ZACH BITTER SETS NEW 100 MILE WR!!! 11:19:18- 6:47 PACE- Official Thread

Amazing, even more so for a quasi zero carbs athlete which Zach claims to be .

Because it is counter intuitive to me that one can exercise that long without carbs.

Ghost1 wrote:

Amazing, even more so for a quasi zero carbs athlete which Zach claims to be .

He uses carbs in races, but 1/2 to a 1/3 of what other ultra guys do. Also targeted carbs in training. Most of the time he is running in ketosis, which is an advantage in the longer events, since he using endogenous fat stores rather than exogenous carbs and their attendant digestion issues. It takes discipline and gumption to switch over from carb-heavy approach, but Zach has done it well, and will likely have a longer, healthier career as a result.

Disagree. Kouros ate a high carbohydrate diet in both training and racing and had a long career. Zach has struggled trying to run 24 hours.

I don't know anything about his diet.

What does he consume during races and long runs?

Even when you're write that he uses less proportion carbs than other runners, what does that mean?

carbs matter wrote:

Disagree. Kouros ate a high carbohydrate diet in both training and racing and had a long career. Zach has struggled trying to run 24 hours.

If you mean the Yiannis Kouros who ran 27 minutes slower over 100 miles and whose 12-hour record Zach also beat, yeah he is a unique phenomenon on the multi-day realm. We'll see where Zach takes things from here, he is still young in the game. He has run only Desert Solstice for the 24-hour attempts; I'm not sure if it's just a convenient slot for his training cycle and in his home town or whether he has more ambitious plans in that regard.

Kouros didn't give two ducks about no stinkin' 100-mile record. As he often stated, he believed true ultra running began after 48 hours.

Kouros looked strong and healthy, Bitter looks like he's dying of some infectious disease.

#nocarbsnofun

carbs matter wrote:

Disagree. Kouros ate a high carbohydrate diet in both training and racing and had a long career. Zach has struggled trying to run 24 hours.

Whatever works, it seems is working well for him. No athlete is born the same, so there's not a diet that fits all.

We should talk more on this guy engine and training regime than food intake. Pretty amazing achievement.

You mean the 12-hour record that Zach broke, that was actually a 12-hour split from a 24-hour race Kouros ran? Zach is a great runner and I wish him nothing but the best, but let's not pretend he is on Kouros level yet. Hope he nails a 24-hour race soon, we really need someone to at least get close to the record, for the good of the discipline.

Over a one year average his carb intake is around 10% overall, with occasional highs,of up to 30%, detailed preferences for Zach's carbs.

1. Sweet potatoes

2. Potatoes

3. Fruits (berries)

4. Raw honey.

His initial model was Tim Olsen, winner of Western States (2013/2014), who is also a high fat proponent.

Zach consumes around 6000 calories per day -not so high considering he is training and racing huge numbers in time/distance.

Not sure what Zach's pb's are for shorter distances. He ran track and c.c. in college, so it would be good to know.

Zach has a somewhat curious style, with his legs rotating with an unusual arc/torsion, which obviously would be a detriment to faster running speeds. He is no ultra running stylist like Walmsley, who runs ultras with the same technique as a 4 mins miler, which in fact Walmsley was.

Kudos to Z.B. for getting the most out of his potential, and his promotion of low carb diet which most people would benefit from.

I wonder if style matters, but at least Zach has put up numbers which indicate that Kouros’ times at 24 hours may be approachable someday.

He was my college teammate back in the day. Cool guy and it’s great to see what he has accomplished so far! Going off of memory he was usually 15:50ish/33:00/27:00 8k XC. I remember a track meet at Oshkosh in terrible weather. Zach was in the 1500. He didn’t even take his warm up pants off and dropped a 5:00+ 1500m. A week later he ran a faster pace for the 10k. He was running 70-80 miles a week in those days, but was definitely way better as the distance got longer. He ran 15:20’s right after college. He was also known for his legendary trays of food at the dinner center.

Below Average wrote:

He was my college teammate back in the day. Cool guy and it’s great to see what he has accomplished so far! Going off of memory he was usually 15:50ish/33:00/27:00 8k XC. I remember a track meet at Oshkosh in terrible weather. Zach was in the 1500. He didn’t even take his warm up pants off and dropped a 5:00+ 1500m. A week later he ran a faster pace for the 10k. He was running 70-80 miles a week in those days, but was definitely way better as the distance got longer. He ran 15:20’s right after college. He was also known for his legendary trays of food at the dinner center.

Which goes to show that one does not need exceptional credentials in 5k-marathon to become a world beater in ultras, but all due respect to zeebee (Zach Bitter) all the same.

In his youtube interviews he comes across as very knowledgeable and articulate. Modest also.

That’s insane! And on an indoor track! 50 second laps for 800 laps!

YMMV wrote:

carbs matter wrote: Disagree. Kouros ate a high carbohydrate diet in both training and racing and had a long career. Zach has struggled trying to run 24 hours.

If you mean the Yiannis Kouros who ran 27 minutes slower over 100 miles and whose 12-hour record Zach also beat, yeah he is a unique phenomenon on the multi-day realm. We'll see where Zach takes things from here, he is still young in the game. He has run only Desert Solstice for the 24-hour attempts; I'm not sure if it's just a convenient slot for his training cycle and in his home town or whether he has more ambitious plans in that regard.

Zach has had two actual 24 hour attempts, once in a one off event in 2014 in South Carolina (see link below), and this past year's Desert Solstice (it was the first DS he actually intended to run the full 24 hour). Both times he had issues at + / - 18 hours. It will be interesting to see how he fares at Spartathlon.

There is no indication that his performances suffer from his diet. Different diets work for different people, and I haven't any idea how people think they have the magic answer. Someone who has had marvelous success in 24 hour racing on a similar diet for training and racing is Bob Hearn, a 50+ age group runner who consistently runs ~150 miles for 24 hours, and has run well at Spartathlon.

Zach has made 5 serious attempts at 100 miles, all of which were basically time trials. Kouros to my knowledge raced one 100 mile race, and that was for place, not for time. Kouros result is slower than some splits he ran in longer races. He ran 30 min slower than Bitter, and continued for 24 hours. The 12 hr WR Bitter took a few years ago from Kouros, and just reset last night, was again, set as a split in a 24 hour race (without going into surface distinctions, Zach's race was for record purposes, a road).

hoka one one napali (discontinued) wrote: Zach Bitter just set the new world record (best?) for 100 miles at the 6 days at the Dome on an indoor track in Wisconsin! He ran 11:19:18, AKA 6:48 pace, for 100 miles. What do all you letsrunners think?

The original reported time measured the full lap, the actual 100 mile split, and new provisional WR is 11:19:13. It is for record purposes, a road, as the track complies neither with indoor nor outdoor standard track regulations.

Given the approach of the great ultrarunner Cavin Woodward in 1975 in his at-the-time WR of 11:38 for 100 miles, I think it reasonable for a mid 2 teen marathoner who has the talent and fortitude of Cavin, and training / pacing discipline of Zach, to get around 10:30 for 100 miles (without even resorting to the ever present - "what if a 2:05 guy ran it"). Whatever kind of talent there might be on the trails (say, Sage, whomever, else) it would take months of serious road and track running (and getting off some mountain trails) to toughen the legs. I'd of course love to see that as a race without a solo time trial, but either way Zach's run did a lot in bringing attention to the mark, and cemented his name in ultrarunning history. He now has 5 of the fastest 15 100 mile performances in history.

11:19:13.......2019_Six Days in the Dome Redux

11:40:55.......2015_Desert Solstice

11:47:21.......2013_Desert Solstice

12:08:xx.......2014_Six Days in the Dome (Alaska)

12:08:36.......2018_Tunnel Hill

YMMV wrote:

carbs matter wrote:

Disagree. Kouros ate a high carbohydrate diet in both training and racing and had a long career. Zach has struggled trying to run 24 hours.

If you mean the Yiannis Kouros who ran 27 minutes slower over 100 miles and whose 12-hour record Zach also beat, yeah he is a unique phenomenon on the multi-day realm. We'll see where Zach takes things from here, he is still young in the game. He has run only Desert Solstice for the 24-hour attempts; I'm not sure if it's just a convenient slot for his training cycle and in his home town or whether he has more ambitious plans in that regard.

The 27 minute slower Yiannis Kouros was on his way to run 452.270k or 281 miles in a 48 hour race. This was a split not a 100 mile race.

So Kouros continued another 181 miles after his 11:52 100 miler.