PTO European Open

Emma had to modify her pre-planned fuel and hydration strategy due to some damage to her internal fluid storage on the bike, and as a result, was carrying less carbohydrates than she previously anticipated. As a result, her average carb intake for the bike leg was significantly below the scientific recommendations for a race of this duration and intensity. Her previous races have illustrated good performances despite ingesting fewer carbs than we would recommend, but for both performance and recovery purposes, we would suggest she works hard to train her gut and consume higher doses. This would also help alleviate the extreme dips in energy she experienced and manage her energy levels better, especially when on her period when she finds her energy is often low, like in this race.

As mentioned above, Emma’s damaged hydration system meant she wasn't able to rely on it for additional fluids during the race. Knowing her numbers as well as she does, Emma was able to prepare a back-up plan before the race started. Impressively, despite these difficulties, it’s likely she replaced a good proportion of her sweat losses, as the relative sodium concentration of her drinks during the bike were very close to that of her individual sweat sodium concentration, as determined by a Sweat Test. On the run, temperatures had risen to ~23℃ (73°F), and Emma felt quite thirsty so relied heavily on picking up cups of water from the on-course aid stations, which she passed six times throughout the 18km run. But she still felt very dehydrated at the end, which is supported by her struggling to produce a urine sample for drug testing post-race.