30th

Tom Bishop's scorecard

PTO US Open

Sunday 18th September, 2022

Within recommended ranges

Just outside recommended ranges

Significantly outside recommended ranges

83g

Carb per hour

856mg

Sodium per hour

863ml

Fluid per hour

992mg/L

Relative sodium concentration

0mg

Total caffeine

How Tom hit those numbers

How Tom's hydration and fueling went...

Pro British triathlete Tom Bishop is making the step up to middle-distance racing after competing in sprint and Olympic distance events on the ITU circuit for 10 years
Tom was given a wildcard slot for the 100km PTO US Open, which was his third outing over a longer distance. Tom described the hot conditions in Dallas as the “harshest I’ve ever raced in”, which provided a steep learning curve when it came to managing his nutrition over this longer race duration

Hydration

After speaking to the Precision Fuel & Hydration Sports Science team in Dallas, Tom sensibly followed a textbook preloading protocol by drinking a PH 1500 (Tablet) mixed in ~500ml/16oz of water the evening before the race and again on the morning of the race
This preload went some way to ensure Tom started optimally hydrated, which was important as the race didn’t start until 2.45pm when temperatures soared in Dallas (the average temperature during the race was 36°C/97°F, with a humidity of 43%).
Given the extreme heat, Tom was keen to lower his core body temperature before he started the swim and drank a 300ml/10oz ‘slushy’ ~10 minutes before the starting gun went off
Using a ‘slushy’ is a proven method for lowering (or at least maintaining a low) core body temperature amongst elite athletes, although we wouldn’t recommend drinking such a large amount of fluid (300ml/10oz) so close to the race start
Tom did a good job of managing his hydration needs during the race by drinking an average of ~863ml/29oz of fluid per hour, which may seem on the higher side but the heat was brutal in Texas and the fact Tom didn’t pee at all during the race would suggest that he wasn’t overdrinking. He also regularly poured water over his head to keep himself cool
Tom’s a moderately salty sweater as we know from his Sweat Test that he loses 819mg of sodium per litre of sweat. The relative sodium concentration of his intake in Dallas was 992mg/L getting most of his sodium from PF Energy Drink Mix and a couple of Electrolyte Capsules, so we can safely assume that he replaced a significant proportion of his losses
He did cramp during the final 15km of the bike leg, although he attributes this to muscle fatigue and the fact he went at “suicide pace” on the bike because a calf injury meant that he didn’t really expect to complete the run leg
To put this into perspective, Tom said, “my average heart rate for the ride was 185bpm, which is my second threshold heart rate, something you should only really see for a one-hour maximal effort”. It's worth pointing out that he battled through to complete the entire race despite this

Fueling

Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation

30g

carb 30 mins before

60-90g

carb per hour during

Tom drank a pre-race slushy which included a PF 90 Gel, which contains 90g of carb. Consuming this amount of carb (alongside a pretty big pre-race meal) so close to race start may have overloaded his gut and caused the issues which later blighted his run
In future, we’d recommend Tom consumes ~30g of carb in the final 15 minutes before the swim as this has a scientific basis for providing performance benefits by topping up glycogen stores
Tom’s background in short-course racing meant that he went out hard in the swim and bike, which ensured he was part of the leading pack early on. This hard style of racing meant that Tom “tore through (his) nutrition on the bike” - he consumed ~110g of carbohydrate per hour during this leg, relying largely on PF Energy Drink Mix and PF 30 Gels
There’s evidence to suggest that some athletes can benefit from taking on more than 90g of carb per hour, but Tom is still new to consuming such large amounts and he may have actually consumed too much carb. For reference, Tom consumed ~58g/h on the bike leg in his last race at IM 70.3 Swansea, so the 110g/h is a huge increase in such a short space of time
As a result, Tom had some issues with his gut which meant that he could only consume water and took on zero carbs during the run leg
The hot conditions, allied with the fact Tom is relatively new to consuming high carb intakes during long races, are likely to have been contributing factors to his gut issues, so we’d recommend that Tom practices gut training during his longer, high intensity sessions
Furthermore, for longer distance racing (particularly in hot races), decoupling carbohydrate from fluids is often easier for the gut to tolerate and more manageable from a performance standpoint (i.e. if you keep your fuel and fluids separate by using your bottles purely for fluids and electrolytes and then rely on gels / chews / solid foods for fuel, you can react to your needs more easily by drinking when you’re thirsty and eating when you need energy)

Conclusions

Despite the intense heat, injury worries and high intensity, Tom did well to cross the finish line in only his third race at this middle-distance
The relative sodium concentration of his intake replaced a good proportion of his sweat sodium losses, although we’ll be working with Tom on training his gut so he can nail his carbohydrate intake and ensure he’s able to fuel his run leg

Key info

Tom Bishop

Male

Sweat sodium concentration

819mg/L

Sweat sodium classification

Moderate

* determined by a PH Advanced Sweat Test

Result

Position

30th

Overall Time

3:39:40

Swim Time

0:26:50

Bike Time

1:52:31

Run Time

1:17:36

Event information

Sport

Triathlon

Discipline

Middle distance

Event

PTO US Open

Location

Dallas, US

Date

18th September, 2022

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

Very Hot

Precipitation

No Rain

Min Temp

35°C / 95°F

Max Temp

37°C / 99°F

Avg Temp

36°C / 97°F

Humidity

43%

Athlete feedback

Race Satisfaction

6/10

Hydration rating

3/10

Energy levels

8/10

Dropped off on the last lap of the bike

Toilet stops

GI comfort

2/10

I had to stop off to use the toilet mid-race

Cramping

Mild cramps that I could push through

Tom's Thoughts

I’m still satisfied with my race as my plan was suicide pace on the bike - I was carrying an injury so hadn't actually planned on running

Tom's full stats

	Carbohydrate (g)	Sodium (mg)	Fluid (ml)	Caffeine (mg)	Relative sodium concentration (mg/L)
Overall
Total intake	302	3,125	3,150	0	Relative sodium concentration (mg/L)	992
Per hour	83	856	863	0		992
Bike and Run
Total intake	205	2,750	2,900	0	948
Per hour	65	873	921	0	948
Bike
Total intake	205	2,250	2,000	0	1,125
Per hour	110	1,205	1,071	0	1,125

Data Confidence

1

2

3

4

5

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.

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