
Emma Pallant-Browne
PTO European Open
Emma's headline numbers
Emma's strategy
Fueling
Carbohydrate is the main fuel you burn when racing. Failing to fuel properly is a leading cause of underperformance in longer races.
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.
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.
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 Emma’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 moreAs 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.
How Emma hit her numbers
Here's everything that Emma ate and drank on the day...
Emma's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
Emma's full stats
Data Confidence?
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.