Chadley James
IRONMAN 70.3® World Championship
Chadley's headline numbers
Chadley's strategy
Fueling
Carbohydrate is the main fuel you burn when racing. Failing to fuel properly is a leading cause of underperformance in longer races.
Despite his perception, Chadley’s average carb intake of 59g/h was below the scientific recommendations for a race of this distance and duration. There’s clear scientific evidence suggesting a strong relationship between higher carb intakes and enhanced performance and recovery, if it can be achieved whilst avoiding GI issues. So, it’s worth Chadley working on training his gut to tolerate more carbs to see if he can reap the benefits on race day.
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.
Given that Chadley reports being a very salty sweater, his intake of ~373mg of sodium per litre of fluid during this race, was likely insufficient. He may want to consider getting a Sweat Test to help him dial in his numbers, and we’d recommend increasing his sodium intake in future races, especially those in hotter conditions where his sweat losses will be amplified. Given that the stormy conditions meant he wanted to focus on safety and his bike handling, Chadley didn’t finish his bottle of PH 1500 during the bike leg, contributing to the lower than ideal sodium intake. He could also consider using Electrolyte Capsules on the run to supplement the water he picks up to better support his sweat sodium losses and increase his sodium intake, and potentially reduce the likelihood of suffering from cramping in future races, like he did here.
How Chadley hit his numbers
Here's everything that Chadley ate and drank on the day...
Chadley's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
Chadley's full stats
Data Confidence?
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.