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Anna Hicks

Anna Hicks

Tucson Bicycle Classic Stage 4

22nd February, 2025USAArizona14th, FPRO

Anna's headline numbers

~79g
Carb per hour
Recommended 90g/h+
~436ml
Fluid per hour
Recommended 250-750ml/h
~1,000mg
Sodium per litre
Recommended 800-1200mg/L
0mg
Total caffeine

Anna'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.
Carb-rich meal

T - 1-4hrs: Ate a carb rich meal (Low in fat & fibre)

Pre-fueled

T - 15mins: Took in a final dose of carb

Carb per hour
Recommended 90g/h+
~79g
Anna's Energy Rating10/10

"I had good energy all day."

Our thoughts

By using both the Carb & Electrolyte and Carb Only drink mixes, Anna consumed most of her carbs via fluids in her bottles, alongside one PF 30 Gel, effectively meeting the carbohydrate recommendations for a race of this duration and intensity. While Anna has practiced and refined this strategy to suit her needs, in longer or hotter races where she may need to adapt her intake on-the-fly, separating her fuel from her hydration (decoupling) slightly, could allow for more flexibility in these adjustments. For future events, Anna could practically do this by incorporating a hydration-only bottle (water and electrolytes) to help replace sweat losses without affecting her carbohydrate intake, or carrying some spare energy gels to allow her to increase her intake during more intense efforts, without also drinking more fluid which could make her feel bloated or uncomfortable.

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.

Didn't pre-load electrolytes

Drinking a strong electrolyte drink before the race could have helped Anna start optimally hydrated

Fluid per hour
Recommended 250-750ml/h
~436ml
Sodium per litre
Recommended 800-1200mg/L
~1,000mg
Anna's Hydration Rating7/10

"In the feed zone during the first lap, I didn’t get any bottles because our first feeder couldn’t grab a bottle in time and the second feeder didn’t see me. "

Our thoughts

Despite consuming *some* electrolytes before the race, Anna could benefit further from a stronger electrolyte drink, swapping the PH 500 tab for PH 1500, in order to make her preload more effective. During the race, she followed a well-structured strategy for both her fueling and hydration. Anna even added a couple of PH 500 tablets into the Carb Only Drink Mix in her bidons, which isn’t exactly *textbook* but is obviously something that worked for her here. Finding creative ways to use our products in the ways they work for you is a great way of going about getting the correct amount of sodium in.

How Anna hit her numbers

Here's everything that Anna ate and drank on the day...

Before race (>30 mins)
Pre-race (<30 mins)

Final thoughts

Anna's Satisfaction Rating10/10

I kept everything the same for this race as I do for all my races and training which gave me confidence. I have practiced a lot with PF&H products and know the exact formula that works for me 99% of the time.

Anna

Anna had a great race at Stage 4 of the Tucson Bicycle Classic, comfortably meeting the carb recommendations with a structured and well-practiced fuel and hydration strategy. In future, she may want to consider decoupling her fueling and hydration, and increasing her sodium intake pre-race to implement a more effective preload so that she heads into races optimally hydrated.

PF&H

Anna's full stats

Overall
273g total carb79g per hour
1,500ml total fluid436ml per hour
1,500mg total sodium436mg per hour
1,000mgSodium per litre
0mg total caffeine0.0mg per kg

Data Confidence

We rate each of our case studies from 1-5 based on the level of accuracy, and our confidence in the data.

12345

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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