Many thanks to Zach Bitter for allowing me to do this interview and sharing something about himselfwith us. Also, make sure to check out Zach's 100 Mile Treadmill WR attempt May 16th - you can access the live stream link and also have an opportunity to sign up to join Zach HERE - can also check out the link in the graphic after the interview.
Enjoy the interview
Tell us a little about yourself not necessarily related to running: age, where born, education, area you live in, etc…..
I am 34 years old. I was born in New Ulm Minnesota, but at the age of 1-year my family moved to Grand Island Nebraska. At age 8 my family moved to Wisconsin, where I went to high school and college. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. I studied History, Broadfield Social Studies with teaching certification. I also competed in three years of cross country and 2-years of indoor and outdoor track and field for Stevens Point. Upon graduating, I received my special education teaching license, before going on to teach a combination of middle and high school regular and special education classes. I stepped away from teaching in 2015 in order to focus more time and energy on training and racing, be more involved in the running/endurance community, and move out west. I spent 3-years in Sacramento, CA before getting married and moving to Phoenix in 2018 where my wife Nicole and I live today.
What do you do for work along with running?
Along with training and racing, I also coach endurance athletes of all abilities and distances. I co-host a podcast called Human Performance Outliers, and help with marketing initiatives with two of my main sponsors: SFuels and Altra Footwear.
How did you start running and what prompted you to do so?
I first recognized distance running as a sport in middle school when my PE class did the Presidential Physical Fitness Challenge. It was clear, that my strength was more in line with the one mile run than any of the power/explosive measures. That led me to focus more on the longer options on Track and Field Days in middle school and ultimately cross country and track and field in high school and college.
How long have you been running?
My first endurance race was in sixth grade, so 12 years old. I began to take it more seriously as a year-round endeavor the summer before my senior year in high school. I spent most of my college running really learning what it meant to peak for different distances, what certain workouts do best, and beginning to understand basic endurance methodology.Did you participate in any other sports over the years?
In grade and middle school, I played all sorts of sports. Mostly basketball, football, baseball, and soccer. I was a big fan of bike riding at an early age, although never in a competitive nature.
Did you run in grade school, High School or College? If so where?
- Grade School: St. John’s Lutheran Elementary
- High School: Manitowoc Lutheran High School
- College: University of Wisconsin Stevens Point
So we get an idea of where you have been with running can you share your PR’s for: 5K, 10K marathon and any other distance:
- 5K – 15:28
- 10K – 32:00
- Marathon – 2:31:29
- 50K – 3:03:10
- 50 Miles – 5:12:36
- 100K – 6:39:09
- 100 Miles – 11:19:13
What is your most memorable race or races and share a little about at least one of them?
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| 100 Mile WR |
My most memorable race was in August of 2019 at Six Days In The Dome, where I broke both the 100 mile and 12-Hour World Records. I did my first short loop ultra in 2013, where I broke the 100-mile American Record and 12-Hour World Record. After that event, I decided I wanted to structure a lot of my training around chasing the 100-mile world record. It took almost six years, but I was able to do it the Dome by taking nearly 10 minutes off the previous World Record.
Do you have a favorite workout you do?
My favorite system to train in would be lactic threshold. Typically, I will do them in long intervals of 10-12 minutes followed by a 2-3-minute recover jog, or in singe efforts between 15-30 minutes in duration.
What does a regular week of training look like?
It really depends on the time of year and where I am in a training schedule. I usually average between 5000-5500 miles per year, so right around 100 miles per week. I will peak for big races hitting upwards to 150 miles per week but am not afraid to shut it down completely for a week plus post goal race to get my body and mind motivated to train again. I will usually begin a training plan by spending a few weeks targeting aerobic threshold. From there I begin starting with workout that are least specific to race intensity, which for me is short VO2max intervals. I prefer 3 minutes on 3 minutes off. I continue to move closer to race intensity by building volume at lactic threshold. My final phase is spending as much volume as I can handle at goal race intensity. Since I am usually targeting 100 miles, this usually means a bit slower than aerobic threshold intensity.
How about a favorite route you like to run?
My go to routes are pretty boring and sometimes on a 400 meter track. I do not really mind this as I really enjoy removing a lot of the barriers and just run. With that said, there is a route just over an hour from my house that contains a 7.5-mile climb of about 5000 feet of gain, followed by 7.5 miles and 5000 feet of descent. When training for a trail race, I will sometimes hit this out and back twice for a total of 30-miles and 10,000 feet of climbing.
What is your favorite distance to run and race?
100 miles is my favorite. It brings in a very unique set of variables and although gaining in popularity still contains a lot of unknowns.
What shoes do you run in and what do you like about them?
I exclusively run in Altra Footwear. They have three unique features: a foot shaped toe box to help maintain proper toe splay and push off, balanced cushion which keeps the forefoot level with the heel, and they build two separate lasts (mold a shoe is built around) for each model to better accommodate a variety of foot shapes. I love the Escalante Racer for the roads and the Superior for the trails.
How long have you been fat adapted and what prompted you to start down what is not the most popular path?
I began in the Fall of 2011. I wasn’t thrilled with pounding tons of food during long events, so turning to a steadier supply of endogenous fat stores made sense to me for long events that I target. I also began having a hard time sleeping and maintaining steady energy levels while on a high carb diet, so I was curious to see what a HFLC approach had to offer. It worked great for me, so I have spent the past 8.5 years using fat as my primary fuel source.
How do you eat before a race?I go quite low carb for a few days the week leading into a race. A day or two before I will flex my carbs up a bit to around 20 percent of my intake. Race morning, I keep the carbs low.
During races do you use carbs and if so how do you decide when and how much to use?
Once the race starts, I will target roughly 40 grams of carbs per hour, which now is coming from SFuels Race +
I find that approximately 40 grams allows me to get through the full day with out having to deal with digestive issues. It seems to be enough to defend my liver and muscle glycogen to a high enough degree that I can run strong in the later stages of a race.
What led you to join up with SFuels?
Their philosophy matches perfectly with my nutritional approach. Knowing guys like Dr. Dan Plews and Dave Scott, who I have a lot of respect for, were onboard was helpful in trusting it was a solid company. Ultimately, I prefer working with brands who want to work with me in bigger ways than just supporting my training and racing. SFuels wants to work with me on developing great educational content, which fits nicely with my previous profession of teaching.
How do you see SFuels fitting into your fueling plans for training and racing?
I use SFuels Life Bars as a snack and pre-race or big workout. I will often make a low carb smoothie using their Life and Train product. On race day, and for big workouts, I use Race+. For target races I will aim for two packs per hour.
It is my understanding that you will be doing videos on the SFuels Live site – what will they consist of?
Yes, I will be helping with the SFuels Live videos housed on their YouTube channel: SFuels Live. I will be talking about my training approach and fueling/nutrition strategy throughout the year.
Do you have any long-range plans?
I plan on continuing to target ultra-distance races with a primary focus on 100 miles. In the coming years I want to put in a solid push for a world class 24-hour event. Off the race course, I will be doing a run from San Francisco to NYC next year in efforts to raise awareness for a charity called, Fight For The Forgotten.
With all the craziness in the world and the cancelation of races when do you expect to be able to race again, realizing none of know what will happen down the road?
That is the million-dollar question in the running world. My guess is smaller events will open in the second half of the year, but it is probably unlikely big international events will pop up again in 2020.
With the cancelation of races how has it changed your training?
Not as much as one would maybe expect. Basically, I have spent more time in maintenance and less peaking, tapering, and recovering from races. It has been fun to really dial in a long training block. I had a race heavy year in 2019, so it isn’t all bad to step off the course a bit this year.
How have you been training for the 100-mile treadmill record?
I have been doing the same things as I normally do for the most part but have spent more volume on the treadmill than normal.
Do you find running on the treadmill harder, easier or no different?
It is different for sure. I like it once you get past the monotony of being in the same place. It is nice for speedier workouts, since you can just pick the pace and set it.
Do you do anything to take you mind off of the monotony as I use Zwift when riding?
I usually rotate a few different things so I don’t feel like I am doing the same thing for too long. So far, I have used documentaries, podcasts, and music to pass the time.
How do envision your fueling for the 100 Miles?
I like to keep it mostly liquid if I can help it. So likely a couple packs of SFuel Race+ every hour mixed with between 8-16 oz of water. Race+ has a fairly solid concentrate of electrolytes relative to most sports fuels, so I likely won’t need to take as many electrolyte caps as normal, but if I notice I am sweating a bit more than normal I’ll likely have a few electrolyte tabs along the way. I usually have something savory more whole food around just incase pallet fatigue sets in. Historically, this has been something like potatoes dipped in salt and oil or bacon rice balls with salt.
Anything you want to add with regards to the record attempt?
Should be fun! I like trying things I have not done before. I have not run past 30-miles on a treadmill before, so it will be exciting to dive into some unfamiliarity. I love that we are bringing in some incredible hosts and guest speakers to bring some entertainment to anyone following along.
Is there anywhere you would like to visit to run?
If I had to pick one, it would probably be the Swiss Alps. It seems like a place I should have checked off the bucket list by now, but for some reason have not.
Knowing you have done a lot of races on people’s bucket lists do you have any bucket list races?
I would probably pick the Leadville 100. It has a unique combination of steep but runnable trail at high altitude, which I think would be a pretty unique race experience.
What do you struggle with most with regards to running?
Probably picking 2-3 races per year to peak for. I don’t mind going to races with the intent to hold back a bit, but there is nothing like putting in a big training cycle and seeing what it will produce.
Have you had any injury issues and how did you deal with them?
In college, I had some lower leg issues, but since ultra-marathon running, I have had very few hiccups. I fractured my right sacral ala early in 2017 that sidelined me for about 7-weeks, but that is the only injury that really cost me a race since I started ultras.
If you had one, well maybe two or three, things to say those that are running to encourage them what would it be?
I always encourage people new to the sport or looking to progress in the sport to be patient. It can be easy to look at a friend or someone online and want to replicate exactly what they are doing. The beauty of running is it is the culmination of lots of what I call micro-stresses. Patiently making small improvements makes this sport sustainable.
Do you have a website or other social media site you would like to share?
My website is zachbitter.com I am most active on Instagram @zachbitter and Twitter @zbitter
I have begun to put more content up on my YouTube channel recently as well, which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/c/ZachBitterUltra
Any closing comments?
Thanks for the opportunity to come on the blog!
I wanted to also share some links to Zach's Sponsors:
- Altra Footwear
- SFuels & SFuels Live
- Purpose Athletic Wear & @TeamPurpose
- Buff
- Coros
- Also codes and links for sponsors who offer a discount through Zach can be found here: https://linktr.ee/zachbitter
Zach Bitter will be attempting to break the 100 Mile Treadmill WR on May 16, 2020. You can watch live and even join in - click the picture below to get more info:
As a reminder, you can join the SFuels Strava Triathlon Club, Running Club and/or Cycling Club - Signup for them all if you like. Join others on the LCHF for Endurance journey
Also, check out the whole line of SFuels products: SFuels Life , SFuels-Train and SFuels-Race products. Also, just back after reformulating them are SFuel LIFE Bars. You can also access the new QuickStart Guide.
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