• Jess is the Marketing Manager for the Professional Triathletes Organization and recently raced the IRONMAN World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, before heading across to Utah for the IM 70.3 World Championships over half the distance
• Her fuel and hydration strategy stood the test of the cold as temperatures plummeted on race day, yet her intake remained strong across the board, and she finished well

Hydration

• Ahead of the race, Jess’ coach, and friend of PF&H, India Lee, highlighted the importance of starting as hydrated as possible, so the night before she tried to do this by drinking ~500ml (16oz) of electrolytes. The drink had ~300mg of sodium in, which is below the recommended dose for preloading her sodium levels to stimulate an increase in blood plasma volume and enter a state of optimal hydration. Furthermore, she drank ~500ml (16oz) of plain water in the 30mins before the race, which potentially diluted her electrolyte levels, as she needed to pee immediately before the swim start
• In future, we’d recommend Jess uses a stronger electrolyte drink, like PH 1500 in ~500ml (16oz) both the night before and the morning of the race, aiming to finish this ~45 minutes before the start to allow maximum absorption into her bloodstream and to pee out any excess
• On the bike, Jess managed to maintain a fairly high fluid intake considering the cold weather (~7℃/44℉ average), sticking to her plan of three 750ml (24oz) bottles of energy drink with two and a half PH 1500 Tablets between them
• Jess executed a fairly common hydration strategy employed by lots of triathletes, whereby she front-loaded her sodium intake on the bike with her drinks containing a relative sodium concentration of ~925mg/L (mg/32oz), and tapered back to just ~100mg/L (mg/32oz) on the run. With a sweat sodium concentration of 594 milligrams per litre, Jess did a good job of matching this concentration with her drinks, averaging ~573mg/L (mg/32oz) across the entire race
• In longer races or when conditions are much warmer, Jess should look to bump up her sodium intake on the run to ensure she doesn’t run into any hydration related issues as a result of low electrolyte levels

Fueling

Conclusions

• In all, Jess performed well off the back of a hard race in Kona just three weeks prior, and her well-planned and balanced fuel and hydration plan will likely have supported this
• In future she should aim to improve her preloading protocol to optimise her hydration, and perhaps look to include some Electrolyte Capsules on the run to help keep her sodium levels topped up, especially if she’s planning to race in longer/warmer events where she’ll be sweating much more