Transcript
Speaker: Daniel, thank you so much, man. Welcome to the runner's podium. I'm David Bayliss, and today we are joined by Daniel Rentschis, a vegan-powered athlete, many-time Ironman finisher, endurance runner, coach, and our fearless founder of Team VPA, our leader. Daniel, it's great to have you on. Thanks, Rich.
Speaker: Thanks for letting me join, man. Sorry about that. I thought I turned it off. Not a problem, dude. This is, it's a fast paced format where runners and endurance athletes, we work through top three categories and let's jump right in.
Speaker: All right. I'll try my best. I'm not good at quick answers, but we'll see what happens. What is your top three most memorable running moments? the first one that comes to mind is my first 50 miler, solo, self-supported. i had a friend that met me at a couple road crossings, but I did on the Pacific Crest Trail here and down in San Diego. I was supposed to do, it was supposed to be my first 50 miler at Catalina Island 50 mile. It was 2020 COVID, right when COVID hit.
Speaker: right when covid hit First event that was canceled. And so I was like, well, I'm trained for it. So I might as well go out and do my own. That's amazing. That was pretty memorable because that was really the first time that I ever spent really, you know, that much time alone out in nature, just like miles and miles and miles away from any civilization or people.
Speaker: So it was pretty incredible. Yeah. So that was probably definitely probably my top one. what What would be a a couple others? Probably more recently, well, maybe a couple years ago, i did Trans Elkirks. i don't know if you've heard of that event. It's up in British Columbia. It's a three-day, one of those three-day trail running events.
Speaker: I think it's part of... Trans Rockies company now. It's in Revelstoke, British Columbia. Oh, wow. I snowboarded there. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Just incredible. Just amazing views.
Speaker: I mean, the event itself was harder than hell, but is you basically just climb up the mountain every day. But once you get up there, just the views were just incredible.
Speaker: Yeah. So that was probably really memorable just for the, just for the sheer aspect of how hard it was every day. And then just the beauty of being in nature and then being a part of, I think that was probably my that was,
Speaker: My first like three day event where it's like, you know, you see the same people every day and you start building some camaraderie and you start going out with certain people and then, you know, they dinner every night. And so you hang out with, um you know, people and it was really great. So that was probably another really memorable one.
Speaker: That sounds awesome. I mean, I would imagine at the end of some Ironmans, you had some good running moments. Yeah, I was just going to say, probably the most memorable run for an Ironman. was actually only a 70.3, but I've completely broke down at the end of the finish line, just bawling my eyes out.
Speaker: It was... it was It was like my first event after a pretty major injury. Yeah. It was up in Coeur d'Alene, the 70.3 Coeur d'Alene Ironman. And my entire family went to it. And, you know, we rented this cabin out in the middle of the woods. and So to have the entire family there, you know, and and part of that is this whole endurance. i got into endurance events after...
Speaker: My mother passed away from a massive heart attack, which also got me into the vegan movement. And so having the entire family there, it's kind of like created this, you know, bonding that we have. And, you know, for the first couple of years, they would go to all of my events and coming back from injury. And then it just took so much to get back from that injury. i't even remember what the injury was, but it took so much. Oh, I tore my plantar fascia.
Speaker: Oh my God. Completely tore it. Like it popped when I was doing some strength training and oh my God, that was the most painful thing in the world. But, um, so coming back that was just really challenging. And then I had to dig pretty deep in that race. I mean, I say it was only a half marathon. i mean, that's still, you know, half marathon is still an amazing accomplishment for so many people. Sure. But I just like was in tears at the end, just like filled with emotion.
Speaker: So that was, yeah, that's probably one my most memorable. like That sounds heavy. Let's move on. What about your top three running shoes? What's your rotation like? I'm a big ultra fan.
Speaker: i've I've tried other shoes over the years and every once in a while I'll be like, oh, I need to, let me, you know I'll see something and I'm like, oh, maybe I should try that out. i always regret it. just tear my feet up or something happens. I have a wider toe box. So ultras have always been great for me.
Speaker: Um, I feel like we went through this phase where they got kind of narrow, but they seem to be back to pretty good again. So I use the though I do like the, the, the zero drop when they came out with the, what do they call it? The experience or the,
Speaker: the one that they had like a 0.4% drop or something. Okay. I've kind of like, I started using those and pretty much are all in my rotation. Now they have a couple different styles of that. So I usually have any of those. i have two different, I think I have two different types of those trail shoes and then two different types of ah road shoes.
Speaker: I think the trail ones are called wild nice wild something. Yeah. So Ultra all the way for you. I do like the Montreblanc trail shoe from Ultra. That is zero drop.
Speaker: Okay. That's probably one of the better ones I've ever experienced. But yeah, for a long time there, I struggled with... I love the Ultra running shoes, but I struggled with... Their trail shoes just never like worked out for me.
Speaker: And then um when they came out with the Experience one or the Wild, um I tried those and those were great. And ever since then, every you know new set that comes out seems to be great. Right on. And then the Monchon, I tried that a couple of years ago and that was amazing as well. no super shoes for Daniel. No, I mean, i did. Ultra does have a carbon shoe. They they do? oh they do With like a a lot of cushion. It is more cushioning. Yeah. I did try it one year at Lake Placid Ironman was the first time I used it.
Speaker: And just like my, I bought the wrong size. I didn't size up. I should have sized up on them. They're a little more narrow and I didn't size up. So my toes were just like black after it was so painful. So it was like, there was like a one and done, but then, yeah, last year they had, they came out with the second model.
Speaker: was ah So the first model was on clearance. I was like, oh, maybe I'll try them again. and i And I tried them again. This time I sized up and actually they are pretty good, but I ah i only use them for like if I do like a race, like an Ironman racer.
Speaker: yeah And then they do have carbon in trail as well, which is the Mont Treblanc or what's it called? They have that in a regular or with the carbon. So yeah. And i I do have both, um but I'm not really a fan of the carbon one. I don't really tell the difference with the carbon one on the trails. So I just go back to the regular. Gotcha.
Speaker: What about top three favorite races? Running wise, trail wise, I think Mendocino 50K. Spectacular course. That would beautiful. It's just, you know, you start along the coast. Yeah.
Speaker: and next to this little like river inlet, and you go up into the Redwoods. It's just it's amazing. And you know the trail is soft because of all the pine needles. and it's just like And you loop around. It's just one-loop course. And you loop around, you come back to the coast. And you actually have to propel down from the the bridge overpassing.
Speaker: you have to actually propel down, back down to the to the beach. And then you finish off like the last mile along the beach and then run back. It's just amazing.
Speaker: Yeah. Nice. Plus, it's like the host hotel is all plant-based. Like the restaurant there is all plant-based and they it's a big vegan, you know known hotel, I guess. so They know what's up in Mendocino. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker: So that's a great one. Black Canyon, 100K. I've done that the last two years. Where's that? Arizona. So it's right above Phoenix. So it's the same company that does Cocodona.
Speaker: Oh, okay. okay and it's along the same trail but black canyon start and i don't think it starts in black kenyan city it starts to right above black kenyon city and then you run through black kenyon city but it goes the opposite direction so it goes down towards phoenix so it's actually a net downhill run But like the first like 30 miles are downhill. And then like the last 30 miles is like grueling because all the climbing is at the end. So it's like you kill yourself on the first half and then you got to like suffer through like trying to finish. Yeah, being in the desert and a big humongous Segoias and it's just like, oh, it's just incredible.
Speaker: And the night views are just amazing. Yeah. This last year during the night, they did a space action launch, you know, which is actually in California. And I i didn't even like, I'm running along and there was somebody in front of me and they're like, oh my God, did you look up?
Speaker: And I look up and like, you just like, because the sky there is just so dark and just all this all the stars. And then just this SpaceX thing going across the sky, you're just like, oh my God, it's just incredible. Wow. Wow.
Speaker: That's amazing. Yeah. So that's a good one. That's a fun race, but yeah, challenging at the end for sure. Yeah. Probably more of a sentimental race that I try to do every year is the San Diego half marathon. And that was my, cause that was my, well, it was my first one, first half marathon I ever did at the age of 40. Um, and it was ah year,
Speaker: fell on this a year after my mom's passing on the same weekend. it was kind of like I did this whole buildup and I raised funds for and the Heart Association and the whole family was there again. And so think it's more sentimental, but I try to do that every year because it's always around that kind of anniversary of my mother's passing. And so that's a great.
Speaker: Wow. That sounds special. um All right. So changing gears. What about top three pieces of essential gear? i would say socks at this point. And it was never, i had never had issues with socks before, but this last Black Canyon, I did get a huge blister for the first time and that was miserable.
Speaker: So I've recently started running with toe socks. Yeah. which I always thought there's no way because I don't like, i don't even like flip-flops because i don't like anything in between my toes.
Speaker: So I always thought toe socks would just not be for me, but they don't bother me at all. And I've like, I haven't had any kind of issues with like rubbing or blisters or anything on my toes anymore.
Speaker: I've been thinking about it. Do you have a brand or anything that you like? It just keeps coming on my radar, people talking about toe socks. What about any other pieces of gear? mine I think the other biggest thing is a sun hoodie, like a long sleeve sun hoodie.
Speaker: i i wrote I do all my long runs in a sun hoodie. And as you know, we've had the last couple of years for Team BPA, we've had sun hoodie through gear partner, Voller.
Speaker: I have one. Oh, do you? Yeah. It's an amazing piece. It's like so versatile. Yeah. I mean, you could wear, you don't have to wear it running and you wear it out. Yeah. I wear it a lot of times when I'm out spectating. yeah But all my long runs, I wear it.
Speaker: you know And all my races, I wear it. So it's like nice I never have to change it. i just like it's just It's cooling when it needs to be cooling, and it'll keep me a little warmer in the morning when it's a little chilly. So I love that thing.
Speaker: So yeah, sun hoodie for sure. Sharks for sure. Shoes. Those are the big ones. I mean, a hat. I always run with a hat. Yeah, we're both rocking our VPA hats.
Speaker: What about favorite places to run? I mean, my favorite, any kind of unpopulated trails are definitely my favorite, but mountains, kind of mountainy areas. like So like locally, we have what's called Mount Laguna. It's about 40 minutes away from here, but it's I think it's at like 5,000 feet elevation. So I can also get some altitude training in, but it's...
Speaker: It's just amazing, just spectacular. And I always, every time I go there, I just remember, like, I always forget that it's, like, so close. And it's, like, it reminds me of so much of, like, being out in, like, Colorado or some other kind of, like, mountainy towns. But, yeah.
Speaker: Cool. Yeah. And again, mountainy trails, I love. i was recently also, i went to Utah last month just to do some kind of some training. Wasatch Mountains were just spectacular. Utah's so beautiful. Love that.
Speaker: Leadville, loved Leadville. I went out there a couple years ago to pace one of our teammates for the Leadville 100 and fell in love with it. So that's why this year I'm Yeah, was wondering if you were going to say that for one your top races. I wasn't sure you've raced it or just like supporting that. Yeah, I haven't raced yet, so we'll if it is one of my top or not. I mean, I fell in love with Leadville and the mountains there, and yeah, I went there just to support and to pace, and then, yeah, fell in love with it. I tried to get into it last year, wasn't able to get into it, then got into it this year, so...
Speaker: Actually, sure going out in two weeks, I'll be out there for the run camp they have. Nice. little bell So you basically cover the entire amazing course in three days.
Speaker: Do you have any ah running pet peeves, top three pet peeves, anything that frustrates you about running? I mean, personally, i guess what's frustrating is that I have a love-hate relationship with running. You know, when it when it feels great, you love it. When it when it doesn't feel great, you're like...
Speaker: What is wrong? this is miserable. Yeah. and You know, if you're thinking like when you're out on the trails or on races and stuff like that, people that have no sense of like what's going on around them is frustrating at times. You pay attention to what's going on. Lack of spatial awareness. Or people that are wearing had headphones and listening to music. And like, it's like I'm in nature for a reason and I don't wear headphones and music. And I mean,
Speaker: I'm not knocking you if you do. It's, you know, but it's just not my thing. And it just like drives me crazy that you'd go out in nature then, you know, to like soak it up and then put your, you're like glued into like something else in your ears. And you're not really supposed to in ultra races wear headphones, is right? Do people wear them in in races? I've seen it in ultra racing. I know in Ironman it's against the rules. Definitely. i Yeah. I don't think it is in ultras. I thought was sort of frowned upon just because like people are,
Speaker: It's like less safe when, you know, on a trail. people Also, yeah. where That's also another reason why I don't use them is because I want to, I want to be able to hear what's going on around me. Like if there is somebody else coming up or a mountain biker coming towards me or, um, you kind of need to hear those things and.
Speaker: Yeah. Or, you know, sometimes on these remote trails, I mean, I live in cat country, so, boy you know, we got cats that, we big cats that we have to worry about. So I want to be able to hear if there's something like, you know, maybe I don't want to hear if it's coming after me. i don't know.
Speaker: I'm not sure which one. Yeah. And what about your top three recovery tools? Food is obviously part of that. Yeah. I mean, plant-based diet, obviously, as you know, it's great for recovery. It's, you know, non-inflammatory.
Speaker: i mean, i can't vouch that I feel any better. on a plant-based diet because i didn't do endurance events prior to going plant-based. It all kind of came about at the same time due to health reasons. so But that's obviously the science is out there. It's proven that it helps with recovery. I think sleep, I prioritize sleep a lot. One of the things to help with a good sleep that I do pretty much every night, I have a full body heating pad, like mat, that has like a low level of PEMF in it and it has like crystals and rocks and stuff in it.
Speaker: So I lay on that prior to bed and it sounds counterintuitive because to fall asleep you need to lower your core body temperature but it's been proven that if if you raise your body temperature, it's like 60 to 90 minutes before sleep.
Speaker: It actually increases the speed that your body lowers your body temperature. That's so interesting you say that because I like taking, i take like hot Epsom salt baths before bed and it feels like I get something that innately feels good about sort of sweating and getting hot and then cooling off bed.
Speaker: So you're raising your body temperature, here but then that initiates the process that your body you know, automatically starts to cool or tries to cool down.
Speaker: So it like, you know fall asleep. What you're using sounds cool. It's like almost like a little home infrared sauna type thing. Yeah. I love it. Dogs love it too. They always like fight over spaces. Like they crowd me out on it sometimes. It's like, okay.
Speaker: Dogs love it. Well, man, thank you so much for doing this. Wasn't as bad as I thought. It's fun and educational. Good. But yeah, thank you, Daniel. Everyone out there, you can find Daniel at his Vegan Powered Athlete on the socials and through Team VPA and spreading the good word about everything that's going on and that he's doing and the team is doing.
Speaker: Please check it out. Thanks, man. Appreciate the shout out. Definitely.
