IRONMAN 70.3® St George

Coming off a DNF due to a bike positioning issue in Texas a few weeks prior, Danielle was understandably nervous for St George. Her normal pre-race breakfast came back up as she suffered with nausea due to these nerves, but she still managed to get down a PF 30 Caffeine Gel in the final 20 minutes before the gun. Her energy levels on the bike were great, as she relied on her ‘super bottle’ containing 210g carb consisting of Carb Only Drink Mix and PH 1500 (Drink Mix) mixed into a 1 litre bottle. While this is a pretty strong mixture and may not be suitable for every athlete, Danielle has trialled and practised this in training for the past couple of seasons, and alternating sips with her 750ml hydration-only bottle of PH 1500 (Tablets) works well for her. Since she took a PF 30 Gel at the very end of the bike leg, she delayed her fueling until a bit later into the run this time. Her average carb intake went from ~114g/h on the bike to ~61g/h on the run, which likely contributed to the fatigue she felt on this last leg. It may be helpful to move the final bike gel earlier so she can start fueling earlier on the run next time around.

Even though St George is usually a dry, moderate climate race, this year it saw higher temperatures and made for a tough day out on course. Danielle has been working hard on increasing her sodium relative to the fluid she takes on, and made significant improvement last season on this, with the winning strategy for her being to diligently add PH 1500 (Tablets) to her front bottle as she drinks and refills with water. Staying on top of her sodium and fluid intake was crucial in this hot race, especially since Danielle’s learned through sweat rate measurements that she’s a very heavy sweater in hot conditions. Her fluid intake dropped off significantly on the run (going from ~1.3L/h to ~396ml/h), but for the 70.3® distance, this ‘frontloading’ on the bike carried her through the run, supplemented by a handful of aid station water cups and salt capsules.

Danielle is used to using caffeine in her races, so it was a no brainer to include it in her strategy. After her morning coffee and pre-race PF 30 Caffeine Gel, she had an additional 200mg dose of caffeine once on the run. While her total intake was in line with the recommendations for harnessing the stimulant’s ergogenic benefits, it may be better to move or add a caffeine dose to when she’s on the bike in order to give it enough time to peak in her bloodstream (~45-60 minutes) and mask fatigue on the run.