Line Thams' scorecard
World Duathlon Championships
Saturday 7th May, 2022
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
- 60gCarb per hour
- 328mgSodium per hour
- 485mlFluid per hour
- 676mg/LRelative sodium concentration
- 3.23mg/kgCaffeine per bodyweight
How Line hit those numbers
Before race (>30mins)
500ml x PH 1000 (Tablet)
0.5 x Flapjack
1 x Bowl of Rice
1 x Double Espresso
Pre-race (<30mins)
1 x PF 30 Gel
30ml x Plain water
Race - Bike
1L x PH 1000 (Tablets)
4 x PF 30 Gel
300ml x Plain water
1 x Caffeine tablet (200mg caffeine)
Race - Run
1 x PF 30 Gel
150ml x Plain water
- After receiving a last minute wildcard spot for the World Duathlon Championships in her home country, Line seized the opportunity to get back into racing after a busy offseason submitting her PhD. She opened her season with a brilliant performance and result to finish second with a time of 3 hours and 3 minutes, only 9 minutes behind first place
- After working closely with Line in the past year, including at the IM 70.3 World Championship and IM 70.3 Indian Wells she asked the team to check over her hydration and fueling strategy for the race, in which she had to change her plan to fit the Duathlon structure (10km run, 60km bike,10km run)
- Over a very tricky course, primarily on cobblestones, Line executed a solid hydration and fueling plan to hit good carbohydrate, fluid and sodium numbers and was extremely happy with the end result saying “it still feels surreal”
Hydration
- As we have seen her do previously, Line prepared for her sweat losses by preloading with a high sodium concentration drink. Ahead of future races, especially hotter ones, she should consider using PH 1500, as she did before IM 70.3 Indian Wells, instead of PH 1000 to make sure she is starting optimally hydrated
- For her hydration strategy, Line had a mouthful of plain water on the first run, then 1L/32oz of PH 1000 on the bike alongside ~300ml/10oz of plain water. On the second run she had a total of 5 sips of water (~150ml/5oz) from cups that she picked up at aid stations. Overall, Line drank ~1.48L/50oz of fluid which equated to ~485ml/hr (16oz/hr) on average over the whole race
- We know Line subjectively has a high sweat rate and this fluid intake is much lower than what we saw her drink at the IM 70.3 World Champs (~853ml/28oz per hour) last year. However, the conditions were much cooler in Denmark (~10℃/51°F) compared to her previous races, and being a duathlon, the race was shorter in duration, therefore a slightly less aggressive fluid intake was suitable
- From the PH 1000 tablets that Line took in her bottles on the bike, she was able to consume ~328mg of sodium per hour which meant that the relative sodium concentration of what she consumed was ~676mg/L. From her Advanced Sweat Test, we know Line is a moderately salty sweater, losing 798mg/L and therefore this level of electrolyte replacement will have replaced a good proportion of her losses
- Rating her hydration strategy 9 out of 10, Line was happy with her plan saying the only slight change she could have made was to prepare more fluid on the bike as she “had no water left for the last 20 minutes” and reported that she felt dehydrated after the race. Despite this, Line did well to strike a good balance between staying on top of her losses, avoiding any hydration-related issues like cramping, and not carrying too much fluid which is extra weight over a relatively short bike leg
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
30gcarb 30 mins before
60-90gcarb per hour during
- On the morning of the race, Line fueled well by eating a bowl of rice and half a flapjack for breakfast alongside a double espresso. She also took a final PF 30 Energy Gel ~5 minutes before starting, so toed the line with high perceived energy levels and maximum glycogen stores
- To fuel during the race, Line planned to consume one PF 30 Gel on the first run, however she lost this so instead took her first gel as soon as she got on the bike (~40 minutes in). After taking this gel, Line continued to take another three gels on the bike and one on the final run. This meant Line averaged ~60g of carbohydrate per hour over the whole race; a good intake that sustained her fast pace. This carb intake is similar to what Line has achieved in previous races; ~54g/h at IM 70.3 Indian Wells and ~67g/h at the 70.3 World Champs
- Line’s fueling broke down into ~76g/hr on the bike and ~42g/hr on the final run. She had no issues tolerating this intake and didn’t experience any GI distress. This therefore offers a great basis for Line to potentially increase her intake towards 90g/hr, the upper end of the fueling recommendations for a race of this intensity and duration
- In addition to her pre-race coffee, Line got caffeine on board ~40 minutes into the bike by consuming one caffeine tablet containing 200mg caffeine which gave her a “huge boost” that she said “worked really well” in keeping her perceived energy levels high. In total, this meant she had a dosage of 3.13mg per kg of bodyweight, which falls within the recommended range of 3-6mg/kg. Line said that she went into the race wanting a single large hit of caffeine mid-race rather than drip feeding it throughout as it was more convenient for her
Conclusions
- Coming off the back of a tricky training period which included a couple of niggling injuries, Line did a great job of meeting her carb, sodium and fluid needs to have an excellent performance on what she described as a “brutal” course. Being one of two wildcard places in the race, she said it felt “surreal” when she secured second place and rated her race satisfaction as 7 (out of 10), this only being low due to her having to navigate the difficult course
- Going into the racing season now, Line is excited to get to work and use her ever developing hydration and fueling plan in practice. We’re looking forward to seeing her continue to perform well throughout the year!
Key info
Line Thams
Female62kg
Sweat sodium concentration798mg/L
Sweat sodium classificationLow
* determined by our Sweat Test
Result
Position2nd
Overall Time3:03:45
Bike Time1:38:36
Run Time0:43:07
Event information
SportTriathlon
DisciplineDuathlon
EventWorld Duathlon Championships
LocationViborg, Denmark
Date7th May, 2022
Total Distance80.0km / 49.7mi
Race conditions
Weather ConditionsMild
PrecipitationNo Rain
Min Temp10.7°C / 51°F
Max Temp10.7°C / 51°F
Avg Temp10.7°C / 51°F
Humidity80%
Athlete feedback
Race Satisfaction7/10
Hydration rating9/10I was happy with it. I think I took just enough for a race of this length
Energy levels7/10I felt good throughout
Toilet stopsNoI could have when I came off the bike but I decided not to as the run was short
GI comfort10/10
CrampingNo cramping
Line's Thoughts
It was a fun but brutal race. I'm really happy to have taken the wildcard spot and result still feels sureal!
Data Confidence
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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).