• Professional triathlete, Justin Metzler, had a brilliant race at IM 70.3 Eagleman. He finished second, after battling hard with Cody Beals, only getting out-run in the closing stages
• After mishaps with his fueling and hydration (involving overconsumption) in his first two races of the season, Justin has been working closely with the Sports Science Team to refine his strategy
• In this race, it was great to see Justin execute a plan which appropriately met his needs, had no adverse effects on GI comfort, and supported a brilliant performance

Hydration

• Before the race, Justin drank one coffee and ~800ml/26oz of PH 1000 (Drink Mix). Justin’s aware that optimal pre-race hydration would be to use PH 1500 but he didn’t have any at the time and opted for the next best thing
• In previous races, Justin has been prone to overdrinking (>2L/64oz per hour on the bike at IM World Champs, St George) and one of the adjustments to his plan was to dial back his fluid consumption
• Justin began with three bottles on his bike; two 750ml/24oz bottles both containing PF 30 Drink Mix and PH 1000 (Drink Mix) and one 650ml/22oz bottle containing PH 1000 (Drink Mix) only. He also picked up ~1.2L/40oz of plain water from the on-course aid stations
• In total, this equated to ~3.25L/110oz of fluid on the bike, the equivalent of ~1.6L/54oz of fluid per hour. This is still a high fluid consumption, especially in the milder conditions (average temp 23℃/73℉), and could have been dialled back a bit further, but is less extreme than we’ve seen him drink before
• In the latter stages of the bike, Justin experienced what he described as “micro-cramps in my hands which is usually a precursor for leg cramps” and took an Electrolyte Capsule to prevent it becoming anything more severe
• On the run, Justin drank ~900ml/30oz of fluid, approximately ~750ml/24oz per hour. This was achieved by drinking 500ml/16oz of PF 30 Energy Drink Mix (which he ran out of T2 with) and ~400ml/14oz of plain water and other fluids, like Coca Cola and Red Bull, from aid stations
• Justin experienced further twinges of cramp during the half marathon, this time in his calves, so took another Electrolyte Capsule at ~mile 4 to stave it off. He then proceeded to take one every ~2 miles, taking five in total
• Justin’s sodium intake across the race was very good (1585mg/h) as a result of consistently drinking electrolyte-containing fluids and supplementing with Electrolyte Capsules on the run. Justin’s issues with cramping are more likely to have resulted from over-consuming fluid (Justin was aiming for like-for-like fluid replacement of his sweat losses) which, in turn, diluted the sodium he was ingesting
• The appropriateness of an athlete’s sodium intake must be balanced with their fluid consumption, as total fluid intake can dilute or increase the overall relative sodium concentration
• The overall relative sodium concentration of Justin’s race consumption was ~1213mg/L which will have replaced a good proportion of his losses from sweating but could have been better had he drunk less

Fueling

Conclusions

• The fuel and hydration strategy that Justin executed at 70.3 Eagleman was a lightyear away from the one he implemented a few weeks beforehand at the IM World Champs in St George. It was fantastic to see adjustments made and even more so to see them reflected in Justin’s strong performance
• After the race, Justin commented “Of course I wanted to win after going for it all day but I was happy with that performance, particularly after my mishaps in Miami and St. George to start the year!”