Kyle Smith
T100 Singapore
Marina Bay14th, MPROKyle's headline numbers
Kyle'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 were fine, I just felt like there was a rev limiter on me all day because of the heat. I really couldn't push any harder."
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.
Kyle471mg/L
Kyle 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 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 moreT - 60mins: Drank ~500ml of strong electrolyte drink
"I executed the best I could, and although I'm not a salty sweater, I lose a lot of fluid so I made sure to get in as much as I could. I peed really soon after the race so I think I got this right."
Kyle 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.
T - 0-4hrs: Had a final hit of caffeine
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...
Final thoughts
“It's tough doing a race where you can't fully rip it, but I guess if you'd told me last week that I'd come to a race in these conditions and finish in the top-five, I'd have taken that every day of the week. The heat is usually my Achilles heel, so to get this result in the hardest conditions I’ve ever raced in, I’m super happy. ”
“Whilst the oppressive conditions made it hard for Kyle to fully exert himself, it was still a solid result, and he managed to execute his planned nutrition strategy very well. As an athlete it’s a tough mindset to not race on your limit, but when temperatures are as high as Singapore, and with such a high sweat rate, it was vital that Kyle kept a lid on things and did his best to limit his fluid losses. This was an impressive example of fueling and hydrating an extreme physiology in extreme conditions, so kudos to Kyle for his hard work putting this plan into practice.”
PF&HKyle'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.