ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championships

Andy relied on aid stations during the runs for most of his fuel as he didn’t want to carry too much extra weight. This meant his carb intake primarily came from real foods which may have contributed to the energy lows he experienced; the available foods, such as chocolate bars would have taken longer to be absorbed compared to simple sugars of sports nutrition products. Carrying more energy gels would have given Andy the option to get more quick release energy to support his efforts and hit higher carb numbers.

Andy has a very high sweat sodium concentration so he knew he needed to be proactive in his replacement of both fluid and sodium. He used PH 1500 and Electrolyte Capsules to replace a good proportion of his losses and prevent cramping. He finished this event with a ~1.9% body mass change which is within the body’s tolerable level of dehydration supporting the fact that he maintained his fluid and electrolyte balance across the 9 hours of racing.

Caffeine intake to a level of 3-6mg/kg is recommended for endurance exercise to provide ergogenic benefits such as reduced perception of effort and increased mental alertness. Andy only had one small dose of caffeine during this ~9 hour race which meant he fell below this recommendation. He could have included the stimulant more into his plan perhaps by carrying caffeinated energy gels to increase his blood caffeine levels and reap the performance boosting effects.