• Leon enjoyed a good first race of the 2022 season by finishing 5th at IRONMAN 70.3 Lanzarote, crossing the finish line in just under four hours (03:59:25). Leon summed up his performance post-race by saying, “I really surprised myself with a very strong bike which brought me back into the race after a slow swim. I was solid on the run but not fresh and ‘zingy’ enough at this stage of the season to fight for those podium spots”
• Overall, Leon was “very happy” and commented that it “got that fire going again for the last block towards St George”. With just seven weeks until the IM World Championships in Utah, the intention was to give his legs, and his fueling and hydration strategy, a run out in real competition before the big race
• His fueling and hydration strategy is something that Leon has carefully refined over the last 12 months with the help of the Precision Fuel & Hydration team and prior to this race he shared his plan for feedback. On race day, we saw Leon execute his plan to hit some great numbers

Hydration

• Leon failed to preload before the race with a drink high in relative sodium concentration (like PH 1500) as he normally does. He had intended to preload but he couldn’t find his electrolytes on race morning. Preloading is important to performance as it helps ensure he starts in an optimally hydrated state and Leon knows that for a longer race, like the IM World Champs, this will be key
• During the race, Leon relied on his two 900ml/30oz bottles on the bike to meet his fluid, carb and sodium needs. This isn’t always the recommended approach, especially if an athlete is sensitive to GI discomfort or the conditions are especially hot and humid, but for Leon, who has experience with this approach and a well-trained gut, it was an efficient strategy
• On average, Leon consumed ~800ml/27oz per hour on the bike (1.8L/61oz in total) and ~146ml/h (~180ml/6oz in total) on the run. Leon used the aid stations on the run to collect small cups of plain water to manage his thirst, drinking around six mouthfuls in total (~30ml/1oz per mouthful)
• The weather conditions were moderate (16℃/61℉) and meant that hydration wasn’t too great of a challenge. On average across the entire race, Leon consumed ~497ml/17oz of fluid per hour (~586ml/20oz per hour excluding the swim) which is an appropriate consumption for the conditions. This is not far below the average intake we’ve seen Leon hit before in similar races and he said he felt well hydrated in the race
• Leon consumed ~761mg of sodium per hour over the course of the race (~1,523mg/L). However, all of his sodium intake was on the bike leg and none on the run. On the bike, Leon consumed ~866mg of sodium per hour and, accounting for the volume of fluid he was drinking alongside this, the relative sodium concentration of his intake was ~1,675mg/L
• We know from his Advanced Sweat Test results that Leon has a high sweat sodium concentration of 1,331mg/L and so, whilst we don’t know what his sweat rate in the race was like, it is fair to conclude that Leon was replacing a good proportion of his sodium losses early on in the race, which then allowed him to perform well on the run without supplementing with any further sodium
• Leon is aware that full IM races in hotter conditions can require some sodium to be taken on board during the run leg to maintain performance and is usually very good at making sure he carries some PH Electrolyte Capsules with him

Fueling

Conclusions

• Leon laid solid foundations with his first race of the season and he took away from it what he needed ahead of his bigger ‘A’ races this year
• His fueling strategy involved a high carb intake, especially on the bike, but this caused no issues for Leon and bodes extremely well for his upcoming debut at an IM World Championships