Mozart 100

Although Anna-Marie had a carb-rich breakfast as a glycogen top-up on race morning, she could also incorporate a final carb dose in the last 15 minutes, spiking her blood glucose and conserving muscle glycogen for later in the race. Her overall carb intake fell below the recommended range for a race of this duration and intensity, so we’d recommend incorporating structured gut training to increase her intake and deliver more energy to her working muscles. This gut training process would also help address the nausea and difficulty eating she experienced, especially if she practices in higher intensity, key training sessions leading up to races, helping her tolerate a higher carb intake whilst working hard.

Anna-Marie's hydration strategy worked for race day, attenuating any dehydration-related issues that would’ve impacted her performance. However, there are a few tweaks she can make going forward, including preloading to boost her plasma volume and start optimally hydrated. During the race, she alternated between Soft Flasks containing PH 1500 and plain water, which she refilled at each aid station, delivering a higher fluid intake than in the cooler conditions she raced in previously. Her average intake of ~600ml/h was a decent volume over a race of this duration, but it’d be worth doing some sweat rate testing to better tailor her intake in future races. The relative sodium concentration of her drinks was lower than her sweat sodium concentration, so she could benefit by taking on slightly more sodium to replace a greater proportion of her losses. Especially in situations where there are no on-course electrolytes, bringing some Electrolyte Capsules is an easy, convenient way of getting a little extra sodium in. That said, Anna-Marie reported no symptoms of dehydration allowing her to perform and push on in the heat unlike many other competitors who DNF’d.