8th
Fenella Langridge's scorecard
IRONMAN World Championships
Saturday 7th May, 2022
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
70g
Carb per hour
983mg
Sodium per hour
608ml
Fluid per hour
1,618mg/L
Relative sodium concentration
8.04mg/kg
Caffeine per bodyweight
How Fenella hit those numbers
How Fenella's hydration and fueling went...
- Fenella couldn’t have asked for a much tougher IRONMAN World Championship debut, but she mastered a demanding course and variable weather conditions to finish 8th in the world with a time of 09:09:40
- The weather played a huge role in what turned out to be a battle of attrition in St George, Utah. It was a chilly start to the race as water temperatures were ~13℃/55℉, but it warmed up as the race wore on as temperatures soared to ~35℃/94℉ on the run leg
- Fenella emerged from the swim in 2nd position, but a wetsuit zip malfunction in transition meant she headed onto the 180km/112mile bike course in 3rd
- An unfortunate 5 minute time penalty for drafting in the final 10 miles of the bike leg cost Fenella more valuable time, but nonetheless she headed into the marathon determined to enjoy the experience
- In what Fenella described as “the best and hardest race I’ve ever done”, she executed a similar fueling and hydration plan to her previous IM races, but increased her sodium intake on the run, which paid dividends in the latter stages of the race as others began to fade
Hydration
- Fenella knew that the temperatures were going to soar as the day progressed in Utah, so she focused on starting hydrated by preloading with PH 1500 in 500ml/16oz of water the night before, and by sipping on two PH 1500 tablets in 1L/32oz of water throughout the morning
- Fenella could consider dialling her pre-race intake back slightly in future races as she also drank 500ml (16oz) of PH 1000 during the morning. We’d recommend sticking to preloading with PH 1500 mixed with 500ml/16oz of plain water ~90 minutes before the start of the race (aiming to finish the drink ~45 minutes before the gun goes off) to ensure optimal hydration - any more fluid could result in unwanted visits to the portaloos!
- Having worked closely with Fenella for several IM races now, she headed into the World Championship race with a dialled hydration strategy which takes into account both her sweat sodium concentration - measured using our Advanced Sweat Test - and her sweat rate, which she recorded several times during race simulation training, both in the UK and out on the St George course
- Fenella’s sodium intake during the race was ~8,994mg in total, averaging ~983mg/hr across the entire race. In relation to the fluid she drank, this meant that the relative sodium concentration of her intake was ~1,618mg/L. Considering Fenella’s above-average sodium concentration of 1,331mg per litre of sweat, she did a solid job at replacing her losses
- Fenella increased her sodium intake compared to previous races, including Challenge Roth and IM Mallorca. This proved effective in the hot temperatures in Utah (highs of 35℃/94℉)
- Fenella’s fluid intake on the bike was ~3.15L/107oz (628ml/22oz per hour), and 2.4L/85oz on the run (757ml/26oz per hour). These are solid numbers considering Fenella’s moderate sweat rate and she will have likely replaced a large amount of the sweat she lost, especially in the heat of the marathon
- Fenella has found success mixing PF 30 Gels with sodium in her bottles when racing. We’d generally advocate using solids for fuel and fluids for hydration for races of this duration, but Fenella has discovered that this as an efficient way for her to get everything she needs on board through trial and error in training, crucially without any GI issues
- During the marathon, Fenella made use of the on-course special needs where she was able to collect pre-made fuel and hydration mixes at ~10, 20 and 30km
- Fenella also took on ~400ml of energy drink, ~540ml of water and a couple of Electrolyte Capsules as she passed through the aid stations on the run. She also made sure to tip plenty of cups of water over herself during the bike and run, which will have helped her body cool more effectively in the low humidity (~12%)
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
30g
carb 30 mins before
60-90g
carb per hour during
- In what has become a staple part of Fenella’s race day preparation, her traditional pre-race breakfast included a bowl of white rice with some honey, half a white baguette and one-and-a-half cups of black coffee
- Fenella had to pack up her breakfast to have on the road, as her journey to the start line began at ~3am, with the race not starting until 6:20am. This was a solid piece of planning by Fenella, who knew how far out from the race start she wanted to have this carb-rich meal before the biggest race of her life
- This breakfast ~2 hours prior, coupled with a caffeine gel ~20 minutes before the start will have topped up her energy stores to ensure she began the race optimally fueled
- Fenella swam extremely well, emerging from the water in 2nd position. She planned to consume up to ~95g of carbs per hour during the bike by using a mixture of PF 30 Gels, PF 30 Energy Chews and on course energy drink mix. Unfortunately, Fenella lost one of her pre-mixed bottles before the race so had to adjust her strategy by making up a slightly more diluted carb-heavy bottle
- Fenella’s total carb intake during the race was ~643g, which equates to an average of ~70g per hour (taking into account her swim time). This was split into ~70g/hr on the bike and ~84g/hr on the run. We would typically expect a higher carb intake on the bike than the run for an IRONMAN race, but Fenella got off the bike feeling slightly hungry and decided to increase her carb intake accordingly
- Fenella has trialled some gut training during sessions to tolerate a higher carb intake and she felt comfortable increasing her intake on the run without fear of GI distress
- To do this, Fenella made good use of the professional athlete’s fueling stations where she had placed bottles containing PH 1500 with PF 30 Gels and caffeine gels taped to the outside
- Taking the gels at regular intervals throughout the run staved off critical glycogen depletion and ensured Fenella was able to pace the marathon evenly, without worrying about diminishing energy levels later on
- As we have seen her do before and during previous races, Fenella used caffeine doses effectively throughout the day with the aim to aid her performance. She took one caffeine gel on the bike and multiple on the run to reduce her perceived fatigue
- In total, Fenella’s dosage of caffeine was ~8.04 milligrams per kilogram of body weight which is in excess of the general guidelines for optimal performance (3-6 mg/kg). Having said that, Fenella was racing for 9 hours, a duration longer than the average half life for caffeine (~4-5 hours) and therefore it was effective for her to ‘top up’ the caffeine in her system
Conclusions
- Fenella raced hard on her IM World Championship debut to earn herself a solid top-10 position
- She rated her race satisfaction as a 6 out of 10, stating that “I’m happy with the result, but I’m definitely hungry for more”
- Fenella’s sodium and carb numbers were very solid, particularly the ~84g of carb per hour on the run which enabled her to run strongly right until the finish line
- Fenella said post-race that she felt like she could’ve gone quicker if a few things had gone her way, notably avoiding the wetsuit malfunction in T1 and the drafting penalty. But she told us that her 8th place position has “fueled the fire” as she heads towards another block of training in preparation for Challenge Roth next up
Key info
Fenella Langridge
Female
56kg
Sweat sodium concentration
1331mg/L
Sweat sodium classification
Very High
* determined by a PH Advanced Sweat Test
Result
Position
8th
Overall Time
9:09:40
Swim Time
0:52:26
Bike Time
5:01:15
Run Time
3:11:56
Event information
Sport
Triathlon
Discipline
Full distance
Event
IRONMAN World Championships
Location
Utah, USA
Date
7th May, 2022
Website
Swim Distance
3.8km / 2.4mi
Bike Distance
180.2km / 112.0mi
Run Distance
42.2km / 26.2mi
Total Distance
226.2km / 140.6mi
Bike Elevation
2248m / 7,375ft
Run Elevation
431m / 1,414ft
Total Elevation
2679m / 8,789ft
Race conditions
Weather Conditions
Very Hot
Precipitation
No Rain
Min Temp
21°C / 70°F
Max Temp
35°C / 95°F
Avg Temp
29°C / 84°F
Humidity
12%
Athlete feedback
Race Satisfaction
6/10
Hydration rating
7/10
Felt quite thirsty, sometimes wished the water stations would come sooner
Energy levels
7/10
Felt hungry towards the end of the bike
Toilet stops
Yes
Once on the bike and once on the run
GI comfort
7/10
Cramping
Twinges but not full-on cramps
Fenella's Thoughts
Overall I'm happy-ish with the result, it's certainly fuelled the fire for future races and left me hungry for more
Fenella's full stats
Carbohydrate (g) | Sodium (mg) | Fluid (ml) | Caffeine (mg) | Relative sodium concentration (mg/L) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Overall | |||||
Total intake | 643 | 8,994 | 5,560 | 450 | 1,618 |
Per hour | 70 | 983 | 608 | 49 | |
Bike and Run | |||||
Total intake | 621 | 8,979 | 5,560 | 375 | 1,615 |
Per hour | 76 | 1,095 | 678 | 46 | |
Bike | |||||
Total intake | 352 | 5,492 | 3,150 | 75 | 1,743 |
Per hour | 70 | 1,095 | 628 | 15 | |
Run | |||||
Total intake | 269 | 3,487 | 2,410 | 300 | 1,447 |
Per hour | 84 | 1,095 | 757 | 94 |
Data Confidence
1
2
3
4
5
There is good confidence in the accuracy of the data reported. An athlete feels that the numbers closely reflect what they consumed despite a couple of estimations which may carry some degree of error. The majority of what was consumed is recorded to a high level of specificity (most volumes are known through the use of bottles, brands, quantities, flavours). The numbers are very plausible and align with previous data recordings (if an athlete has collected data previously).