Emily Ehrlich
Valley of the Sun Stage 2
ArizonaTop 20, FPROEmily's headline numbers
Emily'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 strong all the way through the race. "
Emily mentioned that she loves her breakfast, and her big bowl of oats on the morning of the stage will have helped bolster her glycogen stores. She followed a simple strategy during the race, aiming to consume three 600ml bottles which each contained 80 grams of maltodextrin. By sticking to this plan, she comfortably met the carbohydrate recommendations, effectively fueling this stage and aiding her recovery ahead of the next one.
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.
Drinking a strong electrolyte drink before the race could have helped Emily start optimally hydrated
"I didn't feel dehydrated at any point before, during or afterwards."
Emily’s hydration also came from the same fuel-focused bottles of energy drink mix, to which she added some salt. While not optimal for taste, salt is 39% sodium so she would still have been replenishing a decent amount of her electrolyte losses. A strategy like this keeps things simple as everything she needs is in one bottle, but it makes it harder to quantify and match her losses compared to using electrolyte tablets. Emily might want to consider decoupling her fuel and hydration strategy in the future, as this provides greater flexibility. This could be especially beneficial in hot conditions as it would allow her to adjust her carb, sodium and fluid intake independently, depending on conditions and demands of the day.
How Emily hit her numbers
Here's everything that Emily ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“Overall, I thought the race went really well. ”
Emily“Emily had a great race at Stage 2 of Valley of the Sun, and her simple and effective fuel and hydration strategy helped lead fellow teammate Marlies Mejias Garcia out, who went on to take the win. Getting a Sweat Test will help Emily fine-tune her hydration strategy for future races, and will be especially useful for hotter and longer races where sweat losses build up. ”
PF&HEmily'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 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.