👋 Hey. Welcome to issue #119 of The Everyday Athlete Newsletter.
Here are my 3 favourite ideas, learns and resources to help you improve your performance this week (4 min read):
🏃 David Roche goes full wizard mode
The Leadville 100 is an iconic ultramarathon race.
Held in Colorado, one stage of the race has runners sucking oxygen at an elevation of over 3,800m.
In August this year, a bloke called David Roche lined up for—not only—his first ever Leadville 100, but also his first ever 100-mile race.
He’s a weapon in shorter trail races. But had little experience in the ultras.
Anyway, he broke the course record.
And like Cam McEvoy in Paris, did it with an unorthodox approach.
Before we get into…
Don’t discount, Roche has been running for 18 years. That’s the foundation. Brick a day, he calls it.
He also wore a new trail super shoe.
But an inexperienced ultra runner breaking the course record needed more than that...
While most ultra runners want to:
- 📉 Stay in zone 2 (cruisy 60-70% max heart rate)
- 🚶 Walk the hills
- 😮💨 And keep the last 5 miles in mind when running the first 5 miles
Roche wanted to:
- 💪 “Disrespect the distance”
- 📈 Push the intensity
- 🏃 And attack every 5 miles like a new one
His training reflected that—track sessions, hills, and strength on top of his aerobic work.
But the key was fueling.
See the harder we push, the more the body relies on glycogen as fuel.
So pushing it up over 100 miles, Roche needed to down carbs like a champ.
Recent science has found we can digest more carbs per hour than once thought. Perhaps 120 grams of carbs per hour (maybe more).
Though there’s not much research yet to suggest 120g makes us faster than 90g (even though we may be able to stomach 120).
But Roche is trailblazing. And based on his understanding and experience, thought getting into that range would fuel him to the course record.
But 120 grams of carbs per hour is no easy feat. The stomach isn’t accustomed to taking on that much sugar.
So Roche turned to the world of competitive eating.
He learned that the key to gobbling food insanely fast is fluid.
So Roche trained his gut to handle a heap of water and carbs at the same time.
He ended up pounding an average of 110 grams per hour of carbs during the 15-hour race.
And as you know, he won—breaking the course record by 16 minutes.
So should us weekend warriors be pushing our carb intake up to 120 and beyond for our multi-hour endurance events?
Despite the existing evidence, elite endurance athletes are voting yes. And they’re voting with their performances (like Roche and Mathieu van der Poel).
Whether you decide to jump on the carb-mania bandwagon for your next endurance event, training the gut is critical. Build it up in the weeks and months leading up to your event.
Or you might just sh*t yourself.
Precision's free race fuel planner is a great place to start.
If you like this stuff, this podcast with Roche is worth a go.
🧠 December momentum
December. We're starting to wind down from work. Christmas parties. Silly season. Best time of year.
Easy though for all the good habits we've built in 2024 to be derailed.
But just because we may not be able to stick to our usual completely optimised huberman meets bryan johnson bliss zen yogi supplement stacked biohacked contrast therapied activated charcoal adatogened essentially oiled schedule of health doesn’t mean we have to fall off the wagon completely.
It's so easy to say, I'll wait til next year.
But it just makes starting again in 4 weeks so much harder.
So instead, keep your momentum by resizing your inputs.
- 🏋️♂️ You know work drinks is gonna knock out your arvo gym session > 5-minute body weight session that morning
- 🧘 Can't get to yoga > Get in a deep squat for 2 minutes
- 🚶 30-minute morning walk > 5-minute walk
As James Clear would say, find the 2-minute version of your habit.
This stuff seems dumb and pointless. And—truthfully—you may not get much physical benefit from it. But the momentum is powerful for our mind.
It's not all or nothing. Don’t let the enemy of good be perfect.
Something is disproportionately better than nothing.
🛠️ 3 other things I'm into this week
- 🏃 16-year-old Aussie speedster Gout Gout hits the track today at the Aus School Champs. Chasing the national under-18 record of 10.27s in the 100m today and Usain Bolt’s best under-18 time in the 200m of 20.13s tomorrow. How good.
- 🌬️ Huge new asthma treatment breakthrough
- 🎨 I spent 10 hours on Sunday re-painting the Hexa Life roller doors (don't ask). So got through every podcast ever made. Some good ones: on functional health, on female health, on reversing Alzeihmer's
That's it!
Have a great weekend 🤙
Matt
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The Everyday Athlete Newsletter is not a licensed health service nor a substitute for professional health advice, treatment or assessment. The information shared in this email is general and written for a specific audience. If you’re struggling, please see a healthcare professional.
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