14th
Brett Halliwell's scorecard
IRONMAN 70.3® Swansea
Sunday 7th August, 2022
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
82g
Carb per hour
509mg
Sodium per hour
521ml
Fluid per hour
977mg/L
Relative sodium concentration
3.22mg/kg
Caffeine per bodyweight
How Brett hit those numbers
How Brett's hydration and fueling went...
- Brett suffered a hamstring injury a couple of weeks prior to toeing the line in Swansea and was a little apprehensive about how it would respond to a hard race
- Fortunately he was able to swim and bike hard, before his pre-race fears came true and he was forced to run much slower than he’d have liked and allow the race to go on without him in the mix, sensibly not wishing to worsen his injury
- Brett’s fueling and hydration on the bike was good, and would have set him up for a strong run performance, and he’s taken a lot of confidence from that
Hydration
- By preloading the night before and the morning of the race with 500ml/16oz of PH 1500, Brett will have optimised his blood plasma volume and reduced his cardiovascular strain as a result
- Brett did drink a relatively large quantity of plain water the morning of the race (~1L/32oz), and therefore will have reduced the relative sodium concentration of his morning preload
- As a habitual caffeine drinker, Brett had two black coffees with his breakfast which will have increased his alertness and reduced the perception of effort starting the race
- During the bike, Brett’s 750ml/24oz bottle had two PH 1500 (Drink Mix) packets in. He also picked up ~300ml/10oz plain water from the on-course aid station to top up his fluid intake
- This gave him a total fluid intake of ~1,050ml/35oz, with a relative sodium concentration of ~1,429mg per litre. Averaging just ~441ml/15oz per hour on the bike is quite low, but as temperatures were mild (13-20℃/55-68℉), and Brett’s self-perceived sweat rate is fairly modest, this will likely have replaced a good proportion of his sweat losses
- On the run, Brett ran out of T2 with a 500ml/16oz bottle of PH 1500 which he held onto until kilometre eight, where after drinking ~350ml/11oz of it he discarded and switched to plain water and Coca Cola
- In total, Brett drank ~1,270ml/43oz of fluid and ~766mg of sodium, which equates to a relative sodium concentration of ~603mg/L. Brett’s sweat sodium concentration is 573mg/L and therefore he did a solid job of replacing his losses
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
30g
carb 30 mins before
60-90g
carb per hour during
- In true triathlete style, Brett had a whole margarita pizza and some garlic bread the night before the race, topping off two days of carb-loading. On race morning he ate a small bowl of plain rice with some banana and honey mixed in to further top up his glycogen stores
- Brett planned to take a PF 30 Caffeine Gel within 20 minutes of the start, but as the race was delayed this ended up being ~45 minutes before the gun went off
- Whilst the caffeine will still have given Brett a boost in performance, his blood glucose levels won’t have been optimised and would likely have been decreasing by the time he actually started
- By adding three PF 90 Gels into his 500ml/16oz bottle along with two PF 30 Caffeine Gels in his bento box, Brett hit an impressive ~127g of carb per hour on the bike. This is slightly over what the science suggests is optimal for endurance performance, and perhaps Brett’s gut wasn’t fully absorbing this quantity of carb
- Furthermore, his stomach felt a bit full heading onto the run so backed off the carb. In addition to feeling full, as he stepped off the bike and began running, a niggling hamstring injury resurfaced and put an end to his competitive ambitions for the day
- Brett continued to back off the carb as his pace dropped, and he felt he no longer required an aggressive fueling strategy. In the end, he took just ~61g of carbs during the run, averaging ~40g/h
Conclusions
- In all, Brett was “pretty pleased” with his race in Swansea, showing he could mix it with the front guys on the bike, and but for a niggling injury he was prepared to run hard too
- With an average carb intake of ~82g/h across the whole race, Brett’s gut training in recent months is paying dividends, but could benefit perhaps by slightly reducing his intake on the bike so he doesn’t experience any stomach discomfort in the early stages of the run
- Brett added that despite not having the race he planned, he’s in good spirits heading into another block of training, thanking himself that he backed off and didn’t worsen his hamstring injury
Key info
Brett Halliwell
Male
72kg
Sweat sodium concentration
573mg/L
Sweat sodium classification
Low
* determined by our Sweat Test
Event information
Sport
Triathlon
Discipline
Middle distance
Event
IRONMAN 70.3® Swansea
Location
Swansea, Wales
Date
7th August, 2022
Swim Distance
1.9km / 1.2mi
Bike Distance
90.1km / 56.0mi
Run Distance
21.1km / 13.1mi
Total Distance
113.1km / 70.3mi
Bike Elevation
900m / 2,953ft
Run Elevation
25m / 82ft
Total Elevation
925m / 3,035ft
Race conditions
Weather Conditions
Mild
Precipitation
No Rain
Min Temp
13°C / 55°F
Max Temp
20°C / 68°F
Avg Temp
18°C / 64°F
Humidity
60%
Athlete feedback
Race Satisfaction
7/10
Hydration rating
8/10
I didn't take on too much fluid on the bike as temperatures were mild, felt a bit thirsty heading onto the run so maybe over did the sodium a little
Energy levels
9/10
No dips at all, ran the last ~3k with Kat Matthews and was able to pick up the pace no problem
Toilet stops
Yes
GI comfort
10/10
Stomach felt really good the whole way
Cramping
No cramping
Brett's Thoughts
My hamstring injury reared it's ugly head on the run, so I decided to run easy and not make it worse. Up until that point I was feeling really good so I can take a lot of positives from this race
Brett's full stats
Carbohydrate (g) | Sodium (mg) | Fluid (ml) | Caffeine (mg) | Relative sodium concentration (mg/L) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Overall | |||||
Total intake | 364 | 2,266 | 2,320 | 232 | 977 |
Per hour | 82 | 509 | 521 | 52 | |
Bike and Run | |||||
Total intake | 364 | 2,266 | 2,320 | 232 | 977 |
Per hour | 93 | 578 | 592 | 59 | |
Bike | |||||
Total intake | 303 | 1,500 | 1,050 | 200 | 1,429 |
Per hour | 127 | 629 | 441 | 84 | |
Run | |||||
Total intake | 61 | 766 | 1,270 | 32 | 603 |
Per hour | 40 | 499 | 828 | 21 |
Data Confidence
1
2
3
4
5
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.