56th
Tara Grosvenor's scorecard
Trail 100 Andorra by UTMB
Saturday 24th June, 2023
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
54g
Carb per hour
380mg
Sodium per hour
711ml
Fluid per hour
534mg/L
Relative sodium concentration
373mg
Total caffeine
How Tara hit those numbers
500ml x PH 1500 (Drink Mix)
1 x Bowl of rice with syrup and cinnamon
1 x Energy gel (25g carb)
10L x PH 500 (Tablets)
2 x PH Electrolyte Capsule
3 x PF 30 Energy Gel
3 x PF 30 Caffeine Gel
3 x PF 30 Energy Chews
1.5L x Plain water
750ml x Coca Cola Original
6 x Jelly Babies
250ml x Chicken broth
9 x Energy gel (25g carb)
1 x White rice (cooked)
1 x Bounty Chocolate Bar
4 x Battenberg slices
2 x Bubblegum Fizzy Laces
3.5 x Rowntrees Berry Hearts
2 x Rowntrees Randoms Juicers
1 x Naak Stroop Waffle
5 x Watermelon Pot
330ml x Schweppes Fizzy Agrum
330ml x Fanta Orange
1L x Naak Watermelon Drink Mix
How Tara's hydration and fueling went...
- This 105km (65 mile) race saw former professional triathlete, Tara, push herself to new limits. She’d never previously run for longer than 10.5 hrs, further than 69km (42 miles), or climbed an ascent profile greater than 3,600m (11,800ft), or in a European mountain race! The Andorra 100 ticked all those boxes, and she completed her race in a strong 20 hours 41 minutes
- Tara used aid stations along with her individualised fueling and hydration strategy to power her body through the race, learning as she went
Hydration
- Throughout the race, Tara took in an average of ~711ml (25oz) of fluid per hour, which is a high fluid intake to maintain over the long time frame of the ultra
- She took on ~10L (320oz) of PH 500 throughout, in an attempt to replace the fluid and sodium losses she was experiencing through sweating over the course of a 20-hour race where temperatures averaged 27 ℃ (80.6℉)
- Tara hit a high fluid intake throughout, but reported that she needed to pee a lot during. This may have been a result of her not replacing the sodium she lost effectively and we would suggest that Tara swaps out the PH 500 for some PH 1000 to increase her relative sodium concentration slightly
- Tara took on a relative sodium concentration of ~534mg/L (mg/32oz), which is slightly lower than her sweat sodium concentration of 712mg/L (mg/32oz), which means she will have built up a decent deficit due to the long duration of the ultra
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
30g
carb 30 mins before
60-90g
carb per hour during
- Using an approach that’s fairly common for ultra runners, Tara went for a combination of ‘real’ foods alongside sports nutrition products, including PF 30 Gels and PF 30 Chews
- Tara began her pre-race fueling the night before by eating a carb rich dinner of chicken, rice and pesto along with preloading her hydration with PH 1500
- She began her pre-race fueling 30 minutes prior to the start with a 25g carb energy gel, whichincreased her glucose levels just before she began running and helped save her glycogen stores for the 105km ahead
- She then continued her strategy using more 25g carb gels throughout the race along with incorporating some PF 30 Gels, PF 30 Caffeine Gels and PF 30 Chews throughout
- Tara also used aid stations, picking up a variety of different sweets and other carb sources, such as a bowl of rice, some chicken broth and cups of Coca Cola
- She felt that she could’ve spent longer at the aid stations in the middle of the day, getting herself out of race mentality and focusing on the fact that she needed to fuel for the hours ahead
- Towards the end of the race, Tara fixed this, reporting that “having chicken broth sat in a deck chair at the penultimate aid station was the best thing I could ever have eaten” perhaps indicating her sodium levels were low, and her body was beginning to crave saltier foods towards the end of the event
- Tara’s overall carb intake was ~54g per hour, which for a race of this duration is not too far off the recommended intake of ~60g/h. The fact Tara reported feeling positive about her fueling strategy would suggest that she did a good job of nailing her strategy for her debut ultramarathon
Conclusions
- Tara felt she ate well throughout the race, enabling her to push through any tiredness
- She may want to adapt her hydration strategy for future races to prevent needing to pee so frequently, balancing her fluid intake with her sodium replacements to more closely match her sweat sodium concentration
Key info
Tara Grosvenor
Female
Sweat sodium concentration
716mg/L
Sweat sodium classification
Low
* determined by a PH Advanced Sweat Test
Result
Position
56th
Overall Time
20:41:08
Event information
Sport
Running
Discipline
Ultra
Event
Trail 100 Andorra by UTMB
Location
Ordino, Andorra
Date
24th June, 2023
Website
Total Distance
105.0km / 65.2mi
Total Elevation
6,900m / 22,638ft
Race conditions
Weather Conditions
Very Hot
Precipitation
No Rain
Min Temp
18°C / 64°F
Max Temp
31°C / 88°F
Avg Temp
27°C / 81°F
Humidity
55%
Athlete feedback
Race Satisfaction
6/10
Toilet stops
Yes
GI comfort
10/10
Cramping
No cramping
Tara's full stats
| Carbohydrate (g) | Sodium (mg) | Fluid (ml) | Caffeine (mg) | Relative sodium concentration (mg/L) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | |||||
| Total intake | 1,110 | 7,853 | 14,703 | 373 | 534 |
| Per hour | 54 | 380 | 711 | 18 | |
Data Confidence
1
2
3
4
5
There is some confidence in the quantities and brands of products consumed but the data may lack specifics (e.g. volumes specific flavours). A high number of estimations have been made and the room for error is moderate-high. There may also be the possibility that some intake has been grossly over- or under-estimated.