Line Thams
IRONMAN 70.3® World Championship
St George, Utah19th, FPROLine's headline numbers
Line's strategy
Fueling
T - 1-4hrs: Ate a carb rich meal (Low in fat & fibre)
T - 15mins: Took in a final dose of carb
"I had low energy levels all race, but I don’t put this down to my nutrition. "
Despite a decent carb intake, Line has room to increase this towards the current 90g/h recommendations as evidence suggests a higher consumption would be optimal for performance and recovery. If she isn’t used to taking on more carb whilst racing, it’ll be helpful to incorporate gut training into her plan to make sure she can practice this fueling in harder training sessions to adapt to a higher intake.
Hydration
Taking on board an appropriate amount of fluid and sodium is essential to maintaining blood volume and supporting the cardiovascular effort needed to perform on race day.
Whilst the absolute amount of sodium and fluid consumed per hour is important, it’s critical to consider these in relation to each other. This is known as 'relative sodium concentration' and it’s expressed in milligrams per litre (mg/L). How much sodium you’re taking in per litre of fluid is more important than the absolute amount taken in per hour.
Drinking a strong electrolyte drink before the race could have helped Line start optimally hydrated
"I think I drank enough in the race, perhaps even too much. "
Before the race, Line should preload with the higher strength PH 1500 instead of PH 1000 to start optimally hydrated with maximal blood volume. Considering we don’t know Line’s sweat sodium concentration, it’s hard to determine if she was replacing an adequate amount of her losses. Her intake fell on the low-to-moderate side of what we see, so as a first step we’d recommend increasing her sodium intake slightly (especially in warm or hot conditions) simply by mixing each tablet in 500ml of water to avoid diluting the relative sodium concentration of the electrolytes she *is* consuming. We are hoping to Sweat Test Line later this year which will help dial in this aspect of her intake. Additionally, her fluid consumption could have been slightly reduced, as she did mention there were portions of the run where she felt she had lots of fluid on board. Decreasing her overall fluid intake by taking on less plain water would further increase the relative sodium concentration she is consuming.
Caffeine
Beyond the Three Levers of Performance (carb, sodium and fluid), caffeine is one of only a few substances that is proven to improve performance for most endurance athletes as it can help stave off mental and physical fatigue.
Consuming caffeine in the hours before the start may have increased perceived energy levels
Line took a moderate dose of caffeine which she spread out across the race, with slightly more on the bike than the run. Overall this fell within and slightly toward the top end of the recommended range, delivering ergogenic benefits we see associated with the stimulant in the scientific literature.
How Line hit her numbers
Here's everything that Line ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“A poor half IRONMAN®, especially when compared to my first. ”
“Line had a tough race at the World Champs, with a difficult lead up that she believes is the key reason she didn’t perform as well as she hoped. However, she felt her hydration and fueling was better in this race than it was in her *first* 70.3 IRONMAN®. Her race nutrition plan was reasonably well executed, with solid carb, sodium and fluid numbers. With a few tweaks to her strategy, including having a Sweat Test to dial in her sodium needs and training her gut to tolerate more carb, her performance can be further supported. ”
PF&HLine's full stats
Data Confidence
We rate each of our case studies from 1-5 based on the level of accuracy, and our confidence in the data.
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).