. This would allow me to avoid getting caught up in the normal conga lines.  Use Tailwind and supplement with bananas and Hammer Gel as needed.

Race Day:

Got to the race just a little later then I wanted to. By the time I got my race packet the 50k crowd was lining up and heading out. I had hoped to meet up with Danielle (TnC) but wasn't able to find anyone that looked like her.  I did meet a few other people I knew including my neighbor who was running it for the first time. He's 33 and this was his first race. On top of that he claimed he had barely trained.  We then headed to the race start, beat most of the crowd and stood in line for a porta potty. Thankfully I didn't have to make a repeat trip there.

I lined up where I thought I would be I would be towards the front but not so close that I would hold up the faster people. DW had good view of where I was at and later said I was more in the middle of the pack. I saw a lot of people that I knew would finish a hour or two or maybe more behind me lining up in front of me, but it was too late to jockey for position.

The line for the Porta Potties. They had about 12 there and 8-10 at another location.

After the normal short speech we were sent off. I wasn't able to start running for about 30 seconds then it was stop and go.  Once the crowd opened up I opened up the throttle and started passing people. There is about a mile of nice road before the trail.  In this space I passed and was passed by a lot of people who were breathing like they were running a 5k.  By the time we hit the single track there was a line forming.

Predictably I was in a conga line doing more walking and stopping then running. Right where I didn't want to be. (Entrance to trail.)

At the end of the single track the trail opens up so you can pass. The problem is it pitches up, straight up it seems, about 1300' of gain over a mile.  Not a problem, I have my dander up from being held up and my climbing legs are ready.

Contrary to what some of us claim, there are nice sections of trail at this race.

I went off to the side of the established trail and passed tons of people. Think I may have pissed off a few people here by doing that but I didn't run anybody off the course.

I topped out at the overlook in about 1 hour, a good 10 minutes slower then I wanted to. But I was feeling good.

Old, Fat guys like the one in the white shirt and visor here, should not run this race and expect to do good!!!

At Hyner what goes up will go down, so after the aid station downhill we went. At first I was running by myself, then a few people caught and passed me. One of the guys that I know from my area came bounding by me going down a really steep section going at least twice as fast as I was. I'm just amazed at how some people can descend so fast.  Soon the steepest section flattens out some and it's a nice downhill that I can run almost flat out. Here we get into a few water crossings and I found that the Mafates drained pretty good.  At the bottom the trail heads up a long hollow with a ton of water crossings. The creek wasn't up too high but the water was cold. While the Mafates drained well the braces kept some water in so my feet were getting a little cold. I settled in behind one of our local runners, and his daughter, who was running Hyner for the first time. She was a little shorter than me and her dad. While crossing under one of several downed trees she didn't duck low enough and smacked the top of her head knocking herself down in the creek. She got back up and kept on going but short time later they stopped so she could shake it off.  By this time the trail was pitching up again and was now very rocky. It was here that I started to think that my legs were going to do really good. I was able to push the pace with no hint of weakness or cramping.

At the 9 mile aid station I refilled my bladder and added more Tailwind, grabbed a PBJ. I had started with 72 oz and was down to about 10 oz left.  From here is a nice long downhill that is quite rocky and has beat me up in the past. This year I was able to run it pretty good. Part of this was due to the Hokas absorbing the shock so well and using the ankle braces.  Through here I had several near ankle rolls that I definitely felt the braces tighten up on. Again I was passed by several people just bombing the descent.  After the descent it's back up the final long climb.  One of the guys that had passed me several times on the down hills was talking with another runner and said that he had did at least one 100 miler.  While he was much younger and thinner than me I was totally blowing him away on the uphills. This was a nice long climb and my legs handled it quite well.  At the same time the temp was rising,  feeling like it was up into the 70s. I thought I was taking in enough water but maybe not as much as I should have been. My stomach started to turn and feel like it was bloating with gas. I had decided to try taking a Prilosec if I had this problem and I did at this point.  I had also taken 8-9 Endorolytes by this time.  The last 100-200 yards of this climb is so steep you almost have to crawl up it.  At the top I was glad this was the last hard climb of the day.

At this aid station I grabbed more Bananas and PBJ and started to head out. By this time my stomach was starting to head for a full on bloat session. The next four miles is mostly flat or downhill, I should have been able to do well. Instead it was four miles of alternating walking and jogging and getting passed. Again It was a case of getting a lot of stomach pressure. When I could belch or fart and get rid of the gas I could run, otherwise I ended up walking.  It took me 1:15 to cover 4 miles.  They finish this race with a short, but steep uphill. At the bottom my stomach rebelled and I walked most of it. About 75 yards from the finish one of the spectators was yelling at us to finish it strong and run it in. As much as I wanted to there was no way it was going to happen, or so I thought. I suddenly belched, the stomach felt good enough to run, and I was passed by two guys.

There's that old fat guy in the white shirt actually finishing .

I took off, passed them at which time they put in a second effort. I thought the one had nipped me at the line but when the results came out I had nipped him by a half second.

Crowd at the Finish Line

Final time: 4:36:53.  Good for 88/168 in age group and 405/1003 overall.

Overall I'm not pleased. I finished with no ankle injuries, but other than that I missed every other goal. It was not a PR and I got nowhere near close to the 4 hour mark.  In retrospect I lined up too far back in the crowd, I should have been almost on the front line. I believe I lost 5-10 minutes in the first 4 miles fighting traffic. I need to work on my descending skills.  I simply find myself picking my way through the rocks too much to get a good time. And finally I have to figure out what causes my bloating.  If anyone has any ideas please share them with me.

I'm also not really happy with the Mafates. While they absorb the impact very well, drain decently, do well on wet rock,  have good traction and I feel very comfortable in them they didn't hold up. Part of the sole peeled away and  I only have about 135 miles on them. Now almost all that mileage is on rocky trails but I feel they should have lasted at least 400-500 rough trail miles.  At the same time I liked the way the Mueller braces worked. I know they saved me several ankle rolls.

Oh, I did finish in time to get a chocolate milk.

All pictures were lifted from facebook and were taken by people who said it was ok for anyone to use them.

Congratulations on the race, DD, even if things didn't go all as hoped.    And thanks for sharing the RR and pics, it was a good read!

Well first of all congrats on finishing.  Secondly, sorry you didn't hit your time goal.  The 25k is a challenge at Hyner - not just because of the climbs and descents and terrain but because of the crowd.  Just too many people.  Unless a runner can truly get out in front of the crowd, you have to account for that in the finishing time.

That is why the 50k is much much better.  And btw, I don't think the standards are having to finish the 25k in 4:30 the previous year.  I think you can show that you have finished any similar race in the past - even if a few years ago. They have been fairly lenient in the past.

I hope to be at the 50k next year....I think it's on my b-day next year.  Lots of work to be done though...

Congrats!  Keep your head up and keep trying to figure out the bloating thing.

Congrats on the Hyner finish even if it wasn't quite the time you wanted. I agree with some of the others on your stomach woes. That is a lot of fluid and endurolytes. I guess it was pretty warm too? Good that you kept that streak going. That is one mother of a course!

Great job! It sounds like we had very similar issues. The heat was way too much. Sorry to have missed you at the start, we got there around 7:15 and then started at 8:00 for the 50k.

Nice race report Daydreamer. I definitely can relate on so many levels.  There were a handful of folks from my running club there, many of which were back for at least their second time and NOBODY ran the race they wanted to. Zero PRs and 1 DNF.  Must've been something in the air that day.

That being said, and despite all your circumstances... I think you ran a pretty fabulous race, and your time is no joke.

Was your friend's daughter wearing a maroon shirt? I saw a girl do the exact same thing and was baffled about how many people just breezed by and didn't even ask if she was ok.  I was like "we're in the middle of the freaking pack, folks... The race is already won.  There's no sense in trampling this poor girl!"

i agree with you that there's some really nice runnable trail tucked in all that nastiness. It's just a matter of finding yourself in a cluster who wants to run it, or being able to break off.

Also - at least in my mind, I didn't want to start off too fast like everyone told me to because I was afraid if I found myself with a good placement on the hill, I'd be like a dog chasing a car... Not know what to do when I caught it/hold up the faster folks behind me like a jerk. I wasn't confident enough in my training, but I think you have to go into that one overconfident and just pray what you did all winter works when you hit that hill.

I'm sorry to hear about all your issues, but YOU FREAKING FINISHED HYNER! And you did it faster than over 50% of the folks out there.  Be proud.... And revel in the fact it only happens once a year.

also TnC... You amaze me.  I could not imagine doing 25 more ks of that.  Seriously dude. I'm in absolute awe of all of the 50k finishers.

 

I think it was the air being nearly 80 degrees .  Thanks for the kind words. How about that last mile on the bridge, in direct heat? I wanted to die.

That last mile fried my brain stupid. I ran the fastest mile of my adult life. By the time we hit that little crest by the finish line I was speaking in tongues.  A gentleman actually grabbed my arm and basically drug my crazy @ss over the last few yards. I don't know who he was but it made my day.

Great report, even if it's a tale of struggle you got it done! And although it sounds as though there's more backstory to the digestive issues, you're making me wonder a little about my own issues in dialing in Tailwind. I've only ever used it in colder conditions and assumed the bloating was due to taking in more fluids than I needed in order to get the calories in, but I'll be checking into that further this summer.