Gro Hege Jermstad's scorecard

IRONMAN® World Championships

Thursday 6th October, 2022

Within recommended ranges

Just outside recommended ranges

Significantly outside recommended ranges

73g

Carb per hour

966mg

Sodium per hour

736ml

Fluid per hour

1,313mg/L

Relative sodium concentration

510mg

Total caffeine

How Gro hit those numbers

500ml x PF Energy Drink Mix (with 2 additional PH 1500 Tablets)

100g x Rice Porridge with Coconut milk and Maple Syrup

2 x Banana

2 x Cups of Black Coffee

1 x PF 30 Caffeine Gel

*** Tip: For sea swims, put a bottle of water at T1 to rinse your mouth out

1.8L x PH 1500 (Tablets)

1L x PF Energy Drink Mix

1 x PF 30 Gel

1 x PF 30 Caffeine Gel

1.05L x Plain water

2L x Energy Drink Mix

300ml x PH 1500 (Tablets)

6 x PH Electrolyte Capsule

3 x PF 30 Caffeine Gel

2 x PF 90 Gel

1.92L x Plain water

120ml x Cola

How Gro's hydration and fueling went...

Gro raced the IRONMAN World Championships as part of the 2022 Zwift Tri Academy who have been supported by PF&H
Narrowly missing out on a top 10 finish, Gro put together, in her own words “one of my best performances to date” to finish 11th among this world class field

Hydration

Gro made sure to preload like she normally does with 500ml (16oz) PH 1500 the night before the race, and again the morning of the race with 500ml (16oz) of PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix with two PH 1500 (Tablets) in
This slightly exceeds the relatively sodium concentration recommended for optimal blood plasma volume expansion of ~1,500mg per litre (32oz), but Gro knew how important hydration was going to be for this race and wanted to top off her sodium levels to the best of her ability
On the bike Gro added PH 1500 (Tablets) to the majority of her energy drinks, consuming a total of ~7,000mg of sodium mixed in ~5.85L (198 oz) giving her a relative sodium concentration of ~1,197mg/L (mg/32oz)
Gro has a reasonably high sweat sodium concentration of 1,146mg/L (mg/32oz), meaning her sodium intake during the bike will have come impressively close to replacing the majority of her sweat-associated losses
During the run, Gro left transition with a Soft Flask preloaded with three PH 1500 (Tablets), which she filled with water from the first aid station. Only managing to fill this to ~300ml (10oz) meant her flask was very highly concentrated, but Gro drank cups of water from each subsequent aid station to dilute this down to a tolerable level
Gro made sure to tape three Electrolyte Capsules to her PF 90 Energy Gels and took them in regular intervals once her Soft Flask was empty
In total Gro estimated her water intake from picking up aid station cups to be ~1.92L (63oz), meaning across ~11 hours of racing she averaged ~736ml (23oz) with a relative sodium concentration of ~1,313mg/L (mg/32oz)

Fueling

Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation

30g

carb 30 mins before

60-90g

carb per hour during

Knowing how vast the energy demands of an IRONMAN triathlon are, Gro made sure her stored glycogen levels were topped up with a carb-rich breakfast the morning before the race with 100g of rice porridge with coconut milk and some maple syrup along with two bananas
As a frequent caffeine user, Gro also planned to tap into the endurance performance benefits associated with it by having two cups of black coffee. She also had a PF 30 Caffeine Gel ~20 minutes before the swim start to help top off her blood glucose levels and potentially reduce her perception of effort later on in the swim
Due to the large transition area in Kona, Gro was able to take a PF 30 Energy Gel whilst running to her bike after the swim to save time, meaning she could settle into the more technical early stages of the bike without worrying about fueling
Gro predominantly uses fluids as her main source of carbohydrates with a mixture of Energy drink mix and [PFCarb & electrolyte Drink Mix](https://www.precisionhydration.com/products/carb-electrolyte-drink-mix/, along with an additional PF 30 Caffeine Gel at the halfway point. In total Gro took ~494g of carb giving her an average intake of ~85g per hour which was spot on her pre-race fueling target
On the run, Gro carried two PF 90 Gels with her out of T2 along with two PF 30 Caffeine Gels). She also picked up a third PF 30 Caffeine Gel) at the special needs aid station, and along with the three cups of Coca Cola brought her carb intake for the run to ~288g which averages out at ~71g/h
Across the whole race, Gro averaged an impressive 73g/h of carb which is very similar to her previous intakes this season
She also took around 510 milligrams of caffeine which will likely have tipped her above the 3-6g/kg recommended dose for the optimal performance boost, however her tolerance is likely quite high due to several years as a frequent caffeine user which is why it didn’t negatively impact her performance
Further to this, Gro rated her energy levels and GI comfort 10/10 saying she “had no lows in energy and I felt comfortable the whole way” which further supports the caffeine didn’t negatively affect her

Conclusions

Gro’s performance in Kona was her first iron-distance triathlon with no GI discomfort or energy lulls. This is testament to the frequent and rigorous gut training which she has built into her sessions to increase her stomachs tolerance to carb intake
Rating her race satisfaction 10 (out of 10), she told the team at PF&H that she couldn’t have been happier with how her fueling and hydration went, and wouldn’t have changed a thing about her strategy

Key info

Gro Hege Jermstad

Female

Result

Overall Time

11:08:52

Swim Time

1:09:45

Bike Time

5:47:22

Run Time

4:02:12

Event information

Sport

Triathlon

Discipline

Full distance

Event

IRONMAN® World Championships

Location

Kona, Hawaii

Date

6th October, 2022

Website

Show me

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

1,772m / 5,814ft

Run Elevation

307m / 1,007ft

Total Elevation

2,079m / 6,821ft

Race conditions

Weather Conditions

Very Hot and Humid

Precipitation

No Rain

Min Temp

25°C / 77°F

Max Temp

31°C / 88°F

Avg Temp

29°C / 84°F

Humidity

73%

Athlete feedback

Energy levels

10/10

I didn't feel weak at any point

GI comfort

10/10

No Discomfort at all

Gro's Thoughts

I'm glad to have put in a strong performance, especially after my watch died on the bike!

Gro's full stats

	Carbohydrate (g)	Sodium (mg)	Fluid (ml)	Caffeine (mg)	Relative sodium concentration (mg/L)
Overall
Total intake	813	10,750	8,190	510	Relative sodium concentration (mg/L)	1,313
Per hour	73	966	736	46		1,313
Bike and Run
Total intake	783	10,750	8,190	410	1,313
Per hour	80	1,095	834	42	1,313
Bike
Total intake	494	7,000	5,850	100	1,197
Per hour	85	1,210	1,012	17	1,197
Run
Total intake	288	3,750	2,340	310	1,603
Per hour	71	930	580	77	1,603

Data Confidence

1

2

3

4

5

There is some confidence in the quantities and brands of products consumed but the data may lack specifics (e.g. volumes specific flavours). A high number of estimations have been made and the room for error is moderate-high. There may also be the possibility that some intake has been grossly over- or under-estimated.

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