Ellie Salthouse
T100 Singapore
Marina Bay10th, FPROEllie's headline numbers
Ellie's strategy
Fueling
T - 1-4hrs: Ate a carb rich meal (Low in fat & fibre)
T - 15mins: Took in a final dose of carb
"I struggled to get my drinks and gels in during the early part of the bike, but I was pushing really hard, and once I backed off a bit this became easier. My stomach didn’t feel all that good for the rest of the race… lessons learned! Energy-wise I was pretty good, although I was quite hungry on the bike. "
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.
Ellie655mg/L
Ellie 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.
Whilst Ellie's losses are on the low side, getting her hydration strategy right is still crucial when it's hot and/or humid as her higher sweat rate in these conditions can result in significant net losses over the duration of a race.
Learn moreT - 60mins: Drank ~500ml of strong electrolyte drink
"I probably should have taken in the extra PH 500 I had with me on the bike, but overall I think it was pretty spot on."
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
At Ellie’s previous middle-distance race in Geelong, she took slightly above the general recommended dose for caffeine (3-6mg/kg). Despite not having any negative side effects on the day, she chose to drop one of the PF 30 Caffeine Gels from her bike menu for this slightly shorter race. This brought her within the recommended dosage, but sadly not even the ergogenic effects of caffeine could prevent the oppressive heat and humidity from sapping her energy.
How Ellie hit her numbers
Here's everything that Ellie ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“Overall satisfaction is probably just about the pass mark. I’m not stoked but a top 10 in this field shouldn’t be snuffed at.”
Ellie“Ellie went out guns blazing on the bike, and perhaps slightly overcooked her engine as she found herself backing off for the rest of the ride, and “death marching” the run. Despite this, Ellie’s fuel and hydration strategy was solid, with GI distress likely being a result of the harder-than-planned effort and high heart rate. Overall, she managed to account for her fluid and sodium losses well, especially considering the intensity of the temperature.”
PF&HEllie'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.