David Roche Breaks Fueling & Running Records
I can’t confirm for certain that David broke a fueling record amongst ultramarathon runners at the Leadville 100 Mile, where he reportedly averaged 120-130 grams of carbohydrate per hour. I can confirm he broke Matt Carpenter's long standing record. One of the reasons I wanted to speak with David on my podcast was to discuss his fueling strategy, his pacing strategy, and his training strategy. Partly because all three of them differ from the approaches, to at least some degree, I find work best for me. Now, I do have coaching clients who have proven to respond to an approach more closely mimicking David’s, so I went into our chat with the mindset that individual variability for 100 mile events can be quite wide ranging.
If you want to check out the podcast episode, or specific topics we covered, I placed some resources at the bottom, including timestamps to the various topics.
One of the questions I got from listeners that I want to touch on in more detail for this post was…
“Why such a huge range between you and David when it comes to race day fueling numbers”
I love this question. For those who haven’t listened, the gap between David’s and my fueling targets are quite large. My best race to date was running 100 miles on a track in 11 hours 19 minutes 13 seconds (6:47.5/mi). For that race, I had a fueling average of approximately 40 grams of carbohydrate per hour. A third of what David took in at Leadville. I would be interested for David to get his fat oxidation rates tested across the intensity spectrum, as it would be fun to see where his carb:fat ratios actually sit at the intensity he raced at Leadville. If we go by averages, and assume accuracy around his race day intensity, it is likely he produced somewhere near 50/50 fat:carb metabolism. In theory, given his huge hourly workload to break the course record, it is possible he required those monster numbers on race day. Since I had mine tested, I knew going into my race that I would be closer to 80:20 fat:carb ratios at the intensity I planned to race.
The variance between our ratios isn’t because our race intensities differed dramatically. We likely had a similar work load per hour. The difference, in my opinion, falls on dietary patterns. Yes, you will improve fat oxidation by simply training, and yes you can also further manipulate it with exercise in an unfed state. You may be able to even slightly nudge it with the type of carbohydrate you consume. However, this all typically just gets you near the averages. There is nothing wrong with the averages when it comes to carb:fat ratios if it works for the individual. It just requires hitting the recommended fueling targets those produce. For someone who follows a lower carb diet like I do, you skew those numbers further towards fat metabolism. This isn’t necessarily a free exchange as there are tradeoffs that may be present by taking a nutritional strategy like mine. It is possible some amount of performance could be lost at the higher intensity efforts in training. The big question for an ultramarathon runner is how much does that matter, and is the tradeoff a net positive or negative to their race day performance, or health for that matter.
This is how I always look at this topic when working with people on their ultramarathon fueling strategy. Is the potential tradeoff worth it? I find it best to first start with where they are at. What have they already tried? This can save us time as we likely don’t need to go back and retry things that have failed them consistently in the past. Once we know this, we ask if there is any reason to believe some different strategies can be used to help solve their issues without employing a major dietary shift. From there, we can determine if it is worth trying some different strategies like different products, frequency and volume of nutrition, gut training, improved hydration strategies, etc… Once we explore all of that, if problems are still present we can explore a low carbohydrate strategy in their daily nutrition in an effort to skew their fat oxidation rates to the extent mine have shifted.
This strategy has been around long enough that I do have clients who begin working with me that are already years into a low carbohydrate dietary strategy. For them, we can still explore how well it has been working and possibly make some adjustments. Assuming it has been working better than their previous moderate to high carb approach, any adjustments are usually around timing and best practice for them on race day. It is also often around viewing their training through the lens of differing volumes and intensities. There is a lot of variance in any endurance training plan that can range from rest days, long runs, and speed work. This wide spectrum of energy demands can make it difficult to just plug and play a specific carb target, so coming up with a strategy that minimizes some of the potential trade offs they may experience in the higher intensity sessions is worth exploring. Starting points as simple as relatively more carbs around speed work and less around rest days. For those interested in how I personally structure that for myself, here is a series of episodes where I unpacked the varying training targets and fueling around them.
Topics / Chapters:
00:07:18 - The Value of Doing Hard Things
00:14:03 - Strength and Training Approach in Ultra Running
00:20:54 - The Importance of Aerobic Threshold Training
00:27:37 - The Power of Running as a Sport
00:34:26 - Improvements in Efficiency and Performance
00:41:22 - The Importance of Openness and Curiosity in Ultra Running
00:48:21 - Fueling Strategies in Cycling
00:55:13 - Different Approaches to Nutrition in Ultrarunning
01:02:12 - Exploring Caffeine Usage in Races
01:08:57 - The Uncertainty of Exogenous Ketones
01:15:42 - Pacing Strategy and Prediction Accuracy
01:22:50 - The Strategy of Finishing Strong
01:29:44 - A Hot Start at the Canyon 100k
01:36:46 - The Boundaries are Being Pushed
If you are interested in some additional support, I am currently onboarding for my group coaching package. It is designed for all abilities, and race targets that will help you better understand the training and racing process. It includes: access to my complete catalog of training plans from 5km to 200+ miles, weekly group meetings to help adjust your plan and cover questions/topics, recordings of meetings, future guest speakers, and a private forum for all members. Details can be found here.
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