9th

Kyle Smith's scorecard

PTO European Open

Saturday 6th May, 2023

Within recommended ranges

Just outside recommended ranges

Significantly outside recommended ranges

103g

Carb per hour

152mg

Sodium per hour

479ml

Fluid per hour

316mg/L

Relative sodium concentration

200mg

Total caffeine

How Kyle hit those numbers

How Kyle's hydration and fueling went...

Kyle had a tough day out at the inaugural PTO European Open in Ibiza where he emerged in the lead pack from the swim, led the majority of the bike and then experienced a fade on the run, resulting in a 9th place finish
After his strong swim, difficulties with aid station placement meant Kyle was unable to pick up enough water while cycling, meaning the effects of dehydration hit him hard during the following discipline
Despite this, Kyle was able to nail his carb intake across the race which is a positive to take forwards to his next events

Hydration

Having ensured he started the race with no signs of dehydration, by using strong electrolytes both the day before and morning of the race, Kyle was keen to keep on top of his sweat losses in the Spanish sun
On the bike, he started this well with a full (500ml / 16oz) bottle of PF 60 Energy Drink Mix and ~400ml (14oz) of water to start him off
It was only when Kyle was ascending the largest hill of the lapped course and couldn’t spot the expected aid station that he realised it was placed on the fast descent further down the road, which made it far more difficult to collect anything while maintaining speed
The difficulties of collecting additional water while travelling over 50km/h (30m/h), meant that Kyle missed two bottles (1.5L / 48oz) of water
Typically, athletes aim to minimise body weight loss via sweat to less than 2% in order to avoid performance decrease due to dehydration. By missing his planned bottles, Kyle went onto the run course having only averaged 600ml (18oz) per hour, while likely losing over 1.25L/h (40oz/h) through sweat at that intensity in those conditions, based on his previous sweat rate testing
Assuming Kyle started optimally hydrated, the net weight loss due to sweat was likely exceeding 2% for someone of Kyle’s bodyweight between five and ten kilometres into the run. This coincided with the point at which his run speed deteriorated dramatically and his perception of effort exponentially increased
Kyle, reported disappointment in his hydration strategy for this race, especially given how fit he felt in the build up and during the first half
In future, Kyle will focus on nailing his fluid intake during hot races, especially when the intensity, and therefore his sweat rate, is high. One possible change to make is to start with slightly more fluid on the bike, in case there are any changes to the advertised aid station positions at future races

Fueling

Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation

30g

carb 30 mins before

60-90g

carb per hour during

Kyle, who is based in Andorra, didn’t have too far to travel to this race on the Spanish island of Ibiza, and was happy to have carb-rich food that he was used to the night before and the morning of the European Open
He spared his stored carbohydrate for use later on in the race by having a final PF 30 Caffeine Gel with just 15 minutes left until the start. With 100mg of caffeine making it’s way into his bloodstream, he felt the effects of reduced perceived exertion peaking around 20 minutes into the bike
Kyle then did a really good job of executing his fueling strategy, through the use of PF 60 Energy Drink mix, PF 90 Gels and PF 30 Gels
In all, he averaged ~103g of carb per hour which would have provided him with high continual available energy for his working muscles
A key observation from Kyle’s race was the significant drop off in carb intake from bike to run (~131g/h to ~67g/h). While we would often recommend that athletes minimise the difference between the two, we do typically see a drop off due to it generally being more uncomfortable processing lots of things in the gut while running
Because Kyle fueled the bike leg so aggressively, he would have ‘front loaded’ the run to some degree. If he were to target races which were much longer in duration in future this is something that he should consider levelling out
Happily, despite having a self-proclaimed ‘ropey’ stomach during the week leading into the race, Kyle was able to rate his gastrointestinal comfort a perfect 10 (out of 10). This is testament to the gut training he’s undergone over the last couple of years where his high carb intake now feels quite easy to achieve in races
Kyle’s caffeine intake was extremely well timed during this race, with one PF 30 Caffeine Gel at the start and one before hopping off the bike for his one hour run. That said, at ~200mg total intake, he would be sitting just below the general recommendations of 3-6mg per kilo recommendation for enhanced performance, and so could look to incorporate another caffeine gel or two throughout the race

Conclusions

Kyle was naturally frustrated that he had led this race for such a long time and then succumbed to the performance limiting effects of dehydration
But, he found a positive out of the race in that he now knows he has the fitness and ability to be at the pointy end of these races, and simply requires the execution to fall into place on the day
Another positive from this event for Kyle is the effective nailing of his fueling, which he can definitely take forwards, alongside a slightly optimised hydration strategy into his next race

Key info

Kyle Smith

Male

Sweat sodium concentration

471mg/L

Sweat sodium classification

Very Low

* determined by a PH Advanced Sweat Test

Result

Position

9th

Overall Time

3:18:33

Swim Time

0:22:46

Bike Time

1:50:11

Run Time

1:03:53

Event information

Sport

Triathlon

Discipline

Middle distance

Event

PTO European Open

Location

Ibiza, Spain

Date

6th May, 2023

Website

Show me

Swim Distance

2.0km / 1.2mi

Bike Distance

80.0km / 49.7mi

Run Distance

18.0km / 11.2mi

Total Distance

100.0km / 62.1mi

Race conditions

Weather Conditions

Hot

Precipitation

No Rain

Min Temp

17°C / 63°F

Max Temp

23°C / 73°F

Avg Temp

20°C / 68°F

Humidity

60%

Athlete feedback

Race Satisfaction

5/10

Hydration rating

4/10

Hydration was great until it wasn't. I missed two bottles on the bike which would've made a big difference to my fluid intake

Energy levels

6/10

I had a bit of a mental battle at the end of the tough bike, and then the first 5-10km of the run felt great. I just ran out of gas...

GI comfort

10/10

Kyle's Thoughts

I'm satisfied that I know I've got a big result in the tank fitness wise, it's just frustrating that the execution wasn't there on the day

Kyle's full stats

	Carbohydrate (g)	Sodium (mg)	Fluid (ml)	Caffeine (mg)	Relative sodium concentration (mg/L)
Overall
Total intake	340	500	1,580	200	Relative sodium concentration (mg/L)	316
Per hour	103	152	479	61		316
Bike and Run
Total intake	310	500	1,580	100	316
Per hour	108	173	548	35	316
Bike
Total intake	240	500	1,100	100	455
Per hour	131	273	600	55	455
Run
Total intake	70	0	480	0	0
Per hour	67	0	457	0	0

Data Confidence

1

2

3

4

5

There is some confidence in the quantities and brands of products consumed but the data may lack specifics (e.g. volumes specific flavours). A high number of estimations have been made and the room for error is moderate-high. There may also be the possibility that some intake has been grossly over- or under-estimated.

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