• Livia was the first of the 2023 Zwift Tri Academy to let rip on the shiny new Zwift bikes. She took on only her third IRONMAN to date and her first with the nutritional support of the team here at PF&H
• She has previously raced at the IRONMAN World Championships in Kona, Hawaii in 2019, and knows the hydration challenges she will face on the Big Island
• Thankfully, Livia booked her ticket back to Kona for the 2023 World Championships by finishing second overall amateur in Switzerland. Unexpectedly high temperatures in Thun (peaks of 34℃ / 94℉) offered a small insight to the extreme conditions expected back in Kona, and despite no specific heat preparation, Livia coped well

Hydration

• Ahead of the race, Livia spent several weeks getting familiar with the concept of preloading her sodium levels, to arrive at each of her long training sessions optimally hydrated. This allowed her to train to her potential, and she employed the same tactic before her race by drinking 500ml (16oz) of PH 1500 both the night before, and again with her race-day breakfast
• Livia knows her sweat is relatively salty, with a sodium concentration of 1,290 milligrams per litre (mg/32oz). As a result, she was very aware that matching this concentration with her drinks would help her stay hydrated during the race
• To achieve this, she added three PH 1500 Tablets to the ~2L (64oz) of fluid she drank on the bike, to create a very similar average concentration of ~1,125mg/L (mg/32oz)
• During the run, however, her sodium concentration dropped significantly, as she increased the quantity of water she picked up from aid stations in an attempt to combat the rising temperatures
• Despite running out of transition two with a Soft Flask of PH 1500, Livia then drank a further ~1.6L (56oz) of plain water throughout the marathon, meaning her relative sodium concentration fell to just ~373mg/L (mg/32oz)
• As she did such a good job of preloading before the race, and maintaining a solid concentration on the bike, Livia didn’t experience any negative side-effects of this diluted concentration
• For future races, especially those in the heat, Livia may want to take some Electrolyte Capsules with her out of transition, and taking one for every ~200ml (6oz) she drinks, just in case she finds herself drinking more water than planned

Fueling

Conclusions

• Livia got her Zwift Academy journey off to a flying start, crushing her fuel and hydration strategy, whilst leaving a few bits to optimise before the big dance in Hawaii later in the year
• Livia will test her nutrition strategy a few more times before the IRONMAN World Championships, mainly at some local Bundesliga triathlons, and perhaps another middle distance race to test herself over some higher intensity races. Hopefully her run injury will be far behind her by then, and she’ll be able to show her impressive running pedigree