Daniel Churchill
IRONMAN® Canada-Ottawa
OttawaCompleted, M50-54Daniel's headline numbers
Daniel's strategy
Fueling
T - 1-4hrs: Ate a carb rich meal (Low in fat & fibre)
Daniel would benefit from taking in a final dose of carb <30 minutes before
"The run was challenging but overall the race felt great and recovery was very good."
Dan had planned and practiced his fueling before his IRONMAN® debut, so it is no wonder he made it through the race with a 9/10 energy rating. Across the full distance, Dan consumed ~66g of carbohydrate per hour, though a closer look shows a significant disparity of fueling between the bike and the run. On the bike leg, Dan consumed ~111g/h of carbs from on course gels and energy bars. Though we are seeing more athletes surpass 90g/h, Dan experienced some stomach issues coming off the bike as his gut struggled to digest this extreme volume of carbs. As a result, his running carb intake dropped to just ~41g/h, which falls well below our recommended 60-90g/h. Though it is common to see intake drop from the bike to run, for Dan to keep stomach comfort stable, he should consider fueling more consistently across the race and engage in structured gut training to support his high fueling efforts.
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.
Drinking a strong electrolyte drink before the race could have helped Daniel start optimally hydrated
"My hydration was good, I wondered if I had too many electrolytes due to a dry mouth feeling."
Race day was ~21℃ on average and close to ~96% humidity, making it a challenging environment with sweat unable to evaporate and therefore losing its ability to cool. With this in mind, Dan’s total intake of ~6L is modest for the duration of the race. Drinking just over 500ml/h on the bike in these conditions would likely have put Dan in a deficit heading into the run. Fortunately, Dan was cramp free on the day, and did enough to maintain his run/walk to the finish (largely due to a calf injury leading in). Going forward, when he’s pushing the run intensity up in future races, Dan should aim to take on a greater fluid quantity to replace more of his higher sweat losses.
His relative sodium concentration of ~1859mg/L on the bike is on the higher side in comparison to the ~949mg/L that our database of thousands of sweat tests marks as average. This sodium came from two sources - roughly half from PH 1000 that Dan was picking up in bottles on-course and half from energy bars he was also grabbing at aid stations. Dan could look to get a sweat test to better understand his individual sweat sodium losses, but by taking on fuel that is low in sodium and creating a more decoupled fuel and hydration strategy he can continue to hit his carb targets whilst not overconcentrating his sodium.
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
Dan’s total caffeine intake was within the 3-6mg/kg range proved to enhance endurance performance, he spread his intake out across the race; two caffeine gels on the bike and one on the run, then topping up with cola at aid stations. As caffeine's half life (the time it takes for half of it to be cleared from the blood) is ~4-5 hours, Dan may want to consider adding an additional caffeine gel pre-swim, and another top-up during the run to account for the likely drop off, and continue reaping the ergogenic benefits of the stimulant.
How Daniel hit his numbers
Here's everything that Daniel ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“It was a great day! My first IRONMAN and I had been dealing with a calf tear, so I hadn’t run much in the months before the race. That being said, I surpassed my expectations for the run, managing a run/walk and I'm very happy with the results.”
“Off the back of a calf tear which forced his runs in the months leading up to be only 30 minutes, finishing in 14:19:09 with excellent energy levels and no hydration related issues was a solid day’s work for Dan’s first IRONMAN®. To aid his future run performances, Dan could look to take on a more consistent carb intake across disciplines, and adjust both his fluid and sodium intakes further inline with his individual losses.”
PF&HDaniel'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 some confidence in the quantities and brands of products consumed but the data may lack specifics (e.g. volumes specific flavours). A high number of estimations have been made and the room for error is moderate-high. There may also be the possibility that some intake has been grossly over- or under-estimated.