For most of the last 18 years Vince has been running to fulfill fitness requirements as a member of the military Guard and Reserves. He became interested in Ultrarunning two years ago when the timing and calculations company he worked with was contracted by Karl Meltzer to time the second annual SpeedGoat 50K footrace at Snowbird, UT.
Up to that point, he had assumed that distance running was running a marathon with 10,000+ of your closest friends on dirty city streets; which held no interest to him whatsoever! He had run in the "Ragnar" relay series, but never in any individual events. However, watching the SpeedGoat unfold that day, and chatting with Karl throughout the race sparked an intense interest in participating in "a nice walk in the mountains".
Vince started training by running every day a little further than the day before. After a few months, he was running 6-12 miles a day, with a run up to 17 miles on a Saturday... but at that mileage he was "bonking".
He started researching supplements and tried several options but settled on Hammer Nutrition. Their Endurolytes electrolyte replacement pills, and Perpetuem glycogen supplement combination made it possible to extend a Saturday run into the mid-twenties, and NOT BONK! Vince consumes two MonaVie® Active Gels after each workout. Made up of a blend of fruits with plant-derived glucosamine, it gives an energy boost and aids in the recovery and healing of sore joints.
He felt confident that he was ready to try a 50K race. His first attempt at the SpeedGoat was cut short at mile 11 because of a knee injury from all the hammering running downhill and an injury caused by sliding down a hill on Dutch Flat. Limping four miles back to the Peruvian lift at Snowbird, he officially attained the status "did not finish".
It was at this point that he was training at Lifetime Fitness, and heard Troy Robertson was looking for a pacer for the Wasatch 100. He paced him from Millcreek Canyon to Brighton Ski Resort which was about 15 miles. Vince learned a LOT about running and listening to the body's feedback during the race, maintaining a low-but-consistent pace, and general attitude.
Taking that knowledge and applying it, he ran his next 50K in Goblin Valley, about 33 miles, and finished in the middle of the pack, despite tearing a calf muscle at about mile 22, he still felt great finishing.
In his own words, "There's nothing like the feeling of going past the traditional limits of our species, and proving that neither age nor traditional perceptions can limit your personal performance. I don't ever envision a time when I won't be running... even at 80, I expect to be participating in ultramarathons. Because it both challenges and rewards me, I believe it makes me a better person, father, husband, employee, etc. I continue to question my personal limits, disregard society's preconceptions about "normal" and push for the exceptional in my pursuits."
As Alfred Einstein stated: "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift." I push myself, and encourage others to honor the gift, and ignore the servant when exploring personal limits.
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