India Lee
IRONMAN 70.3® Nice
India's headline numbers
India's strategy
Fueling
Carbohydrate is the main fuel you burn when racing. Failing to fuel properly is a leading cause of underperformance in longer races.
India typically consumes a PF 30 Gel 20 minutes before the race starts to ensure that she starts with high energy levels, but she forgot on this occasion and noted that she’ll strive to remember in future races. She has previously struggled to consume enough carbohydrates during races and consumed ~44g/h in this race, which falls below the general recommendations. She consumed ~56g/h on the bike and ~38g/h on the run; while a reduced intake from bike to run isn’t uncommon, we recommend aiming for a slightly higher intake on the bike to account for the eventual drop in intake on the run due to the reduced practicalities of eating while running. To finish stronger, India should aim to bring her intake of carbohydrates up closer to 90g/h through gut training and detailed planning.
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.
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.
Whilst India’s losses are on the low side, getting her hydration strategy right is still crucial when it’s hot and/or humid as her higher sweat rate in these conditions can result in significant net losses over the duration of a race.
Learn moreThe relative sodium concentration of India's intake provided a solid level of replacement for her individual sweat sodium losses, given her moderate sweat sodium concentration of 635mg/L. She effectively preloaded with PH 1500 as advised and made good use of PH 1000 in her bottle on the bike, along with an Electrolyte Capsule to further support her sodium intake. However, her sodium intake on the run was relatively low, and increasing it - particularly in hot races where sweat losses are greater - could help maintain her performance and hydration status. Her fluid intake broke down to ~542ml/h on the bike and ~220ml/h on the run, which was quite low for a race of this duration. The fact that she peed twice - once in T1 before getting on the bike and again at ~16km on the run - suggests she managed her hydration well and avoided significant dehydration during the race.
How India hit her numbers
Here's everything that India ate and drank on the day...
India's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
PF&HIndia's full stats
Data Confidence?
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).