Western States® 100-Mile Endurance Run

Compared to the other PF&H athletes at Western States, Tyler included more ‘real foods’ in his fueling plan as he picked up potatoes and melons from his crew at aid stations. He said this worked as a ‘palate cleanser’, and stopped him developing any flavour fatigue. He also included a greater proportion of liquid carbs as the race went on, which he finds easier to digest. Having undergone some substrate testing to see how much fuel he burns at different race intensities, Tyler had planned to consume 90g of carb per hour, and he achieved this at times, although he did experience some stomach discomfort from mile 55 after taking a higher volume of carb and sodium in the 20 miles leading up to that point. In future, Tyler may want to consider relying less on large amounts of on-course carb-rich energy drink mix in such hot conditions, which may have contributed to his gastrointestinal discomfort. Instead, he could separate his carb and fluid intake to maintain his targets without overloading his gut. Ultimately, he hit impressive numbers whilst working at a high intensity in hot conditions and clocked a new master’s record time for WSER, beating the previous record by 36 minutes.

Having undergone a Sweat Test and collected sweat rate data in the lead up to his 5th Western States® run, Tyler knew his upper and lower guard-rails for fluid and sodium intakes. Applying these, he listened to his body and vast experience to dictate what he needed at different points in the race; he alternated between PH 1000 electrolytes, on-course energy drink mix and sips of water to consume a relative sodium concentration very similar to his sweat sodium losses. Drinking his handheld 500ml flasks to thirst, he replaced his fluid losses effectively as they changed throughout the day. In the hotter parts of the race which saw temperatures hit 36℃ / 97℉, his highest fluid intakes were closer to ~800ml/h compared to a lower ~400ml/h during the cooler start.

Tyler did well to hit the recommended caffeine dose for endurance performance by using PF 30 Caffeine Gels interspersed throughout his fueling strategy, following his pre-race coffee. He drip-fed his doses across the course, including greater amounts ahead of the earlier, hilly sections. Next time out, he may wish to include one or two larger doses within the second half of the race when his energy was ‘fading’ in an attempt to reduce his perception of effort.