• John started off his busy race calendar with some challenging gravel races. This included an excellent ride at the 100 mile Mid South gravel race in Oklahoma to finish 5th after a tough final sprint
• After finishing 18th overall in very tricky, wet and cold conditions at the 2020 Mid South, he was back to take on the muddy course once more. In better conditions than last time (though still cold), John raced well to finish in a time of 4 hours and 53 minutes, just 1 minute 20 seconds behind the leader

Hydration

• Prior to the race start, John drank around ~2L (64oz) of fluid, a high volume before the 9:00am race start. He mentioned “having to pee the whole race” and this was likely due to overconsumption through his various pre-race drinks including PH 1500, a coffee, plain water, water containing a vitamin C tablet and beetroot powder
• We would recommend that he hones in his pre-race fluid consumption to include ~500ml (16oz) of PH 1500, a coffee and that he also limits any additional fluid intake
• John didn’t get the chance to stop and pee, as a result both the continual need to pee and the cold conditions meant that John chose to skip his second 650ml (22oz) bottle. This was not an unreasonable choice, as John mentioned his sweat rate was low/moderate during the ride and definitely “less than in previous warmer races”, where we have seen him reach ~900ml (30oz) of fluid per hour
• However, skipping the second bottle meant that, during the latter stages of the race, John started to feel thirsty and therefore finished his next two bottles with “time to spare”. To avoid becoming thirsty, continuing to drink early on may have been beneficial. However, holding off drinking meant that John avoided stopping and losing time, and he still drank an average of ~536ml/hr (18oz/hr), which should have replaced an appropriate proportion of his fluid losses
• To replace his sodium losses during the race, John drank PH 1000 and PF 30 Drink Mix in addition to getting sodium from some of the gels and chews he ate. In total, John consumed ~746mg of sodium per hour which, in relation to the fluid he was drinking, meant that the relative sodium concentration of his intake was ~1,391mg/L
• An athlete’s hydration strategy should address their net sodium losses, which are partly determined by their sweat rate (the volume of sweat loss per hour). John’s relative sodium concentration, coupled with his reports of a moderate sweat rate, strongly indicate that he was replacing a good proportion of his sodium losses, as our Advanced Sweat Test has identified that John loses 1310mg of sodium per litre of sweat
• John mentioned being on the “verge of cramping” during very hard efforts in the last 25km. Cramping is thought to have a range of causes, but at this point of the 100 mile race this was likely down to muscle fatigue, as John pushed hard to keep up with the front pack, and the data indicates that he was managing his fluid and sodium intake well

Fueling

Conclusions

• John had a great ride on a tricky course at the Mid South this year. After a close sprint finish, John finished 5th and was “happy with the result”. He rated his race satisfaction as 8 out of 10, but did say “I was hoping for a podium, but didn’t play the sprint very well”
• Using a similar hydration and fueling plan to previous races, he achieved an excellent carbohydrate intake. After experiencing a lack of appetite in the morning, he did well to push towards 80g carb per hour during the race.
• His fluid consumption was lower than we have seen from him during previous races, but the conditions were cooler than he’s raced in before, and he played it well to continue to take on fluid while not losing time to stop and pee