Paris Olympic Games Triathlon

Ainsley unfortunately crashed during the bike leg and lost the two PF 30 Gels she had planned to take. Thankfully, Ainsley did an excellent job of nailing her pre-race carb load to ensure she started with adequate fuel on board to get her through an Olympic-distance triathlon. She drank a litre of PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix alongside her carb-rich breakfast, and took a PF 30 Caffeine Gel just before the start. As Ainsley had the team relay event a few days after this race, consuming carbs after the race was a priority to ensure she replenished her energy stores sufficiently before heading out again.

Given Ainsley was racing for ~2 hours in warm and humid conditions, it was important that she focused on starting hydrated, as well as replenishing her losses throughout the race, particularly as she was racing the relay a few days later. Between preloading with PH 1500 ahead of the race start, and having another bottle of the high-strength electrolyte on the bike, she managed to stave off cramping all the way to the finish. Her strategy likely replenished most of her sweat losses in the two hours she was racing, but for longer races, it’d be beneficial to do some sweat rate testing to make sure she consumes enough to prevent the risk of dehydration.

Other than a PF 30 Caffeine Gel in the last 20 minutes before the start, Ainsley didn’t use any additional caffeine. Since the stimulant takes ~45 minutes to peak in the bloodstream and has a half life of 4-5 hours (meaning half of it will still be circulating after several hours), she may not necessarily benefit from adding an additional dose of caffeine during an Olympic-distance race. However, she could look to increase the amount before either through an extra caffeine gel or even a coffee to meet the scientific recommendations for dosage of the stimulant and reap the full ergogenic benefits.