The Hills

After a carb-load the day before to ensure she started well-fueled, Sophie topped up her liver glycogen stores with some easily digestible, high-carb and low-fibre foods at breakfast, before a final dose of carbs on the start line. She then fueled well during the early part of The Hills gravel race and reported high-perceived energy levels for the first ~60km. After this, Sophie ran into some issues with fuel availability. She’d planned to pick up two one litre bottles - each of which contained 120 grams of Carb Only Drink Mix - at the second feed zone, but due to a miscommunication with her team, the crew and bottles weren’t there. This meant that Sophie - who is used to consuming high carb intakes during her racing - was 240g down on her initial plan and she inevitably bonked as her energy output significantly outweighed her carbohydrate availability. Unfortunately, Sophie’s experience highlights the fact that logistical issues like a missed feed zone can negatively impact well-planned nutrition strategies. For future races, Sophie should consider some back-up strategies in case things go wrong again, such as stashing additional gels in a jersey pocket to ensure she’s still able to get carbs on board if she misses a planned meet-up with her crew, especially in poor weather where bottle handovers are more difficult and tough conditions mean energy output is even greater.

Despite the cold and wet race conditions, Sophie consumed a reasonable volume of fluid and reported frequent urination - an important clue pointing toward adequate, if not slightly above, fluid replacement. Across the ~eight hours of racing, she drank 2.75L of fluid, with PH 1000 electrolytes in four out of five of her bottles. Unintentionally, Sophie actually over-concentrated a couple of her bottles, putting in two rather than one PH 1000 (Tablet) per 500ml of fluid. Although unplanned, with the additional plain water she picked up, the overall relative sodium concentration of her fluid intake didn’t dramatically increase. Additionally, the cooler conditions would’ve kept her sweat rate and fluid requirements low. So, even with the missed bottles later on, it’s likely she replaced enough of her sweat losses to maintain her performance and avoid any debilitating dehydration-related symptoms. Had the temperature been warmer, these missed bottles would’ve been significantly more detrimental, so planning for both scenarios - cool and warm - by either carrying additional hydration or ensuring availability in feed zones would give Sophie the flexibility to scale up or down as needed or as thirst dictates.

Sophie’s caffeine strategy was front-loaded with a cup of coffee at breakfast followed by a PF 30 Caffeine Gel before the start, aligning well with the ~45-minute onset time for peak plasma caffeine levels. Later in the race, she took an additional PF 30 Caffeine Gel, helping to maintain alertness and cognitive function, which was especially critical in the cold, rainy conditions where mental fatigue would limit her performance. Her intake was on the lower end of the ergogenic recommendations for performance benefit. Given her frequent intake of caffeine daily, the bonking and low carb availability towards the end, Sophie may have benefited from a final dose in the last couple of hours of the race to improve her perceived energy levels.