Adam Bowden
IRONMAN® Bolton
Bolton5thAdam's headline numbers
Adam's strategy
Fueling
T - 1-4hrs: Ate a carb rich meal (Low in fat & fibre)
Adam would benefit from taking in a final dose of carb <30 minutes before
"I thought I fueled as best I could considering the dropped bottle."
Like a lot of well-thought-out plans, this one didn’t go entirely as hoped. Unfortunately, Adam lost his bottle of concentrated gel mix early on into the bike leg due to a pothole. The bottle contained approximately nine PF 30 Gels, and he estimated he’d only consumed about two before dropping the bottle, meaning his only carb source remaining was from PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix. Ever the pro, Adam didn’t panic and was able to adjust his strategy, opting for alternative sources of carbs by relying on the aid stations. Despite the dropped bottle, he still managed a decent carb intake to support his energy levels.
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.
Adam778mg/L
Adam has been Sweat Tested to dial in his 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 Adam's losses are on the low side, getting his hydration strategy right is still important if he wants to perform at his best.
Learn moreT - 60mins: Drank ~500ml of strong electrolyte drink
"I didn’t feel dehydrated at any point. "
Adam relied on fluids to meet his carb needs during the race, which can be a viable strategy if an athlete knows they can tolerate it well. Plus, the weather conditions were on the cooler side at this race, so it ended up working well for Adam. After preloading with PH 1500, he carried a bottle of PH 1500 on the bike and then used PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix as his primary fuel source. Subsequently, he had sodium in all of his fluids, and even though he didn’t consume hardly any sodium on the run, Adam had front-loaded enough on the bike that he had replaced most of his losses and was sufficiently hydrated all the way until the end.
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
Adam didn’t consume any caffeine on the bike and only had a small amount on the run through the energy drinks that he picked up from the aid stations. For future races, we would recommend he trials a higher caffeine dosage in training to be able to incorporate it into his race plan, allowing him to reap the ergogenic benefits that the stimulant provides.
How Adam hit his numbers
Here's everything that Adam ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“For only my second full IRONMAN® event, I’m happy with my performance. ”
“Despite the early setback of losing his concentrated bottle of gels, Adam adapted quickly and still hit decent numbers for his carb, sodium and fluid intake. Moving forward, using caffeine earlier in the race might be beneficial to support his performance, as well as carrying some backup gels in case of unfortunate situations like this race saw. ”
PF&HAdam'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.