Jack Hutchens' scorecard
IM 70.3® Swansea (DNF)
Sunday 7th August, 2022
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
85g
Carb per hour
930mg
Sodium per hour
665ml
Fluid per hour
1,398mg/L
Relative sodium concentration
100mg
Total caffeine
How Jack hit those numbers
500ml x PH 1500 (Drink Mix)
100ml x Plain water
1 x Bowl of oats, banana, peanut butter and dark chocolate
1 x PF 30 Gel
*** Review technique if drinking much at this point!
2L x PH 1500 (Drink Mix)
6 x PF 30 Gel
1 x PF 30 Caffeine Gel
160ml x Plain water
3 x Electrolyte capsules (100mg sodium)
How Jack's hydration and fueling went...
- Jack is a professional triathlete in his rookie season who’s come to the sport from a swimming and running background, but that’s not to say he’s not a mean cyclist too
- Unfortunately, he suffered a drop in energy on the run and as he plans to race a few more times this season, he opted to step off the course around eight kilometres into the run and the day ended in a DNF
- Until this point, Jack had fueled and hydrated well, with top-eight swim and bike splits. However, combined with some additional life stresses in race week he decided to save himself for another day
Hydration
- Jack preloaded his sodium levels by drinking ~500ml/16oz of PH 1500 (Drink Mix) the night before and the morning of the race. This will have encouraged a greater degree of fluid retention, thus enhancing his hydration status pre-race
- During the bike, Jack had two 500ml/16oz bottles with gels in, topped up with ~350ml/12oz of water and one PH 1500 (Drink Mix) sachet. Jack also took a 500ml/16oz and a 1L/32oz bottle, each with one PH 1500 (Drink Mix) sachet in
- This gave him a total sodium intake of ~3,000mg, which when mixed in ~2.2L/74oz gave him a relative sodium concentration of ~1,364mg per litre. Whilst we don’t currently know Jack’s sweat sodium concentration, he didn’t experience any cramps, headaches or dips in performance, perhaps indicating that adequately replaced a good proportion of his sweat losses
- On the run, Jack had three electrolyte capsules which contained ~100mg of sodium each. He also grabbed two cups of water. Of course he only ran for ~8km and so a total fluid intake of ~160ml/5oz and a total sodium intake of ~300mg are understandably lower than expected
- Jack felt a bit thirsty at the start of the run, perhaps indicating his sodium intake was a bit high on the bike, particularly as the temperatures were mild (~13-20℃/55-68℉)
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
30g
carb 30 mins before
60-90g
carb per hour during
- Before the race, Jack had his usual pre-race breakfast of oats, banana, peanut butter and some dark chocolate. This carb-rich meal will have given his glycogen stores a final top-up in the hours before the race
- Jack planned to have a final ‘glycogen hit’ ~15 minutes before the swim start by taking a PF 30 Gel, but due to the start being delayed this ended up being more like 35 minutes beforehand
- On the bike he split six PF 30 Gels into two 500ml/16oz bottles (three in each), and carried a spare PF 30 Gel just in case he needed it. As it happened, he couldn’t quite get all the gels out of his bottles, so took his spare gel based on the assumption that he’d probably been unable to get ~30g of carbs out of his bottles
- Jack felt great throughout the whole bike, averaging ~101g of carb per hour, and headed onto the run with confidence that he could produce a solid performance
- As soon as he started running he took a PF 30 Caffeine Gel to top up his glucose levels and help reduce his perception of effort
- At ~7km Jack started to experience a slight “head-fuzz” which progressed into the feeling of “bonking”. In the moment, he thought it couldn’t have been due to lack of fuel as he’d done such a good job throughout the bike
- By kilometre eight he felt so bad and his energy levels were so low he decided to step off course and call it a day. By this point the rest of the field were already pulling away from him as his pace had slowed, therefore his motivation to continue was low
- During this style of racing, athletes are typically burning more energy than they’re able to consume. Because of this, going ~30 minutes without having anything and running at a high intensity could have depleted his glycogen stores enough to cause this “bonk”
- In the future, perhaps Jack could try taking a small amount of carb in more frequent doses throughout the run, in an attempt to prevent this sudden drop off in energy levels
Conclusions
- In summary, Jack had a disappointing end to what was otherwise an encouraging race. He proved his fitness and ability are good enough to mix it on the swim and bike, but wasn’t able to show it on the run due to dwindling energy levels
- In future races, Jack could consider 'drip-feeding' his carb on the run to help avoid this crash in energy levels. Perhaps using a Supersapiens continuous glucose monitor could help achieve more stable blood glucose levels as opposed to peaks and troughs
- Despite the DNF, Jack can take lots of positives from this race, and he remained positive that his rookie professional season was still on track
Key info
Jack Hutchens
Male
Result
Overall Time
3:33:53
Swim Time
0:23:10
Bike Time
2:23:52
Run Time
0:41:26
Event information
Sport
Triathlon
Discipline
Middle distance
Event
IM 70.3® Swansea (DNF)
Location
Swansea, Wales
Date
7th August, 2022
Website
Swim Distance
1.9km / 1.2mi
Bike Distance
90.1km / 56.0mi
Run Distance
21.1km / 13.1mi
Total Distance
113.1km / 70.3mi
Race conditions
Weather Conditions
Mild
Precipitation
No Rain
Min Temp
13°C / 55°F
Max Temp
20°C / 68°F
Avg Temp
18°C / 64°F
Humidity
60%
Athlete feedback
Race Satisfaction
8/10
Hydration rating
7/10
Energy levels
9/10
I'm rating this high, although the reason behind not finishing was bonking HARD on the run
Toilet stops
No
GI comfort
10/10
Stomach was absolutely fine until I started the run and I got a stitch
Cramping
No cramping
Jack's Thoughts
I'm happy with the most part of this race, and lots of factors likely caused me to DNF, so I'll keep moving forward and not dwell too much
Jack's full stats
| Carbohydrate (g) | Sodium (mg) | Fluid (ml) | Caffeine (mg) | Relative sodium concentration (mg/L) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | |||||
| Total intake | 300 | 3,300 | 2,360 | 100 | 1,398 |
| Per hour | 85 | 930 | 665 | 28 | |
| Bike and Run | |||||
| Total intake | 270 | 3,300 | 2,360 | 100 | 1,398 |
| Per hour | 88 | 1,076 | 770 | 33 | |
| Bike | |||||
| Total intake | 240 | 3,000 | 2,200 | 0 | 1,364 |
| Per hour | 101 | 1,259 | 923 | 0 | |
| Run | |||||
| Total intake | 30 | 300 | 160 | 100 | 1,875 |
| Per hour | 44 | 439 | 234 | 146 | |
Data Confidence
1
2
3
4
5
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.