Challenge Roth

Leon’s tried-and-tested fuel strategy served him well early in the race, and he averaged one of his highest carb intakes ever during the bike at ~132g per hour. His usual plan during the run is to carry all his PF 30 Gels in his trisuit, and take one every 15-20 minutes. At Roth, however, professionals have the option to receive aid from a member of their support team at points during the course. Unfortunately, similar to his PF&H team mate, Josh Lewis, Leon’s crew member couldn’t get to the rendezvous point at ~16k (10 miles) in time, so he had to rely on some on-course gels which Leon believed didn’t agree with his taste buds or stomach. As a result of this, he noticed his energy levels dip, signs of nausea, and was close to vomiting. Reverting back to his usual self-sufficient strategy will help avoid this, but it was a worthy experiment as using a crew to carry his ~10 PF 30 Gels is a weight saving marginal gain, especially when running at around 2:40 marathon pace.

Leon sipped on lots of plain water during the morning before the race, so reintroducing some PH 1500 into those bottles would help him toe the start line optimally hydrated in future. He has shown multiple times that he can tolerate a fairly high concentration of carbohydrates and electrolytes in his bottles during the bike, and this race was no different. He carried three bottles from the start, each with 1,500mg of sodium from PH 1500 (Drink Mix), and 150g of carb from gels and ~15g from the electrolyte packets. This caused him no gastrointestinal issues once again, but during the run his average relative sodium concentration fell from ~1,307mg/L (mg/32oz) to just ~179mg/L (mg/32oz), and his energy levels and stomach comfort also nose-dived. Although Leon suggested this may have been caused by the unfamiliar gels he took, the sharp drop off in sodium concentration may also have contributed. Sodium is a known assistant in the absorption and transportation of glucose in the blood and taking some Electrolyte Capsules with him out of T2 would help stabilise his sodium concentration during the run, potentially alleviating his GI discomfort.

Leon’s caffeine consumption was slightly below his last few full distance races as he couldn’t top up his circulating levels during the run with his usual PF 30 Caffeine Gels as he’d planned. He still fell well within the scientifically recommended guidelines for a race of this length and intensity, but will likely increase his intake at future full distance races like at the upcoming IRONMAN® World Championships in Hawaii.