Fenella Langridge
IRONMAN® Western Australia
Busselton1st, FPROFenella's headline numbers
Fenella'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 pretty stable. Even after I served my one minute penalty on the run, I stayed on top of what I was eating and never felt a change."
Fenella executed her pre-race fuel plan perfectly and left nothing to chance. She carried all of her carbs from start to finish, frontloading her intake like she usually does using bottles of plain water and Flow Gel. After this she dropped her carb consumption by ~26% during the marathon, which was still enough to sustain her effort. Fenella’s average intake was very similar to her strategy at the 2023 Challenge Roth, where she finished within four minutes of her overall time here in Western Australia, so it’s clearly working well for her.
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.
Fenella1331mg/L
Fenella 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.
Given Fenella's losses are High (1,331mg/L), nailing her hydration strategy becomes especially crucial when it's hot and/or humid.
Learn moreT - 60mins: Drank ~500ml of strong electrolyte drink
"I drank everything I planned to, and felt generally well hydrated at all times."
As you can see from the graphic above, Fenella loses a high amount of sodium in her sweat, so replacing this requires some proactivity. She did this by drinking just under 1L of water from her bottles on the bike, and taking between 3-4 Electrolyte Capsules alongside. This meant that the relative sodium concentration of her intake was impressively close to her sweat sodium losses (1,316mg/L *vs* 1,331mg/L), so will have replaced a high proportion of what she lost through sweating. Being able to pick up two Soft Flasks of PH 1500 made this electrolyte replacement during the run much easier than normal, and is something Fenella’s implemented successfully several times before.
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.
T - 0-4hrs: Had a final hit of caffeine
Once again, Fenella crushed her caffeine intake at all points of race-day, to reap maximum benefit from the stimulant. She’s a frequent coffee drinker, and suffers no ill effects from higher-than-average doses of caffeine, so hitting just over the general guidelines is likely appropriate for her and we wouldn’t recommend changing anything at this point.
How Fenella hit her numbers
Here's everything that Fenella ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“Throughout the race I knew I needed to stay calm and control my own race, this was no different with my nutrition. I stuck to the plan of taking on everything as scheduled and my energy levels and effort were kept under control and smooth.”
Fenella“Fenella did a brilliant job of executing her fuel and hydration strategy in Busselton, and it played a role in propelling her towards a first career IRONMAN win. After a few ups and downs throughout 2023 at other races, it’s awesome to see Fenella’s dedication to the process paying off with a well-deserved victory to head into the festive period with. ”
PF&HFenella'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.