Danni Shrosbree
The Traka 360
Girona5th, FPRODanni's headline numbers
Danni's strategy
Fueling
T - 1-4hrs: Ate a carb rich meal (Low in fat & fibre)
T - 15mins: Took in a final dose of carb
"I felt pretty solid for most of the race. I missed a couple of gels later on but I think I managed to stick close to the plan overall."
Sticking to a consistent fueling plan over nearly 14 hours is no small feat, and Danni was targeting as close to 90g of carbohydrate per hour as she could manage in order to preserve her muscle glycogen levels. Danni also spent large sections of this race repairing punctures and riding without a bike computer following a crash, which meant she was forced to surge and chase her rivals multiple times. This will have increased her caloric demands, and likely contributed to her low energy levels at around 250km. Sports Scientist Minty was part of her support crew during the race, and was collecting and weighing her nutrition to accurately recount how much she took compared to her target. Interestingly, some of her PF 30 Gels had up to ~30% of their contents left in the wrapper, which somewhat explains her *actual* intake being much below her pre-race target. Perhaps using a Flow Flask with PF 300 Flow Gel could help her avoid losing small amounts of each gel, and compounding over 14 hours leading to significant shifts in her actual versus planned carbohydrate intake.
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.
Danni716mg/L
Danni has been Sweat Tested to dial in her 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 Danni's losses are on the low side, getting her hydration strategy right is still important if she wants to perform at her best.
Learn moreT - 60mins: Drank ~500ml of strong electrolyte drink
"It didn’t feel like a particularly hot day, but I was definitely sweating when the sun was out. I kept sipping regularly and didn’t cramp, so I think I judged it alright."
Danni’s planned hydration strategy was to drink ~8L (256oz) across the race split between her 2L (64oz) hydration pack, and water bottles picked up from her support crew. After weighing all the bottles and packs she dropped, she actually only drank ~6.1L (215oz), showing how small amounts leftover in each bottle can add up over the course of a race. Thankfully this didn’t impact her on the day, but in hotter conditions, which are likely due at Unbound just three weeks after this race, this may impact her hydration status significantly.
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
As one of the most well-researched ergogenic aids in endurance sports, caffeine was a staple in Danni’s strategy for a bike race of this length. She mentioned in her post-race interview about remembering Minty’s advice to keep focussed in the second half, and her optimal dose of the stimulant in the form of PF 30 Caffeine Gels and cans of cola likely helped with that. Doses of ~3-6mg per kg body weight can improve endurance performance by ~2-4%, primarily by reducing perceived effort and improving mental focus. For context, Danni's finish time was just 2.2% behind the winner, well within the range of caffeine’s expected performance boost, so every little counts!
How Danni hit her numbers
Here's everything that Danni ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“Most things which could have gone wrong came at me today, so I’m pleased with how I battled and to still come 5th.”
“Similar to her performance in Unbound 2023, Danni proved once again that when faced with external adversities, there are few athletes tougher than her mentally over this ultra-distance race format. The accurate tracking of her intake showcased how small fueling and hydration tweaks could have made a tangible difference over multiple hours. With some better luck from the tyre gods, and a slightly altered mechanism for consuming gels, Danni will undoubtedly be ready to tackle her next race at Unbound 2025.”
PF&HDanni'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 good confidence in the accuracy of the data reported. An athlete feels that the numbers closely reflect what they consumed despite a couple of estimations which may carry some degree of error. The majority of what was consumed is recorded to a high level of specificity (most volumes are known through the use of bottles brands quantities flavours). The numbers are very plausible and align with previous data recordings (if an athlete has collected data previously).