Germain Grangier
Swiss Canyon Trail
Val-de-Travers1st, FPROGermain's headline numbers
Germain's strategy
Fueling
T - 1-4hrs: Ate a carb rich meal (Low in fat & fibre)
Germain would benefit from taking in a final dose of carb <30 minutes before
"My energy levels were a 10 apart from around 65km in where my carb intake was limited so I didn’t feel great."
Despite the dip in energy he felt in the last 16km, Germain was able to hit well over the general carb recommendations for a race of this duration and intensity. This is an impressive level of consumption to tolerate, and Germain rated his gastrointestinal comfort a perfect 10 out of 10. Many elite level athletes, like Germain, are consistently achieving over 90g/h of carbohydrate intake (once thought to be the ceiling of absorption), which is encouraging considering the trend between higher carb intake and improved performance.
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 always have cramps for the first long race of the season, as it starts to get warm, but I didn’t have any this weekend - so that’s great. "
Germain's hydration strategy included using 500ml flasks of energy drink mix throughout and pre-prepared PH 1000 bottles at aid stations. Due to hot and humid conditions, he aimed for a proactive approach but got lost after ~6 hours, missing some aid stations and running out of water for a period, which affected his pace. Despite this, he consumed ~500ml/h on average, though he would have liked to aim for ~750ml/h. Encouragingly, he did not cramp, as he has done during his past early season races, this may in part be due to his slightly higher relative sodium intake, but there's still some room for improvement in an event this long.
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
Germain had a moderate caffeine dose in the morning from two cups of coffee, and then topped up his caffeine levels during the race using caffeinated drink mix and a gel. This represents a good strategy for a race of this duration (5-12 hours) which exceeds caffeine's half-life of ~4-5 hours.
How Germain hit his numbers
Here's everything that Germain ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“A great start to the season, so I’m happy. ”
“Despite missing some aid stations at the Swiss Canyon race, Germain was still able to put in an excellent performance, finishing over 40 minutes ahead of the closest competitor. He hit impressive carb numbers and replaced a solid proportion of his sodium and fluid losses. ”
PF&HGermain'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.