Tyler Green
Hong Kong 100
Tyler's headline numbers
Tyler's strategy
Fueling
T - 1-4hrs: Ate a carb rich meal (Low in fat & fibre)
T - 15mins: Took in a final dose of carb
"My energy levels felt pretty even, I was never fighting off a bonk. It was just uncomfortably hot at times and I think I may have overloaded on fuel early on."
Tyler’s fueling strategy involved aiming for 75 to 90 grams of carb per hour (with around 30g of that coming from fluids). His carb consumption came from a range of products to help him avoid flavour fatigue, but with the conditions being hotter than he was used to, Tyler drank a larger amount of carb-rich fluids than planned early in the race. Over the first five hours, Tyler surpassed his intended fueling goals by hitting almost 120g/h. Combined with the sweltering conditions, he began to feel some nausea and was ‘riding the line to keep it at a manageable level’. After reaching his crew, cooling down and grabbing poles just past halfway, Tyler backed off his intake to consistently sit at ~72g/h for the next four hours. He did well to adjust on-the-fly and manage his gut comfort while still averaging ~102g/h over the 10 hours. In the future, it would likely be beneficial to have a more consistent carb intake across the race (vs a near ~50g range), which could be helped by relying on solids such as chews, gels and bars for carbs, and on fluids for hydration, so that when it’s hotter he can stay on top of his hydration without taking on more fuel.
Hydration
Taking on board an appropriate amount of fluid and sodium is essential to maintaining blood volume and supporting the cardiovascular effort needed to perform on race day.
Whilst the absolute amount of sodium and fluid consumed per hour is important, it’s critical to consider these in relation to each other. This is known as 'relative sodium concentration' and it’s expressed in milligrams per litre (mg/L). How much sodium you’re taking in per litre of fluid is more important than the absolute amount taken in per hour.
Tyler798mg/L
Tyler has been Sweat Tested to dial in his hydration plan
Sweat sodium concentration (mg/L) is largely genetically determined and remains relatively stable. Knowing how salty your sweat is enables you to replace a good proportion of your sweat losses, which can range from 200-2,000mg/L.
Whilst Tyler's losses are on the low side, getting his hydration strategy right is still crucial when it's hot and/or humid as his higher sweat rate in these conditions can result in significant net losses over the duration of a race.
Learn moreT - 60mins: Drank ~500ml of strong electrolyte drink
"I actually felt like it worked out okay. Taking a few new things on the day was risky, but I took enough fluid as I never ran out or had any issues like I’ve had in the past."
With the race conditions feeling ‘oppressively hot’ and the warmest temperatures coming early on in the race, Tyler maintained a high fluid intake throughout. He predominantly used two 500ml bottles that he would fill with PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix, on-course carb mix, and large volumes of cola from 40km onwards. Tyler listened to his body effectively to determine this fluid intake and help replace his losses. He thought this worked well and peed twice over the course of the race which supported his feeling that he didn’t over or under hydrate. Tyler regularly took on sodium from a combination of drinks and foods during the race. However, his average relative sodium concentration was somewhat below his sweat losses, mainly because he was drinking lots of fluid with little-to-no sodium in, which diluted his overall average concentration. Tyler may have benefitted from a slightly higher sodium intake to support his higher fluid intake in these race conditions. To do this, he may look to implement some hydration-only bottles with high sodium concentrations but no carbs (as per our previous suggestion of decoupling fuel and hydration), to avoid overloading the gut or “overeating” as a product of being thirsty.
Caffeine
Beyond the Three Levers of Performance (carb, sodium and fluid), caffeine is one of only a few substances that is proven to improve performance for most endurance athletes as it can help stave off mental and physical fatigue.
Consuming caffeine in the hours before the start may have increased perceived energy levels
Tyler used caffeine effectively on race day by consuming an initial pre-race caffeinated gel, then regular caffeine top ups in the form of cola, plus a further caffeine gel in the back half of the race to gain the evidenced performance benefits. This pushed him just above the general guidelines per kilogram of bodyweight, but considering this event was double the time (~10 hours) of the half life of caffeine (4-5 hours), this would be appropriate, especially in an individual with a high caffeine tolerance.
How Tyler hit his numbers
Here's everything that Tyler ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“It was an incredible experience being in Hong Kong and having such a solid race. I felt really strong the entire day, so I’m happy with my racing. I’m bummed that I missed out on 2nd by just a couple of minutes. I hadn’t seen anyone for 4-5 hours and just figured I was running alone with big gaps ahead and behind. I think I could’ve snagged that extra spot if I’d have known how close I was getting, but didn’t have that info on course to make the push.”
Tyler“Tyler enjoyed an excellent first race of the season, finishing on the podium in hotter and more humid conditions than he is accustomed to. Speaking to Tyler post-race, he knew he’d slightly overdone his intake over the first half of the course, and that he could have benefitted from a more consistent approach to his fuel and hydration. This will be the plan going forward to reach his targets while avoiding any negative impacts, especially in the hot conditions.”
PF&HTyler's full stats
Data Confidence
We rate each of our case studies from 1-5 based on the level of accuracy, and our confidence in the data.
There is an adequate level of accuracy in the data collected and the numbers reported. The athlete manages to recall what they ate and drank including most specifics (brands flavours quantities plausible estimations of volumes). However there are estimations made within the data which affect the overall confidence level in the data reported.