Giles Heaman
IRONMAN® Portugal
Cascais8th, M45-49Giles' headline numbers
Giles' strategy
Fueling
T - 1-4hrs: Ate a carb rich meal (Low in fat & fibre)
T - 15mins: Took in a final dose of carb
"I had pretty good energy levels throughout, apart from the last 15 minutes on the run. "
The step up in Giles’ carb intake from the bike to the run (~74g/h to ~86g/h) is the opposite to the common tapering in consumption we usually see from triathletes. However, he did experience some GI issues ~16 miles into the run and he mentioned that this was a common occurrence for him. In a bid to resolve this issue, it’ll be worth Giles practicing training his gut during key training sessions, with a focus on ‘front-loading’ his carb intake during races by consuming more on the bike compared to 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.
Drinking a strong electrolyte drink before the race could have helped Giles start optimally hydrated
"There’s always room for improvement, but I feel like my hydration in this race was pretty bang on. "
Giles has a history of cramping and suffered some ‘major cramp’ in his left hamstring ~1.5 miles into the run which caused him to stop. Testing out slightly higher sodium intakes alongside a greater volume of fluid may help mitigate the cramping if it’s related to electrolyte depletion issues. We would recommend he preloads with PH 1500 during the morning of the race to make sure he’s starting optimally hydrated.
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
Giles chose to consume most of this high dose in the last hours of the race, but because caffeine takes around 20-30 minutes to have noticeable effects, he may want to consider using the caffeine gels earlier on, including some on the bike.
How Giles hit his numbers
Here's everything that Giles ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“My swim wasn’t great and I couldn’t develop the power I wanted to on the bike. My legs didn’t feel like they had anything in them, possibly due to a long season or more likely due to getting very cold in the swim. ”
“After a long season, Giles had a good performance at IM Portugal using a decent hydration and fueling strategy. He thinks there’s still plenty of room for improvement, but he did achieve a PB on the run and was happy with his strategy throughout. As a result of this performance, he qualified for the World Championships. ”
PF&HGiles' 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.