1st
Fenella Langridge's scorecard
Challenge Salou
Sunday 3rd April, 2022
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
83g
Carb per hour
355mg
Sodium per hour
405ml
Fluid per hour
876mg/L
Relative sodium concentration
4.02mg/kg
Caffeine per bodyweight
How Fenella hit those numbers
How Fenella's hydration and fueling went...
- Fenella opened her season with an excellent performance at Challenge Salou as she finished on top of the podium in a time of 3 hours and 50 minutes. Due to very cold conditions (3℃/37°F) and safety reasons, the Challenge race dropped the swim leg and was changed to a duathlon, so competitors ran 4km, cycled 85km and then ran 21km
- Despite the format change, Fenella had a great race and hit solid numbers of carbohydrate, fluid and sodium by using her pre-planned hydration and fueling strategy. After a solid ride, she came out of T2 in 3rd place behind Els Visser and Lisa Norden, then pushed on to catch and pass them early in on in the run leg, eventually finishing 2 minutes clear of Visser
Hydration
- For her hydration strategy, Fenella had two 750ml/25oz bottles on the bike filled with water, a gel and a PH 1500 tablet. She finished one bottle and drank three quarters of the other. On the run, she drank a mouthful of water at each aid station (8 aid stations over the two laps). Overall, Fenella drank ~1.5L/51oz of fluid which equated to ~405ml/hr (14oz/hr) on average over the whole race
- This fluid intake is lower than what we saw her drink at both Challenge Roth (~662ml/22oz per hour) and IM Mallorca (~664ml/22oz per hour) last year. The conditions were much warmer at those races compared to Salou, so Fenella sensibly felt that her sweat rate was considerably lower and she could dial down her fluid intake accordingly
- Fenella took some sodium on board from the PH 1500 tablets in her bottles on the bike, consuming ~355mg of sodium per hour which meant that the relative sodium concentration of what she consumed was ~876mg/L. From her Advanced Sweat Test, we know Fenella is a salty sweater, losing 1331mg/L and generally aims to consume higher amounts of sodium. However, the extremely cold conditions and short race duration meant that her net losses wouldn’t have been too high in Salou, so she was able to be less aggressive with her sodium consumption compared to during her hotter, full distance triathlons last season
- Rating her hydration strategy as a 7.5 out of 10, Fenella was happy with her plan saying the only slight change she could have made was to finish her second bottle on the bike
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
30g
carb 30 mins before
60-90g
carb per hour during
- On the morning of the race, Fenella ate her usual carb-rich breakfast of rice and honey, and a baguette with jam to top up her glycogen stores, so she was starting well fueled. Alongside this, she preloaded with PH 1500 to increase her blood plasma volume and start well hydrated, and she drank a black coffee and a caffeine gel just before the race start so she got to the line with high perceived energy levels
- In addition to her pre-race coffee and gel, Fenella got caffeine on board during the race by consuming one caffeine gel on the bike and one on the run (75mg caffeine each). In total, including the final gel, this meant she had a race dose of 225mg caffeine (4.02mg per kg of bodyweight), which falls within the recommended range of 3-6mg/kg. Fenella is accustomed to using caffeine before and during races and this high dose is similar to what we have seen her reach at previous races
- To fuel during the race, Fenella put two PF 90 Gels in her bottles and used a caffeine gel during the bike leg. She then used one PF 90 Gel and another caffeine gel during the run. This meant Fenella hit ~84g of carbohydrate per hour on both the bike and the run; an excellent amount and the highest we’ve seen her achieve on the run leg yet
- Middle-distance triathletes generally taper carbohydrate consumption on the run compared to the bike, mainly because the mechanics of running mean it’s typically more difficult to consume as much as on the bike (i.e. towards the top end of the recommended 60-90g/hr). So, it was great to see Fenella reap the benefits of testing out her fueling strategy and carb consumption during training runs in order to maintain such consistency across both disciplines in this race
- Fenella managed to push towards 90g/hr on the run while experiencing no GI distress and this bodes extremely well for the upcoming IM World Championships, where high carbohydrate availability on the marathon will be necessary for optimal performance
- Fenella’s strategy was to drip feed fuel on the run by sipping on a PF 90 Gel throughout. This was a great technique to keep her energy levels high as she pushed past Els and Lisa to take the lead and sustain this fast pace over the half-marathon
Conclusions
- Fenella did a great job of meeting her carb, sodium and fluid needs in tricky conditions to win her season opener in Salou. Being the first race of the season, she was “unsure how it was going to go” so was ecstatic to beat a tough field and rated her race satisfaction as 9 out of 10
- With the World Championships in St George just a month away, Fenella can take a lot of confidence from the performance and race strategy she executed in Spain. We’re looking forward to seeing her perform against the worlds’ best and put her refined hydration and fueling strategy to the test once again
Key info
Fenella Langridge
Female
56kg
Sweat sodium concentration
1,331mg/L
Sweat sodium classification
Very High
* determined by our Sweat Test
Result
Position
1st
Overall Time
3:50:41
Bike Time
2:11:22
Run Time
1:20:03
Event information
Sport
Triathlon
Discipline
Duathlon
Event
Challenge Salou
Location
Salou, Spain
Date
3rd April, 2022
Bike Distance
85.0km / 52.8mi
Run Distance
21.0km / 13.0mi
Total Distance
110.0km / 68.4mi
Race conditions
Weather Conditions
Cold
Precipitation
No Rain
Min Temp
2°C / 36°F
Max Temp
5°C / 41°F
Avg Temp
3°C / 37°F
Humidity
56%
Athlete feedback
Race Satisfaction
9/10
Hydration rating
7/10
I could have finished my second bottle on the bike
Energy levels
9/10
Sipping on the jumbo gel throughout worked really well and I never felt a dip in energy
Toilet stops
Yes
Once on the bike
GI comfort
10/10
Cramping
Twinges but not full-on cramps
Fenella's full stats
Carbohydrate (g) | Sodium (mg) | Fluid (ml) | Caffeine (mg) | Relative sodium concentration (mg/L) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Overall | |||||
Total intake | 317 | 1,359 | 1,553 | 225 | 876 |
Per hour | 83 | 355 | 405 | 59 | |
Bike and Run | |||||
Total intake | 295 | 1,344 | 1,553 | 150 | 866 |
Per hour | 84 | 382 | 441 | 43 | |
Bike | |||||
Total intake | 183 | 1,328 | 1,313 | 75 | 1,012 |
Per hour | 84 | 608 | 601 | 34 | |
Run | |||||
Total intake | 112 | 16 | 240 | 75 | 65 |
Per hour | 84 | 12 | 180 | 56 |
Data Confidence
1
2
3
4
5
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.