Danielle Lewis' scorecard
IRONMAN 70.3® Oregon
Sunday 3rd July, 2022
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
- 89gCarb per hour
- 1,062mgSodium per hour
- 693mlFluid per hour
- 1,533mg/LRelative sodium concentration
- 3.13mg/kgCaffeine per bodyweight
How Danielle hit those numbers
Before race (>30mins)
500ml x PH 1500 (Tablet)
500ml x PH 1000 (Tablet)
1 x Bagel with peanut butter and banana
1 x Coffee with creamer
Pre-race (<30mins)
1 x PF 30 Caffeine Gel
Race - Swim
*** Try to avoid drinking too much at this point in the race!
Race - Bike
500ml x Pre-made energy drink mix (160g carb) with 2 x PH 1500 (Tablets)
500ml x PH 1500 (Tablets)
1 x PF 30 Gel
1 x PF 30 Caffeine Gel
1.1L x Plain water
Race - Run
3 x PF 30 Gel
600ml x Plain water
60ml x Energy drink (36g carb)
4 x Electrolyte capsule (50mg sodium)
- In a tough line up of experienced athletes, professional triathlete, Danielle Lewis, executed a stellar sub 4-hour performance to take the win at IM 70.3 Oregon
- After experiencing fueling and hydration issues back at IRONMAN Texas in April, Danielle reached out to the team and booked a video call with Sean to talk about her experiences and receive some advice ahead of more races this season
- Putting these practices into place, Danielle said “this was the first race where I felt I got what I needed” and rated her overall race satisfaction as 10 out of 10
Hydration
- Having experienced cramping issues at IM Texas, Danielle knew she needed to go into the race optimally hydrated. She did this by preloading the morning of the race with ~500ml/16oz of PH 1500 (Tablet) (on top of drinking an additional 500ml/16oz of PH 1000) to top up her sodium levels because of past issues with cramping in races
- Going into the bike leg, Danielle believes that she's a salty sweater and therefore supplemented with PH 1500 throughout. She did this by making a highly concentrated sodium drink of two PH 1500 (Tablets) in 500ml/16oz, doubling the relative sodium concentration to ~3,000mg/L. Danielle did mention that this mix was “extremely strong” and picked up a total of ~1.1L/38oz of plain water to dilute it. But, she felt that she didn’t get enough plain water
- In addition to her concentrated sodium bottle, she added a further two PH 1500 (Tablets) to her pre-made energy drink mix (500ml/16oz)
- All in all, Danielle hit a high relative sodium concentration of ~1,905mg/L on the bike. This is likely to have been more than enough to replace her losses and she could look to add just one PH 1500 (Tablet) into her bottles rather than two
- By ‘frontloading’ her race with a stronger relative sodium concentration on the bike, Danielle dial back her sodium intake on the run and the relative sodium concentration of what she consumed was much lower as a result (~349mg/L). She took four electrolyte capsules, containing 50mg of sodium each, while choosing to pick up fluids from the aid stations
- Although we don’t know Danielle’s exact sweat rate and sodium losses, averaging an electrolyte concentration of ~1,533mg/L over the entire race is a sensible level considering the mild temperatures and past issues she has experienced, but she could work on achieving a more consistent sodium intake across the bike and run leg
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
30gcarb 30 mins before
60-90gcarb per hour during
- Before the early race start (6:15am), Danielle managed to fuel well with a carb-rich bagel topped with peanut butter and banana. Combined with her pre-race coffee and PF 30 Caffeine Gel, she ensured that her glycogen stores were full, and her energy levels high for the start
- Heading out of the swim in a speedy 18 minutes 30 seconds, Danielle started to sip on her pre-made energy drink mix that contained a whopping 160g of carb in ~500ml/16oz! Danielle consumed all of this with a PF 30 Gel and a PF 30 Caffeine Gel to keep those energy levels high and ultimately hit a solid ~100g of carb per hour on the bike
- Going into the run feeling strong, she carried a 500ml/16oz soft flask that contained ~200ml/6oz of plain water and three PF 30 Gels to conveniently get in fuel. Washed down with a few sips of sports drink from an aid station that unfortunately made her “feel a bit sick and uncomfortable”, this provided a few extra grams of carbs to hit ~75g per hour
- Despite this mishap, Danielle said that other than that “my stomach felt amazing” and rated this an 8 out of 10
- Over the whole race, Danielle averaged ~89g of carb per hour which helped maintain her high intensity and only experienced a small energy dip during the last two miles where she thought she “needed a little extra fuel”
- We have seen that Danielle can tolerate caffeine well and to mitigate this dip in energy she could look to take a PF 30 Caffeine Gel during the run. Danielle took an overall caffeine dosage of ~3.1 milligrams per kilogram of bodyweight (mg/kg). For events lasting three to five hours the recommended caffeine dosage is ~3-6mg/kg (1.4-2.7mg per lb) and therefore there is certainly leeway for her to increase this
Conclusions
- By following the advice of the PF&H Team, Danielle was able to put together a solid plan to secure the gold at IM 70.3 Oregon
- Whilst taking on board a great amount of carb which can facilitate enhanced performance, Danielle could look to slightly dial down her sodium intake on the bike
- This was the first race that Danielle “felt I got what I needed on board” and she should be very proud of how well her strategy is coming along. As she continues to refine her strategy, we look forward to seeing how much more she can achieve!
Key info
Danielle Lewis
Female64kg
Result
Position1st
Overall Time3:59:33
Swim Time0:13:03
Bike Time2:17:58
Run Time1:18:45
Event information
SportTriathlon
DisciplineMiddle distance
EventIRONMAN 70.3® Oregon
LocationOregon, USA
Date3rd July, 2022
Swim Distance1.9km / 1.2mi
Bike Distance90.0km / 55.9mi
Run Distance21.1km / 13.1mi
Total Distance113.1km / 70.3mi
Bike Elevation350m / 1,148ft
Run Elevation103m / 338ft
Race conditions
Weather ConditionsMild
PrecipitationNo Rain
Min Temp13°C / 55°F
Max Temp19°C / 66°F
Avg Temp15°C / 59°F
Humidity50%
Athlete feedback
Race Satisfaction10/10
Hydration rating9/10I don't think I took on enough water on the bike
Energy levels9/10In the last 2 miles on the run I felt like I need a little extra fuel
Toilet stopsNo
GI comfort8/10My stomach felt amazing and I didn't feel nauseous
CrampingNo cramping
Danielle's Thoughts
This was the first race where I felt I got what I needed
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.