Eef Van Dongen
Headlands GTWS 27km
San Francisco11th, F30-34Eef's headline numbers
Eef's strategy
Fueling
T - 1-4hrs: Ate a carb rich meal (Low in fat & fibre)
T - 15mins: Took in a final dose of carb
"Maybe my energy levels were a bit low in the flatter part of the race after the second downhill, but I think it was mainly just faster women overtaking me."
Eef went into Headlands with a solid fueling plan and executed it brilliantly. She stuck to PF 30 Gels for most of her carb intake, along with one PF 30 Caffeine Gel to give her an extra energy *boost*. Overall, Eef’s total carb intake was just shy of the recommended 90g/h for a race of this intensity and duration, but within striking distance to still have supported her energy levels sufficiently. Also, she rated her GI comfort a perfect ten out of ten, which is testament to the rigorous gut training that she has been doing in her race-specific training sessions leading up to this 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.
T - 60mins: Drank ~500ml of strong electrolyte drink
"I could have drank fluid a bit more evenly throughout the race, but I didn’t have the slightest feeling of dehydration. "
Eef kept it simple with her hydration strategy, drinking plain water and taking Electrolyte Capsules to account for her sodium losses. Although she hasn’t had a Sweat Test to learn her exact sweat sodium concentration, Eef’s subjective feedback on her hydration was extremely positive, and she didn’t feel dehydrated at any point. Therefore, she likely replaced her sweat sodium losses fairly accurately and considering her fluid intake was also in line with the recommendations, her plan kept her away from the debilitating effects of dehydration. We would recommend getting a Sweat Test to further dial in her hydration strategy, especially when racing in hotter conditions where total losses accumulate much quicker and can have a bigger impact.
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
After her morning coffee, Eef consumed two PF 30 Caffeine Gels, one pre-race and one during, to put her just within the recommended range. For future races, we would recommend swapping one of her PF 30 Gels for a PF 30 Caffeine Gel in order to reap the maximum performance benefits that the stimulant has to offer.
How Eef hit her numbers
Here's everything that Eef ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“I deliberately raced a bit more controlled to save energy for the last part, which I knew would be fast running. It leaves me to wonder if I could have possibly pushed a bit harder, but I also think it helped me manage my fueling better. ”
“Eef had a great race at Headlands GTWS 27km and implemented a well-practised fueling strategy to maintain her high energy levels throughout. After getting a Sweat Test to help match her losses more closely, and implementing some more caffeine into her race plan, Eef can most certainly push her performance to the next level. ”
PF&HEef'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.