Athletes:
November 2011: Vince Anderson, Mountain Climbing
July 2011: Chris Kulp, Crossfit
May 2011: Andre Ward, Boxer
November 2011
Vince Anderson, Mountain Guide
Name: Vince Anderson
City / State: Grand Junction, CO
Age: 41
Profession: Mountain Climbing Guide
Height: 5' 10"
Weight: 165 lbs.
Sport: Mountaineering, Mountain Biking
I realize your very busy with your training schedule and running your own mountain climbing business…but give us your life history in 25 words:
Growing up in Golden, Colorado, I sought mountain adventures early through skiing and hiking. This drew me to bigger aspirations of climbing ever higher peaks, culminating with my success in climbing the Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat (26,660 ft) in 2005 with Steve House. Now, I've found a single speed mountain bike to be a suitable replacement and instrument of pain.
What sports did you enjoy before getting into endurance mountain biking racing and alpine climbing?
I grew up playing traditional sports like soccer, baseball and basketball, though, I excelled at long distance running and freestyle skiing.
What attracted you to competitive mountain bike racing and alpine climbing?
I'm a competitive person by nature and whatever I do, I tend to do it to the utmost that I am capable of. As climbing caught my interest in college, I found myself aspiring to climb worlds most difficult routes in the most difficult style. I started back into mountain biking (I used to do a that a lot in college) as a way to have more fun while training. As I enjoyed it as a sport in and of itself, like mountaineering, I was drawn to what I considered it's more difficult aspect: long distance racing on a single speed bike.
What does your normal workout consist of and how often do you workout?
I really don't have a "normal" workout. I use an annual, periodized training plan. With that, I have different types (lengths, intensities, activities, etc.) of workouts depending on the period of my annual cycle. Now that its winter, I'm working on my Base Period, mostly building up volume with lots of low-medium intensity mileage on a road bike. I train in the gym 2-3 times a week to maintain strength, force and to maintain joint stability. I also get in plenty of cross training due to the nature of my work: guiding technical climbs. A typical week for me, though entails 8-12 hours of dedicated training plus what I get from climbing in the field.
Tell us about the results you have experienced with ProAnox and would you recommend it to others?
I first used it during a seven-day mountain bike stage race in Breckenridge, Colorado. I ended up winning the Single Speed division and it was a close battle to the end. Each day involved 3-5 hours of ALL OUT effort on the bike. The real key to doing well in this event was being able to recover as much as possible from each day's extreme effort. It's one thing to go out and put your all into a single day's effort to get the best result possible. It's quite another to be able to do that repeatedly, especially six days in a row! He who recovered the best would win the race. It was that simple. Hard alpine climbing, though not so directly competitive, is quite similar with its demands on day to day recovery in order to succeed on a multi-day climb on a big mountain. This is one of the reasons that stage racing appealed to me, in particular.
I did many things to enhance my recovery during the race: massage, ice baths, proper nutrition, sleep, rest, etc. But I know that everyone else did that as, well. The one secret advantage I had (at least last year) was using Proanox. I was the only competitor on a steel framed bike and the oldest (41) single speeder to stand on the podium. I know for sure that my recovery strategy had a lot to do with my success in winning that race, which came down to the wire on day six. Proanox had a BIG part to do with my recovery strategy!
Is there any encouragement you can give others in your age group for getting fit?
For all the work you can do to get your body in shape and give it the proper nutrition, the strongest and most important muscle in your body is your mind! You must have the right attitude, demeanor and will in order to succeed at anything. Besides having a good attitude, I find that the biggest challenge I've yet encountered with aging is in recovery and maintenance: you MUST NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE VALUE OF REST! You must also, do more off season maintenance before "going for it" in the early season of your given sport or activity.