Danielle Lewis
IRONMAN 70.3® St George
St George, Utah6th, FPRODanielle's headline numbers
Danielle's strategy
Fueling
T - 1-4hrs: Ate a carb rich meal (Low in fat & fibre)
T - 15mins: Took in a final dose of carb
"My energy wasn’t quite where I would've liked it to be on the run, but otherwise in the swim and on the bike it was all good. There were a couple of points on the run where I thought if I take something in I could end up with some GI issues, so I steered clear."
Danielle used the same fueling strategy from her previous 70.3 race a few weeks prior, relying mostly on her ‘super bottle’ carb drink concoction during the bike. The combination of this with two PF 30 Gels (one regular and one caffeinated) enabled her to take in an impressive ~109g of carb per hour on the bike. However, this dropped significantly to ~63g/h on the run, as she didn’t consume all of her Soft Flask that contained gels and a PH 1500 sachet in an attempt to not overdo her intake like she did at IRONMAN® Texas. This is likely to have been the culprit for her lower energy levels at this point in the race, so carrying gels that aren’t tied in with her fluid might help keep carb intake steady.
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.
Danielle1310mg/L
Danielle has been Sweat Tested to dial in her hydration plan
Sweat sodium concentration (mg/L) is largely genetically determined and remains relatively stable. Knowing how salty your sweat is enables you to replace a good proportion of your sweat losses, which can range from 200-2,000mg/L.
Given Danielle's losses are High (1,310mg/L), nailing her hydration strategy becomes especially crucial when it's hot and/or humid.
Learn moreT - 60mins: Drank ~500ml of strong electrolyte drink
"I was so thirsty! I wanted to drink a lot of water, but I think it’s because it’s so dry here. However, I think my strategy was really good and worked well."
Even though Danielle experienced excessive thirst during the race, she kept her fluid intake within recommendations. Adding PH 1500 to her secondary bottle on the bike helped increase her sodium intake to more closely match her losses. However, on the run her ratio of sodium to fluid dropped to half of what it was on the bike (~1071mg/L to ~575mg/L), as she relied primarily on aid station water and cola. Going forward, she could carry some Electrolyte Capsules to supplement with or only have electrolytes in her Soft Flask so she can rely on this for hydration, without pushing her carb intake past what she can tolerate.
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
Danielle has developed a routine for caffeine use during races that works well for her. This includes a PF 30 Caffeine Gel in the final 20 minutes before the race start, followed by another toward the end of the bike to power her through the run. With the addition of a few cups of cola, her caffeine intake fell in line with the scientific recommendations.
How Danielle hit her numbers
Here's everything that Danielle ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“Overall, I felt pretty good on this one, and I was definitely more judicious with my fluid intake after the issues I had in the last race.”
“Danielle had a solid race day in St. George and her result catapulted her to the top spot in the IRONMAN® Pro Series Women’s Standings straight after the event! For her future races, we’d recommend separating elements of her fuel and hydration strategy so she can take in enough fluid and sodium to stay on top of her sweat losses without challenging her GI system with more carb than it can tolerate while working at race intensity.”
PF&HDanielle'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 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.