293. Ultra Runner of the Year Rankings, Unintentional Low Carb Studies, Health Update, Continuous Lactate Monitors, and Blood Tests!
Some Work, All Play
David Roche and Megan Roche
4.8 • 2.1K Ratings
🗓️ 13 January 2026
⏱️ 91 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We got our big juicy pumps for this amazing episode! We started by talking about a couple pieces of personal news, including a shockingly cool number 4 ranking in the Ultra Runner of the Year voting... and some tough health findings from an MRI. The newest shoe review is a medical boot. It’s still better than most trail shoes.
The big science discussion was on a pair of studies on advanced female runners, with both finding low carbohydrate intake on training days. One of the studies on elite athletes found that 94.3% had low energy availability! We broaden out the discussion into nutritional approaches generally. And David tries to broaden it out into a thinkpiece about the food pyramid. At a certain point, maybe your thinkpiece is so wrong that you eventually loop around and become right? Don't answer that.
And this one was full of great topics! Other topics: our approach to training and health with the foot, a study on using heat training to substitute for other types of training, what we’d spend with $200 a month, how we are making money off AI, the Burrito League, some quick thoughts on continuous lactate monitors, Shelby Houlihan and Molly Seidel setting records at trail races, Raya for trail and ultra runners, sleep and FKTs, blood tests and training for downhills in a flat place.
We love you all! HUZZAH!
-David and Megan
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Woo. |
| 0:01.3 | Welcome to the Some Work All Play podcast. |
| 0:03.1 | We are so happy with you today. |
| 0:04.4 | Happy Tuesday. |
| 0:05.0 | It's Tuesday. |
| 0:05.9 | And I'm feeling so much stoke on this Tuesday. You're feeling stoked. What about? Coming from the fact that you were voted fourth in the ultra-unner of the year voted. How cool is that? That is like mind-blowing. Thank you so much. It's shocking. It's super exciting because I know everybody that's followed the journey knows |
| 0:21.6 | June of last year, DNFing Western States in such a public manner. Like if you had told me then |
| 0:27.5 | that I would be fourth in the North American ultra runner rankings, which has been this system |
| 0:32.1 | that's gone on forever, I would have said it's impossible. I wasn't even planning to do Leadville then. |
| 0:36.0 | And you got me back on the horse. And so Megan, thank you for believing in me. I don't want to like act like it's, you know, be all and all as these rankings. But it is like a validating thing to see. Well, I randomly went back and watched the YouTube of Quadrock in Leadville and Western States when I was on the Appal Tribunal this week. |
| 0:52.3 | And I watched that Western States video and watched you walk back up through Forest Hill after DNFing and like, you know, Cody zooming in on the wristband and taking that off and like what all that meant. And it actually made me so emotional even before this fact of like thinking about what a journey it's been for you. And I think if I whispered into your ear at Forest Hill, |
| 1:11.1 | like, hey, David, it's going to be fourth ultra out of the air. You've been like, what the fuck? Like, how did this happen? How do we get here? And I just like, I'm so proud of like the lows and how you came back from those, but then also just this too. Well, it's all you, it's all the listeners. So after the fact got so many messages, right, of people saying, |
| 1:29.0 | you just putting yourself out there is what meant a lot to us. Well, it's all you. It's all the listeners. So after the fact got so many messages, right, |
| 1:28.1 | of people saying, you just putting yourself out there is what meant a lot to us. And that made me |
| 1:32.5 | excited to put myself out there again and again and again. And maybe the lesson is just failure is |
| 1:37.6 | cool. Like we all are going to do it a million times and it's so scary before it happens. It's a little |
| 1:43.9 | scary when it happens. And then a little scary when it happens. |
| 1:45.3 | And then after it happens, you no longer give any fucks about anything. And that's where your |
| 1:48.8 | power really ends up shining through. And so yeah, it's wild. Also, the other reflection I |
| 1:54.4 | wanted to have, Megan, is, you know, it's four, right? And so four plus four is eight. And you |
| 1:59.4 | know what I did? I ate that year. Look ate it. Look at you and your Gen Z. |
| 2:03.2 | I even know what that means. |
... |
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