• We worked with Adam on his fueling and hydration plan ahead of what was only his second ever race over the full IRONMAN distance. However, our best laid plans did go slightly awry as Adam lost his bottle of concentrated gel mix early on in the bike leg
• The bottle contained ~9 gels and Adam estimated he’d only consumed about two by that point. Ever the pro, Adam didn’t panic and adjusted his strategy; opting for energy chew packets because he knew he could tolerate them

Hydration

• The weather conditions were what anyone outside of the U.K. would describe as ‘cold’ and so Adam’s fluid intake of ~800ml/hr (~28oz/hr) on the bike is actually quite high and can be attributed to the fact he largely relied on his fluids for his carb intake
• Adam took in an average of ~493mg of sodium per hour during the race and, when we account for the fluid he consumed, this gives a relative sodium concentration of ~934mg/L
• Given the weather and the fact that Adam's sweat sodium concentration isn't too much higher than this, he did a great job of meeting his sodium and fluid needs during this race

Fueling

Conclusions

• Despite the early setback of losing his concentrated bottle of gels, Adam adapted quickly and still hit some impressive numbers in terms of his carbohydrate, sodium and fluid intake
• Moving forward, considering the use of some caffeine earlier in the race might be beneficial to performance. Learn more