• Pro triathlete Claire Hann enjoyed an excellent race to win the Welsh 50-mile Championship in September 2021. Looking back, she said “overall I was happy with how the race went and how I hydrated and fueled. Potentially, I could have had a bit more confidence, backed myself, and dug a little deeper in the mid-part of the race as I managed to finish very strongly. So that's something to remember in future races. I think my legs are stronger than I give them credit for!”
• Despite recently returning from injury, she was aiming for a sub-1 hour 55 minute time and duly delivered. She finished the race 8 minutes ahead of second place, in 1:55:50, and therefore rated her race satisfaction as 8 out of 10

Hydration

• Claire drank ~400ml/14oz of fluid in total over the race (~207ml/hr). Although this is on the lower end of the volume of fluid we’ve seen cyclists drink on average, the conditions were mild (15℃/59°F), and Claire’s sweat loss was unlikely to warrant any higher rate of consumption
• Claire said “I think my hydration strategy was fine given the circumstances. Because it was very temperate weather conditions and a relatively short race it didn't need to be absolutely dialled to perfection. I feel like there’s more wiggle room on shorter and cooler races.”
• Mixing her fluid, electrolytes and gels into one bottle made her drink mix hypertonic (more concentrated than blood). In these circumstances, where getting carbohydrates into the bloodstream is the main priority over fluid intake, this worked well. As an experienced athlete, Claire knows that during longer races, especially in triathlon, this method isn’t always ideal and we’d usually recommend separating hydration and fueling (i.e. use your bottles for hydration and solids / gels etc for fueling) for longer duration events as this makes it easier to keep on top of your numbers
• In addition to fueling well before the race, Claire preloaded with PH 1500 to make sure she was starting optimally hydrated. Then, during the race, Claire mixed half a sachet of PH 1500 in her bottle in a bid to continue to replace her sodium losses
• This meant Claire consumed an average of ~208mg of sodium per hour; in relation to the water she drank, this meant the relative sodium concentration of her intake was ~1,006mg/L. Considering the mild conditions and her moderate sweat sodium concentration (676mg/L), she was replacing a high proportion of her losses

Fueling

Conclusions

• Claire produced a great race at the Welsh National Champs to clock her fastest 50 mile time trial of the year. She was “really happy with how the race turned out” and after a “tough year rehabbing a running injury, it’s been great to see my progression on the bike”
• Her approach was “less measured than it would be for a triathlon” but she still managed to consume good levels of carb, fluid and sodium during the race and had an excellent pre-race consumption