Hayley Simmonds
UCI Gravel World Championships
Hayley's headline numbers
Hayley'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.
After struggling with mental focus and staying on top of fueling at the race prior to the World Championships, Hayley did a fantastic job kicking it into high gear in Belgium. She nailed her intake, hitting her highest carb per hour numbers yet! With a self-proclaimed ‘iron stomach’, we knew she could push past 90g/h and she was able to execute this on race day, boasting a perfect 10 out of 10 level of GI comfort. It paid off with her energy levels and power output throughout the 4.5 hours of racing, even after facing a mechanical issue with her bike early on which she had the mental clarity to fix (with the help of her heart rate monitor’s battery!). Most of her fuel came from PF Carb Only Drink Mix like she’s practised, but topped up with a few gels and chews for variety.
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.
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.
Given Hayley’s losses are High (1,167mg/L), nailing her hydration strategy remains important, even when it’s Mild.
Learn moreEven though mild conditions meant Hayley’s sweat rate wouldn’t be extraordinarily high, she’s noticed in recent training sessions that she still sweats quite a bit in cooler temperatures, so she made an effort to stay on top of her fluid intake. Since most of her fuel came through her bottles, this meant she was already drinking frequently, contributing to her hydration status. Further, she used PH 1500 in her bottles to make sure the sodium portion of her sweat losses were always being accounted for. With no cramping and having to pee sooner after the race than normal, these signs point to a successful hydration strategy for Hayley over the course of the race.
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.
Hayley’s a regular coffee drinker, so always uses the stimulant as part of her race strategy. After her two coffees with breakfast, she stuck to her pre-race PF 30 Caffeine Gel to give her an extra boost at the start. She incorporated two more doses, one around the halfway mark and one at the start of hour four, totalling an amount within the scientific guidelines. While the earlier dose would have helped mask fatigue for the second half of the race, the later one may have been too late to actually have an impact, considering it takes 45-60 minutes for caffeine to peak in the bloodstream. In the future, she could move this second dose earlier, perhaps at the start of hour three, to reap the full effects before the finish line.
How Hayley hit her numbers
Here's everything that Hayley ate and drank on the day...
Hayley's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
Hayley
PF&HHayley's full stats
Data Confidence?
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).