2025 Pistol Ultra 50K Race Report

Photo by Nick Morgan

The Plan:

You know how you make plans and they just do not work out - well that was basically the first 3 months of the year.  Last year when I signed up for the Tsali Trail 50K in January and Pistol 50K in March the plan was to get some good trail miles in early and then work on getting my legs ready for the asphalt of the Pistol 50K.  Well sickness - flu and then a stomach bug - derailed doing Tsalis so had to sit that out.  Was a bummer as had done the most trail miles in a while but then sickness came and missed a 1/2 marathon trail run and then just had to pass on Tsali.  Still figured I had time to get ready for the Pistol but as much as I tried to avoid getting sick after some descent miles in Feb got sick while traveling for work and missed some more time.  Even though I was able to get in a couple 21 mile runs and a 100 mile bike ride it was not good enough to get my legs ready for the pounding of a 50K.  Thus I lowered my goal from the low 4hrs, even under if a good day, to 4:30-4:40’s as seemed reasonable for my running shape.

The Race:

On race day for The Pistol 50k I was a little tired from lack of sleep as sort of let the race make me think too much instead of just looking as it what it was - training for my August Gravel Worlds Double - more on that later.  Never-the-less I did obsess on the up coming race - sort of how my brain works - so lost some good sleep.  Had a good day at the check in running the Vespa booth and talking to people and tried to rest as much as I could so don’t think that affected me.  In the morning of the race had the usual jitters but felt OK and weather was looking good as was about 43-45F and looking to go to 60’s which is good as did no need to start with extra clothing.  Did a short 2 mile warmup - needed a little more but just did not happen.  But got to the line ready to go even if a little apprehensive knowing my feet and legs were going to feel this.  I knew this as my two 21 milers I did while going well left my right foot sore and legs a little beat up and I had not done enough to deal with this.

105 people started the 50K but as there was also a 100K, 51 people started, and 100 mile, 57 people started, that would be running at the same time you got to see others out on the course so for sure not the lonely experience some trail ultras can be.  The course was 3 laps of the same loop.  As an aside there was a 50 mile race that started at 8PM that had 35 people start with some people actually doing the double of the 50K and then the 50 Miles - now that makes my feet hurt.  At the start I went out at a comfortable pace that was around 7:45/mile or so and that put me in about 4th or 5th for a bit.  While being with one person for about the first couple miles pretty much ran my own pace and for about 16 miles held an 8:01/mile average.  But that is about where I started to feel the pounding and started slowing some.  I still got to about 21 miles averaging 8:17/mile pace with basically 1 lap to go.  Got to 23 miles at 8;25/mile and then things slowed as the only hills, which were short but you felt them, were at about 25 miles and then slowed much more and as legs were pretty sore could not pick up the pace on the down hills so lost more time I would usually have picked up on when on a paved course.  From there it was basically run a mile or so then walk a little or stop at an aid station to refill and rest the legs some.  As average dropped my miles were getting slower but did pick it up a little in last two miles and finished in 9th OA in 4:39:31.73 and 1st in 65-69 AG.  Missed first place in the Grand Masters (50+) by about a minute.  In looking at the results I was only 8 minutes or so out of 5th and 5+ out of 6th.  I should add that while it did not count I did get a Marathon time of 3:49:53 so would be a BQ by 15 minutes.  I add this in that I have wanted to qualify for Boston every 5 years since I I ran in 2016 so in essence got that today for 65 years old.

Photo by Nick Morgan

As far as pacing I do not think I went out too fast as the basically 8:00 pace felt fine.  While I started feeling it when I got past 16 miles it was more the pounding that got to me.  I should add, and this was not my initial plan, at about 5 miles I started alternating over the next 12 miles 7:50/mile with 8:12 - 8:30 miles to just mix it up.  Whether that is a good pacing strategy it did take my mind off of things and seemed to work well as was not pushing hard on the faster ones but sort of let my mind think I got a rest mile after a faster one.  After the second lap I had planned to do this again to finish up but my legs said NO and when got to the hills at about 5 - 6 miles to go they said “heck” no:).  At least the mile pickups helped with making this a good workout.

If I am honest I am rarely happy with my races as I am pretty critical of my self and for this knew that the 8 minutes I was out of 5th was easy to find on the course.  That said as I shared above with how my training went I really need to be happy with my time. Let alone to realize that many my age (will be 66 in 5 months) don’t run at all let alone 50K so good to just be out there moving.  But, also need to see the positive in that with more specific training for the race I can, I think, pretty easily pick up 10+ minutes - if not more.  I am set to run Tsali next year and while after finishing the Pistol my first inclination was to pass on next year a few days later I need to go back and get it done.  

Strava Race Data:   https://www.strava.com/activities/13958479214/overview

Oh yea one more thing - Thanks to Gordon Turner and Brian Gajus, as well as all those that helped them, for putting on a great race and if you want a good Ultra to do for your first one plan on doing The Pistol in March of 2026

The Recovery:

As far as recovery after the race my legs were toast and as usual my right foot was sore.  Not sure the full reason for the foot soreness but know I need to get back into my Dynamic Triathlete stretching routine and also go back and do my Gait Happens foot strengthening exercises as sort of got lazy after getting sick and did not do them.  I did also get my usual blisters on my toes - usually on the end of them even though my shoes are the correct size.  I think, as with the usual blister/ callous on the side of my big toes, it is about my gait and need to work on that as they are limiting factors.  I tend to think the leg issues stem from my feet so just need to put in more effort to strengthen them.  As I write this a 3 days later while I still have some ankle swelling most the soreness is gone but will just ride some the week after and take a week off running so my feet all all healed up.

Photo by Misty Dawn

I really need to get on this preventive work as while I know I will move into a more riding centric period as have some gravel races in June, July and August I also need to be ready for the 50K run part of the Gravel World Double August 22-23.  I did try a 1 hour ride the day after The Pistol (https://www.strava.com/activities/13967719212) and feel pretty good once got going except really felt it when stood up on the pedals.  Thus I need to work to minimize these issues on the run in August as working to run 4:30 instead of just doing 5:00, my goal pace, will cost more in the 150+ mile gravel bike race the next day.  

The Fueling:

As far as nutrition I think it went fine as did not feel like bonking or anything - not a tone of energy but as I said the first half felt great so think not just the miles but the effort to run when legs go is more so felt that.  I did start with drinking 3oz cups of coke a little earlier than planned as took one at about mile 18 aid station then about every two miles had one as well as my other things that are below in the fueling recap.  I have been trying to work up to more carbs per hour - nowhere near what most do - as over the years of seeing what I could do mostly on endogenous fat and water/electrolytes my body seemed to not want to burn carbs as it should so working on that.  I did use the Mocha and Vanilla Latte UCAN’s with 75mg caffeine as temp was not too hot.  I tend not use as much caffeine when warm and while UCAN does not seem to bother me when warm have heard others can have issues.  If I missed anything is probably did not get enough electrolytes as forgot to take my S!Caps and should have taken then since when I got to the mile 27 or so aid station I took some electrolyte tabs there it was a little late.  Thankfully I did add some extra electrolytes to my SFuels drink so did get those in but that was about it.

Fueling for Pre-Run and Race

Pre-Ride

   - MBP Coffee

   - 30 minutes prior - 1 Vespa CV 25 

   - 30 minutes prior - Pre-load with 1 UCAN Orange

   - 1 hr prior - 1 AltRed

   - Right before start - 1 Vespa Junior 

Total:

    -  Cals - 735

    -  Carbs - 34g

    -  Protein - 19g

    -  Fat - 59g

Race:

    - Total of 3.5  16 oz water bottles

    - In water bottles total 

       - 2 scoops SFuels Zone 2

       - 2 Tubes Myoxcience Plain Electrolytes

       - 2 Tubes Tru Niagin

    - Starting at 1 hour or so - 1 UCAN Mocha w/Caffeine 

        - At 2.25 Hours - 1 UCAN Latte w/Caffeine

        - At 3.5 hours - 1 UCAN Mocha w/Caffeine

    - Total 2 Vespa UC’s at 2 hours and 3.5 hours 

    - Intra Chew Gummies - 3/4 packet (5ea - 2.7g carbs each) starting at 3 hours 

    - Probably 6  3oz cups of coke starting at 18 miles at aid stations

Total:

    - Cals - 689

    - Carbs - 171g  (38g/hr)

    - Protein - 8g

    - Fat - 8g

The Lessons Learned:

Photo by Nick Morgan

One is that when it comes to longer runs you really do need miles on the feet.  I know this but often to avoid injury do more long stuff on my bike so save the soreness during training but pay for it later.  Due to this I need to re-think how I mix riding and running as I like both and want to good in both so just need to figure it out.  I really do not have any runs schedule till august so the bulk of my efforts will be to get ready for some hard gravel races that I want to do well in.  I will likely try and get in some long runs and use them to get my legs ready instead of lots of shorter runs.  I will need to watch the pace but I think doing some longer runs less times may help but we shall see.  Might even try one high milage running week to just add some stress to the system to gain some adaptations I need.  The key for the Gravel Worlds Double is to finish the 50K with as little soreness as possible as the 150+ miles of gravel the next day is a Looooooooong day out!!

Also, I am, as mentioned, going to be working on making sure I get in the extra work of mobility and stretching and foot strengthening.  These will be key to a good Double in Lincoln

That’s about it for now and time to rest some and then get back at it.

While I am sure will add more here is my race, and Century Ride, plan as of now so see you out there if you are at any of these events:

  - Red Bud Century, London KY - April 26th

  - Horsey Hundred Century (100 Saturday and 75 Sunday), Georgetown KY - May 24 - 25

  - Gravel Grinder National Championships  (100 Miles), Greencastle IN - June 28th

  - Forkland All Road Challenge (60ish), Gravel Switch, KY - July 12th

  - The Dust Bowl 100 , Eminence IN - July 26th (Sold Out)

  - Gravel Worlds Double (50K run Friday/150+ Mile Gravel Race Saturday), Lincoln, NE - August 22-23

  - Ragnar Bourbon Chase Relay, Clermont KY to Lexington KY - October 3-4

If you have questions about Vespa or OFM you can comment/contact me or check out https://vespapower.com/ and https://ofm.io/ .

For a discount on Vespa you can use this link - https://vespapower.com/?ref=TonyK and use this code for 15% off - tkonvalin15 

While you can find lots of stretching and mobility excersizes online it takes time and effort to put them all together.  Well I have found Dynamic Triathlete, Dynamic Runner and Dynamic Cyclist do a great job of making them all easy to access.  Click on any of the three links and use this code to get 10% off - BLUGRASS10

If your feet are an issue - and they are for most even if you feel the issue elsewhere the Gait Happens Fit Feet Program is well worth the price and if you use the link you get 10% off.  They also have other tools for strengthening your feet and if you go to the page with the link you shoudl get 10% off of those items as well.

Photos by Nick Morgan and Misty Dawn

  Click on images for more information and if you want more info on OFM check out this post: 

• What is OFM (Optimized Fat Metabolism)

Is Age Just a Number??

I want to write more on this so moved this post over from my old blog that I wrote in 2017.  Being almost 8 year since I wrote this I will expand on this soon.  I have done a lot of other races and for sure riding more since this time so have more to expand on as well as with my Fat Adaption journey.

Wrote in August of 2017:

You hear it all the time, often accompanied by an inspiring video or story of someone in their later years doing some, often, athletic feat with the proclamation that “Age is Just a Number.”  After we agree that what was viewed, or written, was indeed inspiring we need to ask if age is really just a number.

Well if you are speaking of tipping the stereotype cart that tends to go with age then age is for a sure

just a number as many put restrictions on assumptions based on stereotypes.  While there are many today that seem to defy the norm when it comes to aging the vast majority buy into the “your too old to do that” mantra and often should not.  However that said, those of us who are getting older can attests, if we are honest, age in deed is a number and has its affects.   Maybe not as the world depicts but there are changes that mean we cannot do as we once did.

A little about me for those that do not know me:  I have been running, with a stint racing bicycles competitively for about 10 years, since I first ran in High School in 1973 after not making the tennis team.  After high school I ran for the University of Arizona for 3 years as a walk on, or is that run on, but as we had a very strong team even though I ran 5k’s in around 15:00 I was still probably the slowest guy there.  I had some good workouts but probably left my best times and efforts in those training sessions.  During that time I also ran some marathons with my best being 2:30:52 when I was 19 in 78’ and pretty much stayed at the 2:30 range for a number of years.  I share these times because as we age and look back often our times from days gone by it can be an issue if we do not keep things in context.

Let me add here if you are one that started running later in life you will have avoided this possible road-block and that is a good thing.  You will also not deal with some of the trials of seeing yourself slow down as being new to sport later in life you will still progress but age even for you will come into play at some point.  For me I do not see this as negative but as a challenge to meet and deal with.
Running, as much as I enjoyed and did well at cycling, is just one of the things I enjoy and want to do as long as possible and to do that I need to make sure I heed many of the things I will mention in the rest of this post.  If one does not live in reality, reality will often jump up and bite you to get you to notice it.  I also want to add that I have to admit to people they need to do as I say not as I often do because I still struggle with many of the topics covered and often fail to follow through with what I know needs to be done.

What I want to do in the rest of this post is to look briefly at a number of areas where I, being 58, have seen the affects of age on myself, and others: Training, Mobility, Racing, Shoes and Diet

Training
First lets look at training as that is often where issues crop up as one has to adjust intensity, quantity and expectations among other factors when it comes to how we prepare for whatever ones goals are.  If you are new to running some of the trials of adjusting to age are not as apparent as you start with a somewhat clean slate but still have to be aware of your physical limitations presented by age.  Having run for many years I have had to realize I needed to lower miles and slow down on slow days – including having more slow days – so as to recover.  If I in training for a particular race need higher miles I look at weeks in chunks so that I up my mileage and then back off in a wise manner.  I often look at my mileage and see 40-50 miles and it just seems low when I think back to my days of 100+ but in truth back then I ran 7 days a week and now run 4-5 so in some ways the mileage is closer when looking at daily mileage but I just have more rest days.

Speaking of rest days, they become even more critical because as you age you do take longer to recuperate after a long and/or hard run.  Runs that are to be restful need to be slowed down and I have found using my heart-rate as my guide for slower runs is the best decision I have made.  While not really new, as it is based on the principles of Arthur Lydiard, I use the MAF (Maximum Aerobic Function) formula of 180-age with some additions, and subtractions for some, as a baseline.  This helps make sure that my easy runs are just that, easy, and also my easy weeks are easy.  I work to train in cycles so that I will have months of MAF runs alone with other months using MAF for the easy days only.  I have found that this has helped greatly to allow me to be fresher and have less injuries.  Now injuries are not negated as one can still run too many miles even when running slowly, and I have done this, so running slower does not negate a need to know your body and see your
limitations, yes we do have those.

Bottom line here is there are many ways to train but I have found that making MAF the central philosophy of my training has worked the best and was integral to working to be fat adapted, more on this under diet.  The main point with training as you get older is to make sure when you rest you rest and that mileage, or time on your feet, is watched closely and monitored with how you feel and how your body reacts.  When you are younger often you can get by if you over do it but as you get older that is not as possible.

Mobility
This should actually be included in training but recently I have noted more issues that stem from a reduction in mobility.  For me the mobility issues are in my ankles and hips but for you it may be other areas.  As we age our mobility decreases and while being active may slow the reduction of mobility it does happen unless we are proactive.  There any number of mobility exercises you can find on YouTube so just search and find what works.

I like to run trails, when I can, and often I hear people say they need more mobility in their ankles so as not to twist them on trails.  For me, while I do work on my ankles, I have found the best mobility exercise for my ankles is to run trails.  As we age we need to be honest that extra exercises need to be done even if you have to sacrifice some time running since maintaining mobility may in the long run allow you to run more and maybe even farther.

Racing
This is a hard one for me because even though racing can be stressful due to me being very competitive I still enjoy it.  Also, as you age if you are competitive you may find age group racing
being an increased draw that can lead you to race too often.   With so many 5k’s available to run often that is the choice of many and one of the nice things about a 5k is that you can indeed run one most weekends.  That said just because you can do something does not make it wise to do so.   For me I race about once a month and use that race as a speed day so that I am not overdoing speed work.  When it comes to Ultra’s, which I have started running, I have run 3 ultras in 60 days and that is the maximum I can do but even when I did the 3 runs the first one was a workout time-trial to ready for my first 50 miler so I only really “raced” two of them.  As with training you have to be aware of your body and this applies to racing as well.  My advice is that as you get older be careful and make sure the racing you do fits into a larger picture.  If you do races as a way to meet with other runners then make sure you run easy for some races so that even running every weekend is then not an issues since some races actually end up being simply training runs, albeit ones you pay to do.

Shoes
First I want to say that I realize some people may have particular issues that require extra support or some other feature that comes in many shoes.  However, often these added “improvements” in shoes instead of helping your feet prop up issues and in the end weaken ones feet and make them reliant on your shoes instead of the shoes simply being there to allow your feet do what they were designed to do.  As I stated often all the new features added to many shoes can work to possibly weaken ones feet to a point of increasing the chance of injury.  When looking at shoes make sure you differentiate between buying due to hype and actually needing what is hyped.

An alternative is to work to strengthen ones feet by exercises, just check out YouTube, and even moving to more minimal shoes.  To do this while not moving to minimal shoes solely you might begin by using minimal shoes on a minimal basis but even that can work to strengthen your feet.  Now the warning on using minimal shoes, as you get older many things you do can have negative affects if done too much too quickly and moving to a more minimal shoe is one of those things.  Thus if you want to look at using minimal shoes later in life use wisdom and move forward slowly.

To be upfront I am a Carson Footwear ambassador but I share the following to illustrate what I have been saying.  Over the last 6 months I have begun running in Carson’s which while not as minimal as some “minimal” shoes they are still a minimalistic design.  I have gotten to where I could go up to 19 miles in the shoes but in doing that I may have gotten there too fast.  Not so much due to the Zero Drop as I have been in no-drop shoes for a few years but in moving to more minimal support I may have gone there too quickly and in doing so have had some issues that has moved me to be more aware during this transition time.  I am still working to make minimal shoes my go to shoes but need to allow more time and as mentioned previously have added mobility exercises to help in this move.  As an example I still run long trail and road runs in my Carson’s but then also do some other runs in other shoes so that my feet get a rest as they transition.  If I was younger I think the transition would have been OK but at the age I am I should have gone at it more slowly.

I would suggest at a minimum, even if you have no desire to run in minimal shoes, that you work to strengthen your feet as in the long run, pun intended, it will benefit you.  As your feet strengthen so will your legs and the rest of your body.  This is critical especially as you age and can only be a good thing.   Just as having a strong core is critical to other areas so having strong feet as your base affects all else in the system.  Also, as I said I am a Carson Footwear Ambassador, if you want to try a pair of Carson shoes you can get 10% of using this code: Run2017tonyk.

Diet
This is one that I had not really looked at till recently.  Over the years since I took up riding then went back to running I slowly gained some weight.  Now part of that gain was when I moved to racing bikes as I built more muscle.  The rest of the weight that came on as I went back to running and at times not running much came slowly and in doing so was not noticeable till I realized I was up in the 230lb range from the 175lb I was at when I was racing bikes at 30 or so.  The weight came on slowly and in some ways not all that noticeable.  That is till I started running more seriously again and noticed the weight and the extra tire I was carrying around the waist.  Initially with more running and working on our farm I did lose some weight and got down to the 200 range but could not get under 200.  I ate well and worked to reduce garbage food but sort of stagnated at 200.

Upon investigating what to do and also looking to see what might best help my running I looked more into the MAF approach I spoke of earlier and in doing so came across talk of Low-Carb High-Fat (LCHF) and fat adaptation.  While I had heard of being fat adapted and high fat diets from back in the 80’s the information was not as easy to find as it is now.  My recent investigations led to trying Phil Maffetone’s Two Week Test which while used for discovering any carbohydrate intolerances is also a gateway to work on reducing carbs.  After looking into things more I decided to give a LCHF diet, diet is probably not the best word, a go and see how it went.

What I found for me is I fairly quickly went down to 175 while still running in the 30-50 mile per week range and also noticed becoming more fat adapted so that on runs of 2-3 hours I could actually do them without extra food.  Now what is Low Carb for me?  For many Low Carb is limiting carbs to 50grams/day or under however for me after a number of trials and seeing what worked best with my health, work and life I found that I did best at 100-150 grams per day.

One other very important thing I have found was that reducing carbohydrates not only helped with weight it also helped in reducing inflammation and recovery was much quicker.  Was I still sore the next day after a long run or a hard workout, yes.  But nowhere near the extent I was before changing my eating habits and the amount of time to getting back to normal was greatly shortened.

The point here is that how and what one eats is important in all of life but as we age it can become even more important.  If you want the best place to start with diet, diet here referring to how you eat, aim to hold to JERF – Just Eat Real Food – if you have not already.  From there I can tell you it is well worth your time to try a LCHF diet.  You may find you need to tweak things but you will never find out till you try and please give it time.  Take it from me many any years of consuming carbs does not make it easy to change but it is worth it, well it was for me.

Conclusion
I did not write this post to be a bummer by saying age is a real thing.  I wrote this post to make sure we take a realistic look at aging and running.  It is when one takes a realistic approach that one will make strides, pun again intended,  in not only improving in your running but working to stay healthy so you can run for years to come.

If you are starting running late in life or you never ran seriously in your youth you may have PR’s to look forward to.  If you have been doing this for years after you readjust your perspective you to can look forward to PR’s relative to your age.  If running faster is not your goal, no problem,  then having a healthy view of aging and being aware that your body does indeed change over time will allow you to run much longer.

With the correct mindset and goals you can indeed defeat the aging serotypes while at the same being realistic to know you are not what you once were.