1st

Leon Chevalier's scorecard

IM 70.3® Les Sables D'Olonne

Sunday 2nd July, 2023

Within recommended ranges

Just outside recommended ranges

Significantly outside recommended ranges

107g

Carb per hour

419mg

Sodium per hour

579ml

Fluid per hour

725mg/L

Relative sodium concentration

7.51mg/kg

Caffeine per bodyweight

How Leon hit those numbers

How Leon's hydration and fueling went...

Leon produced a fantastic performance at IRONMAN 70.3 Les Sables d’Olonne to take the win on home soil in France, where he laid down his best ever 70.3 bike performance and fastest run split to date
And that’s despite the fact that things didn’t go exactly to plan as Leon dropped one of his highly concentrated carbohydrate and sodium bottles at the beginning of the bike. He was able to lean on his past racing experience, including at IM Mallorca 2021 where a similar mishap occurred, to replace at least some of what he’d lost from his bottle by picking up products from aid stations on course
Leon showed impressive flexibility to adjust his plan and executed an impressive fueling strategy on the day…

Hydration

As an athlete who has worked with the PF&H Sports Science team for a few years, Leon knows how to nail his pre-race and mid-race hydration strategy to start optimally hydrated and replace his losses effectively throughout
Typically, Leon’s 70.3 hydration involves drinking two 1L / 32oz bottles of PH 1500 which also contain one PF 90 Gel each on the bike, and supplementing this with additional water from aid stations
But, Leon dropped one of his 1L / 32oz bottles at the very start of the bike leg. He was able to pick up ~750ml / 24oz of plain water to make up for some of the fluid he had dropped, however he felt this wasn’t enough as he mentioned feeling thirsty towards the end of the bike. In an attempt to get back on top of his sweat losses, he picked up ~500ml / 16oz of water from aid stations on the run, the highest fluid volume than we’ve seen him drink on the run in a 70.3
Leon wasn’t able to replace the 1,000mg of sodium he had dropped, resulting in his overall relative sodium concentration (~725mg/L) being lower than we usually see as he bids to replace his salty sweat (Leon loses 1,392mg per litre / 32oz of sweat)
Leon drank his other concentrated bottle and pre-loaded, and in these mild conditions this hydration strategy was adequate for him as he reported no issues except for the feelings of thirst on the bike. If the race was hotter or any longer, Leon may have experienced greater issues as a result of dropping half of his hydration

Fueling

Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation

30g

carb 30 mins before

60-90g

carb per hour during

As is evidenced in Leon’s case studies, his middle and long course fueling strategy is often made up of concentrated energy mixes throughout the bike. Although this wouldn’t be the recommendation for everyone, more pro triathletes are using this technique to save themselves the valuable time and effort associated with opening other products
To be able to use these mixes successfully, athletes undergo vast amounts of gut training to become accustomed to the specific concentrations before they use them on race day
The difference in his intake to previous 70.3 races was that dropping his bottle meant Leon had lost 120g of carbohydrate. On top of consuming one carb-rich bottle and two PF 30 Caffeine Gels to replace the fuel he dropped, he picked up two on-course energy gels containing 25g of carb each
Not making up the additional 70g of carb he had intended to consume, Leon mentioned ‘feeling low’ on the run so he picked up two additional energy gels (25g carb each) on top of his planned two PF 30 Gels, one PF 30 Caffeine Gel and a small amount of Coca Cola
Being able to pick up the additional carb helped Leon take on an average ~107g/h over the whole race, which is an impressive feat for most athletes. However, Leon’s bike intake is often closer to 120g/h, so he did feel that despite his strong bike and run performances, he felt like he “ran the last 5km on empty”
As part of his strategy, Leon consumed a total of ~503mg of caffeine, in the form of three caffeine gels and a small cup of Coca Cola. While this is at the top end of the general caffeine recommendations (3-6mg/kg), as an athlete with a high tolerance for caffeine this amount will have kept his blood caffeine levels high throughout the race to increase his perceived energy levels

Conclusions

Thinking on his feet, Leon was able to replace a solid amount of the fluid and fuel he dropped early on throughout both the bike and run, allowing him to execute one of his best 70.3 performances yet. As a result, he rated his race satisfaction a 9 (out of 10)

Key info

Leon Chevalier

Male

67kg

Sweat sodium concentration

1,392mg/L

Sweat sodium classification

Very High

* determined by a PH Advanced Sweat Test

Result

Position

1st

Overall Time

3:46:11

Swim Time

0:27:45

Bike Time

2:03:07

Run Time

1:10:21

Event information

Sport

Triathlon

Discipline

Middle distance

Event

IM 70.3® Les Sables D'Olonne

Location

Vendée, France

Date

2nd July, 2023

Website

Show me

Swim Distance

1.9km / 1.2mi

Bike Distance

90.1km / 56.0mi

Run Distance

21.1km / 13.1mi

Total Distance

113.1km / 70.3mi

Bike Elevation

454m / 1,490ft

Run Elevation

61m / 200ft

Total Elevation

515m / 1,690ft

Race conditions

Weather Conditions

Mild

Precipitation

No Rain

Min Temp

14°C / 57°F

Max Temp

22°C / 72°F

Avg Temp

18°C / 64°F

Humidity

65%

Athlete feedback

Race Satisfaction

9/10

Hydration rating

9/10

I dropped one of my bottles at the beginning of the bike, which explains why I was a little thirsty towards the end despite picking up what I could from the aid stations

Energy levels

8/10

Energy levels were good throughout the bike, but I ran the last 5km on empty

GI comfort

10/10

Cramping

No cramping

Leon's Thoughts

This was my best 70.3 bike to date, and I backed it up with a fast run so training is going well!

Leon's full stats

	Carbohydrate (g)	Sodium (mg)	Fluid (ml)	Caffeine (mg)	Relative sodium concentration (mg/L)
Overall
Total intake	403	1,580	2,180	503	Relative sodium concentration (mg/L)	725
Per hour	107	419	579	134		725
Bike and Run
Total intake	373	1,580	2,180	403	725
Per hour	116	491	678	125	725
Bike
Total intake	230	1,539	1,650	200	933
Per hour	112	751	805	98	933
Run
Total intake	143	41	530	203	77
Per hour	123	35	454	174	77

Data Confidence

1

2

3

4

5

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).

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