• Joel Wooldridge is a promising elite triathlete who excelled at the Alpe d’Huez full distance triathlon, claiming 13th place, and told us “I felt like my fueling strategy went quite well”
• Having carried out some sweat rate testing leading up to the race, Joel was able to plan an appropriate hydration strategy, knowing approximately what he needed to take on board in the hot conditions
• On a tough course with significant elevation, Joel rated his race satisfaction as an 8 (out of 10) with just slight nutritional adjustments to think about for future races of this duration

Hydration

• On the morning of the race, Joel didn’t drink much fluid, opting for just ~30ml/1oz of water and two black coffees. Ahead of hot, long races, we would recommend that Joel preloads ~90 minutes before his race with ~500ml/16oz of PH 1500 to ensure that he’s starting well hydrated (read more on why starting hydrated is important here)
• In addition to this, if conditions are looking likely to be very hot, Joel could choose to introduce this preloading regime the night before the race alongside his dinner as well
• Whilst on the bike, Joel drank ~700ml/24oz of fluid per hour, a volume which appears to be sensible. He achieved this by drinking ~500ml/16oz of the on-course energy drink mix and ~2.5L/84oz of plain water with three PH Electrolyte Capsules taken alongside
• During the 1 hour 20 minute run, Joel drank a total of ~530ml/17oz which averaged ~393ml/13oz per hour. Once again, Joel used water and the on-course drink mix to meet his fluid needs
• Prior to the race, Joel conducted some sweat rate testing and found that he has a ‘moderate sweat rate’, losing ~1L/32oz of sweat per hour in very hot/humid conditions. From this, we can conclude that his fluid intake on the bike was in the right ballpark, which was corroborated by Joel needing a pee, as this suggests that he wasn’t under-hydrating
• His fluid intake on the 20km run was possibly a bit low for the high temperature (~28℃/82°F) and the level of effort he was exerting. But Joel did such a good job of frontloading his fluid intake on the bike leg that he only needed to manage his thirst and prevent any major fluid deficit on the run, which he did by picking up the on-course hydration
• In terms of Joel’s sodium consumption, he could benefit from increasing his intake across the race as his relative sodium concentration on the bike and run was fairly low for a race of this temperature (~334mg/L and ~190mg/L, respectively). To do this, we would encourage Joel to trial adding PH 1000 into at least some of his fluids across the four-hour bike leg, in addition to the PH Electrolyte Capsules he took
• That all being said, Joel didn’t experience any cramping on a course which is renowned for its elevation and toughness, so it’s plausible that his net sodium losses are low and that he wasn’t far from his ‘sweet spot’ with his sodium replacement. When possible, it would be interesting for Joel to be Sweat Tested to determine whether this is the case

Fueling

Conclusions

• From start to finish, Joel did incredibly well to conquer the tough course and manage his fueling and hydration strategy well
• In future hot races, Joel could look to dial up his sodium intake throughout the race to facilitate a greater overall relative sodium intake and implement a better pre-hydration strategy
• A greater carbohydrate intake on the run would also be a good target for Joel to have, due to increased carbohydrate intake reaping larger performance effects