Emma Pallant-Browne
IRONMAN 70.3® Boulder
Boulder1st, FPROEmma's headline numbers
Emma'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 levels were good all day and I was pleased with how much I could eat on the bike."
Emma consumed an impressive amount of carb on the bike leg in Boulder, averaging over 120g/h. This is over double what we saw her consume at IRONMAN® 70.3 Florida and PTO Williamsburg. However, she dropped her intake significantly down to just ~23g/h on the run by consuming only one PF 30 Gel. This taper in consumption is not uncommon in triathlon, and something we’ve seen Emma do before. While ~154g/h is a *very* high carb intake, there’s nothing necessarily wrong with this level of consumption as long as it was tolerated well by Emma with no GI discomfort, and frontloading her intake on the bike was likely helpful to offset the drop in intake on the run.
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.
Emma716mg/L
Emma 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 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 moreDrinking a strong electrolyte drink before the race could have helped Emma start optimally hydrated
"I'm confident I couldn't have done much more from a hydration perspective."
Emma’s average relative sodium concentration during the race was ~1,104mg/L, relying on PH 1000 (Drink Mix) for her electrolyte consumption. She consumed all of her sodium on the bike, which worked well this time as she managed the run without any issues. However, in more challenging conditions and over longer races, she should consider continuing her sodium intake over the run to mitigate accumulating a deficit later on in the race. Despite having a low-to-moderate sweat sodium concentration (~716mg/L), Emma's high sweat rate means her net sodium losses are significant, so slightly ‘over-salting’ compared to her losses (going from 716mg/L to 1000mg/L) helps increase her fluid retention. In terms of fluid intake, Emma consumed ~833ml per hour on the bike, suiting her high sweat rate (which can reach over 2L/h at times). During the run, Emma reduced her sodium, carb and fluid intake but still sipped frequently by taking cups of water from aid stations, which was sufficient for the half marathon distance.
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.
Consuming caffeine in the hours before the start may have increased perceived energy levels
Emma chose not to consume any caffeine immediately before and during the race. This would be well worth testing out in training and then implementing into future race plans as there is ample research showing caffeine’s benefits for performance.
How Emma hit her numbers
Here's everything that Emma ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“I’m really pleased to have taken the win here, on to the next!”
Emma“Overall, Emma had an excellent race and executed her fuel and hydration plan well. She did a great job consuming such a large carb intake on the bike for sustained energy levels, allowing her to be a little more lenient on the run to focus on a fast finish. We look forward to seeing how the rest of her season goes and supporting her in fine tuning her strategy.”
PF&HEmma'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.