Human Performance Outliers Podcast with Zach Bitter Episode 457: David Roche | King of the Carbs
Sep 25, 2025
David Roche, an elite ultramarathon athlete and coach, shares insights from his recent Leadville 100 performance, where he broke his own record. He discusses innovative high-carbohydrate fueling strategies and how he increased his carb intake over time, improving his performance. David explains the nuances of carb consumption for different events and introduces effective gut training techniques. The conversation also touches on the importance of mindset in competition, encouraging athletes to foster positivity while pursuing their goals.
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Eat Big To Recover From Big Races
- After a long ultra expect elevated resting metabolic rate and purposely eat like you're doing daily long runs for a week to recover.
- David Roche increased post-Leadville calories and saw much faster recovery, especially on bike power.
Carbs Need High Effort To Help
- High carbohydrate intake only helps when effort and output are high; lower effort makes huge carb rates ineffective.
- Roche observed extreme carb rates mostly in cycling/Ironman where power stays very high, not typical ultra running.
Start Fueling Around 75 g/hr
- Start with ~75 g/hr as the practical entry point for race fueling and avoid high carbs on easy training days.
- Progress to 90+ g/hr only with high output and deliberate gut training, says David Roche.