Brennan Townshend
Ultra Trail Snowdonia
Snowdonia1st, M30-34Brennan's headline numbers
Brennan's strategy
Fueling
T - 1-4hrs: Ate a carb rich meal (Low in fat & fibre)
T - 15mins: Took in a final dose of carb
"My energy was really good during the race. I felt tired in the last 90 mins and had to take the last major climb slower than I wanted to. Even though this is the highest carb intake I have achieved in a race, I think I need to up this closer to 75g/h."
Brennan stuck to his fueling strategy to successfully hit his highest carb intake yet for a race of this distance. The combination of PF 30 Chews, PF 30 Gels and PF Carb and Electrolyte Drink Mix contributed to fairly consistent energy levels and propelled him to a 1st place finish! Since Brennan intends to increase carb intake for future races, it’d be helpful for him to do some gut training so that he can tolerate this without risking any GI discomfort.
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.
Drinking a strong electrolyte drink before the race could have helped Brennan start optimally hydrated
"I think my hydration strategy worked really well but I did find that I ran out of fluids before each aid station. And, both my hip flexors cramped at the finish line, so next time I could definitely do with some more fluids."
With slightly warmer than expected temperatures, Brennan finished his Soft Flasks earlier than planned, so he could carry a third Soft Flask to stay on top of his fluids and avoid any feelings of thirst in the future. Despite this, based on his subjective thoughts he replaced enough of his total losses to avoid race-impacting dehydration. The cramping he experienced towards the end of the race is likely a result of neuromuscular fatigue rather than hydration or electrolyte related issues. Brennan has not yet had a Sweat Test to determine his sweat sodium losses so we would encourage him to aim a little higher for his intake to meet the average (~950mg/L) sodium concentration. This could help reduce the likelihood of cramping or other negative hydration-related issues.
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.
T - 0-4hrs: Had a final hit of caffeine
Despite having a couple of coffees prior to the race start, Brennan didn’t use any caffeine. He could trial using some caffeine in line with the scientific recommendations, such as swapping some of his PF 30 Gels with PF 30 Caffeine Gels in his strategy to see how he responds. He may find supplementing his fueling strategy with caffeine will help him reap the ergogenic effects of the stimulant and could limit the fatigue he felt towards the end of the race.
How Brennan hit his numbers
Here's everything that Brennan ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“I am really happy with the win even though I had set a time goal of 5.5hrs (A) and 6hrs (B) which I was just outside of. I felt I controlled my effort well and also fuelled better than I have ever before, but I would like to work more on my fuel and hydration in training ahead of my next race to get up to the 75g/h carb target if I can.”
“Brennan raced well and finished on the top step; a great result! In future races, he could try incorporating caffeine into his strategy, as well as increasing his carb and fluid intake slightly to maintain his energy levels and reduce the likelihood of cramp.”
PF&HBrennan's full stats
Data Confidence
We rate each of our case studies from 1-5 based on the level of accuracy, and our confidence in the data.
There is an adequate level of accuracy in the data collected and the numbers reported. The athlete manages to recall what they ate and drank including most specifics (brands flavours quantities plausible estimations of volumes). However there are estimations made within the data which affect the overall confidence level in the data reported.