Ant's headline numbers
Ant'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.
Ant was targeting the top end of the scientific fueling recommendations, and he successfully managed this intake thanks to plenty of gut training. Though race-day nerves sent him on a brief detour to the restroom at around halfway, Ant rated his GI comfort a 7 (out of 10). Most importantly, his energy levels were excellent throughout the race. Despite his glucose trace (check it out here) showing a gradual increase up until the point he stopped for the loo but gradually declined for the rest of the race.
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 Ant’s losses are High (1,351mg/L), nailing his hydration strategy remains important, even when it’s Cold.
Learn moreAnt set off with a soft flask containing two PH 1500 packets Then swtiching his fluid intake to plain water picked up from aid stations to effectively dilute the concentration he started with. Unfortunately the stomach issues he faced around halfway delayed the consumption of his soft flask, and he didn’t finish it until ~32k (20 miles). Ant didn’t manage to pick up any water on course, so the relative sodium concentration his concentrated PH 1500 was quite a bit saltier than his individual sodium losses. As the race was only two and a half hours long, Ant didn’t experience any negative side effects from this, but just found he was incredibly thirsty afterwards. For future races, Ant could look to reduce the concentration of his soft flask when temperatures are low in the event that he doesn’t pick up additional fluids.
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.
Ant sent some caffeine into his bloodstream with a pre-race coffee so he could reap the ergogenic benefits associated with it later in the race. Additionally, Ant topped up his circulating caffeine during the race and ensured his total intake was within the 3-6mg/kg body weight recommended range.
How Ant hit his numbers
Here's everything that Ant ate and drank on the day...
Ant's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
PF&HAnt'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).