Kyle Smith
T100 Singapore
Kyle's headline numbers
Kyle's strategy
Fueling
Carbohydrate is the main fuel you burn when racing. Failing to fuel properly is a leading cause of underperformance in longer races.
Kyle knew ahead of time that this would be an aggressive racing affair, so planned to maximise his carbohydrate intake accordingly. Having undertaken copious gut training throughout the New Zealand summer, he comfortably tolerated the highest carb intake we’ve seen him achieve, with no signs of GI distress. In this intense heat, it’s impressive he can maintain gut comfort, whilst still fighting for a top-five in a world-class field.
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.
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 Kyle’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 moreKyle knows he has a very high sweat rate, and can lose over 2.5L per hour in conditions similar to Singapore. Conversely, his sweat sodium concentration is very low. As a result, his strategy was to drink as much as he could tolerate, and avoid stepping off the bike too dehydrated. By picking up several bottles of plain water from the on-course aid stations, Kyle managed the highest fluid intake we’ve seen from an athlete, again with no GI side-effects. During the run, Kyle super-concentrated a Soft Flask with three x PH 1500 (Drink Mix) packets, and diluted this with plenty of water from the aid stations. Kyle has worked for a long time to tolerate such fluid volumes, and it’s important to note this is very individual, and these very high intakes are not recommended for everyone competing in these conditions, with other athletes on course reporting drinking more than a litre less than Kyle each hour. One unforeseen benefit of this strategy was that he managed to fly through doping control post-race, as he was busting for a pee!
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.
Kyle likes the psychological boost he gets from taking caffeine, so chose to front-load his intake with two Caffeine Gels pre-race, and three more during the bike. Whilst this does put him slightly over the recommended intake relative to his bodyweight, it didn’t impact him negatively, so we wouldn’t recommend any changes to this part of his strategy.
How Kyle hit his numbers
Here's everything that Kyle ate and drank on the day...
Kyle's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
Kyle
PF&HKyle's full stats
Data Confidence?
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.