Damian Hall's scorecard
Lakes in a Day
Saturday 9th October, 2021
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
- 54gCarb per hour
- 212mgSodium per hour
- 314mlFluid per hour
- 677mg/LRelative sodium concentration
- 32mgTotal caffeine
How Damian hit those numbers
Before race (>30mins)
250ml x PH 1000 (Tablet)
3 x Cups of tea
2 x Slices of toast with peanut butter and banana
Pre-race (<30mins)
1 x PF 30 Gel
Race - During
750ml x PH 1000 (Tablets)
2 x PH Electrolyte Capsule
500ml x PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix
8 x PF 30 Gel
900ml x Plain water
-500ml x Additional fluid in mixed drinks
400ml x Cola
500ml x Lemon squash
500ml x Blackcurrant squash
4 x Hard boiled sweet
0.5 x Banana
25 x Handful of jelly sweets
0.5 x Energy bar (20g carb)
0.5 x Energy bar (19g carb)
1 x Energy gel (23.5g carb)
- Damian had a strong performance at the Lakes in a Day event a couple of weeks ago, coming in 2nd in a time of 9 hours and 43 minutes. Although he had hoped to win the event, he mentioned he was ‘pleased with his fuelling’, he ’paced it better than last time’ and that had more ‘mental positivity’ this race (which is great to hear!)
Hydration
- On average, Damian drank ~314ml/11oz of fluid per hour across the whole race consisting of plain water, PH1000, squash and Coca Cola. Although the conditions were mild, this is on the lower end of what we would expect to see and is lower than at UTMB (~480ml/16oz per hour). His intake was especially low between 2 to 4 hours where he was only having ~250ml/hr (~8oz/hr). In agreement, Damian knew he ‘could have drunk more’ and was aware he was ‘taking small risks with liquid’
- In terms of sodium, Damian consumed ~212mg per hour. In relation to the fluid he was taking on board this equates to a relative sodium concentration of ~677mg/L lower than at UTMB. Considering Damian has a high sweat sodium concentration of 1146mg/L, he could have taken on slightly more sodium to replace a greater proportion of his losses
- Damian briefly experienced some mild cramps around four hours into the race in his left adductor. At this point he took an additional two PH Electrolyte Capsules in an attempt to stave off the cramp. Anecdotally, this can be an effective way to keep cramping at bay and it seemed to work for Damian this time. Next time, a higher sodium intake throughout the race, especially during hours 2-4 where his intake dipped would be ideal before cramps set in
- Knowing he was ‘taking risks’ with fluid, Damian rated his hydration strategy as a 7 out of 10. He also mentioned experiencing a ‘pretty uncomfortable stitch’ in the last mile. Although it is hard to determine the cause of this, being optimally hydrated with a high blood plasma volume is likely to reduce the risk of this occurring (learn more about stitches here)
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
30gcarb 30 mins before
60-90gcarb per hour during
- Damian fuelled well pre-race with a breakfast high in carbohydrate and by consuming a PF 30 Energy Gel 15 minutes before the start, exactly as our Quick Carb Calculator recommends, making sure his fuel stores were well topped up at the start line
- Damian used a range of gels, drink mix, bars and sweets throughout the race to try to meet his fuelling needs. Over the whole race, he achieved a carb intake of ~54g per hour. This is higher than what Damian consumed at UTMB (~42g/hr) but falls just below our recommended range of between 60-90g/hr for a race of this length
- When looking at a breakdown of what Damian ate every 2 hours we can see he consumed a higher ~70g/hr in the first 2 hours and during hour 4, however after that there was a drop in his intake to just over ~40g/hr for the rest of the race. We would recommend Damian looks to keep his carb consumption high throughout the race and see if he can achieve over ~70g/hr overall because evidence suggests a higher carb intake can aid performance. To be able to increase his carb intake during races while avoiding GI issues, we would advise Damian to undertake some gut training
- Damian experienced no GI issues during the race (9/10) and said that his energy levels were ‘generally very good’ and rated them an 8 out of 10. But, he mentioned how his energy ‘ebbs and flows a bit of course’. It would be interesting to check for correlations between when he experienced perceived low energy with the parts of the race where he was consuming less carbs
- Having had a moderate dose of caffeine from three cups of tea prior to the race, Damian will have started with high perceived energy levels, however he only consumed a very small amount during the race. Considering the duration he was running for, he could think about having some caffeine as a moderate dose (between 3-6mg/kg body weight) is recommended to aid endurance performance (learn more)
Conclusions
- Overall, Damian had a great race at Lakes in a Day, with a solid result and in tougher conditions than when he had raced it previously, he rated his race satisfaction as an 8 out of 10
- He consumed adequate amounts of sodium, fluid and carb however not with great consistency over the whole 9 hours and 43 minute race. Going forward, Damian should try to consume sodium, carbs and fluid more regularly to avoid dips in intake, such as those experienced here between hour 2 and 4
- Next time, looking to increase his carb intake to push into our recommended 60-90g/hr, possibly by doing some gut training, would be something to try to aid race performance
Key info
Damian Hall
Male
Sweat sodium concentration1,146mg/L
Sweat sodium classificationHigh
* determined by our Sweat Test
Result
Position2nd
Overall Time9:43:00
Event information
SportRunning
DisciplineUltra
EventLakes in a Day
LocationLake District, England
Date9th October, 2021
Total Distance80.0km / 49.7mi
Total Elevation4,000m / 13,123ft
Race conditions
Weather ConditionsMild
PrecipitationRain
Min Temp12°C / 54°F
Max Temp14°C / 57°F
Avg Temp13°C / 55°F
Humidity96%
Athlete feedback
Race Satisfaction8/10
Hydration rating7/10I could have drunk more and knew I was taking small risks with liquid
Energy levels8/10It ebbs and flows a bit but generally very good
Toilet stopsYesTwice, not until 5-6 hours in
GI comfort9/10All great until the last mile where I experienced a pretty uncomfortable stitch
CrampingMild cramps that I could push through
Damian's Thoughts
I hoped to win but was really pleased with fuelling, which felt pretty consistent for me and energy was good. I paced it better than last time, with more mental positivity too.
Data Confidence
1
2
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5
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.