• Fenella had her best full-distance race performance to date at Challenge Roth, executing her bike power and run pace exceptionally to finish 2nd, almost 15 minutes ahead of 3rd place
• As temperatures rose throughout the race, Fenella had planned her fueling and hydration strategy for this exact scenario, and executed it well to crush her full-distance PB and finish just 36 seconds outside of the magic 3-hour marathon mark
• Fenella made sure to enjoy every second of this iconic race by smiling and waving to the crowds on the bike and high-fiving supporters on the run. She said “the race was amazing, it’s such a cool experience and I loved the support from the crowd” but emphasised how much fueling and particularly hydration played a role between those who performed well and those who didn’t

Hydration

• Fenella ensured she started the race optimally hydrated by preloading with 1L/32oz x PH 1500 Tablet and 750ml/24oz x PH 1500 (Drink Mix) in the hours before the start. Whilst this isn’t our usual recommendations for an optimal preload (i.e. 1 x ~500ml/16oz PH 1500 the night before and the morning of the race), we’ve seen Fenella utilise this strategy effectively in previous races where temperatures were expected to be hot
• In the first 5km of the bike, Fenella dropped one of her two 750ml/24oz bottles containing a PF 90 Energy Gel, one PH 1500 (Tablet) and one PH 1000 (Drink Mix). Fortunately, Fenella’s partner and coach Billy was able to recreate a similar drink with one PF 90 Gel and one PH 500 (Drink Mix) and hand this to her mid race
• Fenella also carried two 750ml/24oz bottles which had one PF 90 Gel and two PH 1500 (tablets). Whilst mixing electrolytes and carbohydrates isn’t something we normally recommend, we have seen Fenella and a number of other athletes use this strategy successfully on several occasions
• In total, Fenella drank ~6.93L/243oz across the whole race which split into ~3.05L/103oz on the bike and ~3.88L/131oz during the run. This was the first time we’ve seen Fenella take on more fluid whilst running than on the bike, which is likely due to the rapidly rising temperatures she experienced during the marathon, and not wanting to dehydrate or overheat
• Furthermore, Fenella’s fluid (~814ml/27oz per hour) and sodium intake (~984mg/h) at this race were considerably higher than the last time she raced in Roth, where she averaged ~662ml/23oz and ~584mg/h per hour respectively
• Fenella’s intake of sodium throughout the race was ~8,383mg which in relation to her fluid intake gave her a relative sodium concentration of ~1,210mg/L. Considering Fenella’s high sweat sodium concentration of 1,331mg/L, she will have replaced a large proportion of her losses. She described a couple of occasions on the run where she tried to take an Electrolyte Capsule without any water and wasn’t able to, but thankfully her solid intake on the bike (~1,743mg/L) will have prevented her sodium levels dropping too much
• During the marathon, Fenella drank an impressive ~3.8L/128oz of fluid (1.29L/43oz per hour) as she battled to stay hydrated and regulate her body temperature whilst running alongside a canal which she described as “like running in an oven”
• She was able to utilise personalised pick-up points during the run and grabbed a ~300ml/10oz bottle of concentrated PH 1500 on two occasions, managing to drink ~200ml/6.7oz from each bottle. Fenella felt these were essential late on in the race, giving her the sodium hit she needed to keep running hard
• Fenella kept herself as cool as possible by regularly tipping cups of water over her head at several aid stations on the bike, and at every aid station on the run

Fueling

Conclusions

• Fenella raced hard for the whole race, and ultimately executed her most successful full-distance triathlon to date, one-upping her 3rd place from last year’s Challenge Roth
• This is the highest amount of carbs we’ve seen Fenella hit across the whole race (~99g/h), and although she experienced some burping during the race, she rated her GI comfort 10/10 suggesting she was comfortably hitting these numbers
• Racing well in the heat is something Fenella has focused on with the team at PF&H, and this race was another great example of how she’s nailing her fuel and hydration strategy