Sophie Power
IAU 24h European Championship
Sophie's headline numbers
Sophie's strategy
Fueling
T - 1-4hrs: Ate a carb rich meal (Low in fat & fibre)
T - 15mins: Took in a final dose of carb
"I was absolutely exhausted at the finish line. "
Sophie sensibly varied the taste and texture of her intake throughout the 24-hour race, using a range of sports nutrition products and real foods to avoid ‘flavour fatigue’, which can be an issue during such long endurance events. Despite her best attempts, Sophie said that the last four hours were a struggle and that she even had a craving for custard! Still, she averaged a carb intake almost bang on the 60g/h recommendations for an event of this length and intensity. She also wore a continuous glucose monitor from Supersapiens so her team could watch out for drops in blood glucose levels and make sure she gave her body the fuel it needed to keep moving.
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.
Sophie941mg/L
Sophie has been Sweat Tested to dial in her hydration plan
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.
Whilst Sophie's losses are on the moderate side, getting her hydration strategy right is still important if she wants to perform at her best.
Learn moreT - 60mins: Drank ~500ml of strong electrolyte drink
"I feel like I adjusted my strategy well throughout, but did have a lot of toilet stops. "
Sophie drank between ~250ml and ~850ml per hour, adapting on the fly to effectively replace a good proportion of what she was losing during hotter periods of the day but dialling her intake back when it was cooler, reflecting a lower sweat rate. Sophie’s main source of electrolytes came from the PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix, which helped her to achieve an overall relative sodium concentration similar to that of her losses based on her Sweat Test results.
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
Sophie utilised the benefits of caffeine well through the use of PF 30 Caffeine Gels. The general recommendations for endurance performance are to consume between 3-6mg of caffeine per kg of bodyweight. However, a 24-hour event means having to stay awake overnight, so pushing above this recommendation may be appropriate, especially by including doses of caffeine during the night to help fight circadian rhythms.
How Sophie hit her numbers
Here's everything that Sophie ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“A great new PB, but I have lots of room for improvement using lessons learnt during this race. ”
“Through prior knowledge of her sweat sodium concentration and sweat rate, Sophie successfully executed her pre-planned hydration strategy to avoid dehydration on the day. Even though she faced some flavour fatigue later on, she still hit her fueling targets overall. On the 1.5km lapped course, Sophie recorded a 24-hour personal best of 218.8km covered, burning just under 14,000 calories in the process! ”
PF&HSophie'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 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).