Vito Bialla at Badwater
The superman of all marathon men detailed 60 year-old Vito Bialla's amazing accomplishments with ultra-endurance races. How does the superman of all marathon men train for these events? According to Bialla, "You don't want to over-train, that's key. So what you do is go out and run but never look at your watch. And then you think ok I've been running for half an hour and then look at your watch. If you've been running 15 minutes or 20 minutes you are overtraining. If you go out and think you have been running 30 minutes but look at your watch and it's 50 minutes, oh man you are in great shape. That's the thermometer to me, none of this heart rate monitor crap. I'm sure they work for some people. Your body knows better than any machine. That's how I train.
I listen to my body and I tend to under-train more than anything else. I am probably 20% undertrained all the time. That's worked for me."
Bialla is a firm believer in the strength training method of CrossFit. "With CrossFit we are trying to turn ourselves back into the monkeys that we are. Monkeys learn how to escape when they are hunted by lions by climbing trees and pulling themselves up. They have different muscles that they use. That's what we are developing. It's high-intensity strength training and it uses free weights, pull-ups and pushups. It's amazing what kind of an effect it's had on me. I run without pain and run uphill faster than I ever have. You can hammer yourself doing hill repeats, but if you do CrossFit you'll run uphill faster than you would if you do hill repeats. Running breaks down your muscles, CrossFit builds them. To have strength in your muscles, especially when you get older and work on your core, that is really key."
Does Bialla have any particular advice on nutrition? "I am a firm believer in the red grape nutrition antioxidants called Cabernet Sauvignon. I drink wine every night and it helps your body flow, it processes your fat, it does incredible things."
For more incredible things, stay tuned for more on Bialla and the Night Train Swimmers June 27 attempt at a world record 157 mile relay swim.
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