Lizzie Rayner
IRONMAN 70.3® Portugal-Cascais
Cascais1st, FPROLizzie's headline numbers
Lizzie's strategy
Fueling
T - 1-4hrs: Ate a carb rich meal (Low in fat & fibre)
T - 15mins: Took in a final dose of carb
"My energy was really good, but I did have to force down some of my nutrition."
Lizzie made it three IRONMAN 70.3® Portugal-Cascais titles in a row, using a gel-led fueling strategy very similar to the one that helped her take the tape in 2025. PF 300 Flow Gel, PF 30 Gels and PF 30 Caffeine Gels provided ~87% of her total race carbs with the rest coming from the PH 1000 and PH 1500 sachets she used to support her sodium intake. One less gel than planned on the run and some unfinished bike bottles meant she averaged ~94g/h, a little below last year’s ~105g/h. That is still above the 90g/h recommendation and a step up from the ~78g/h she averaged here in 2024. This intake provided her with ample energy throughout and is something Lizzie should continue to implement in training and racing to help improve her gut’s tolerance and therefore comfort to this volume of fuel when racing.
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.
Lizzie839mg/L
Lizzie has been Sweat Tested to dial in her hydration plan
Sweat sodium concentration (mg/L) is largely genetically determined and remains relatively stable. Knowing how salty your sweat is enables you to replace a good proportion of your sweat losses, which can range from 200-2,000mg/L.
Whilst Lizzie's losses are on the moderate side, getting her hydration strategy right is still crucial when it's hot and/or humid as her higher sweat rate in these conditions can result in significant net losses over the duration of a race.
Learn moreT - 60mins: Drank ~500ml of strong electrolyte drink
"I was cramping a little bit towards the end of the bike as I have before, but nothing crazy."
After some specific hydration-related data collection at the Precision Fuel & Hydration IRONMAN 70.3® World Champs in Marbella and Nice, Lizzie and the Sports Science team have worked out a fluid replacement strategy to support her known sweat losses. This resulted in her drinking just over ~1.5L on the bike and ~600ml on the run in Portugal. Body weight measurements around previous races have shown Lizzie is fine-tuned to her body's needs in these warmer races, drinking enough to keep her bodyweight change to no more than 2%. Here in Portugal, this was no different and by drinking a similar quantity to the same race in 2025, Lizzie maintained her fluid balance and felt she avoided any hydration-related issues.
She also improved upon her run hydration strategy using a soft flask of PH 1000 to start the run and keep up with her fluid and sodium losses, as this worked well for her in Nice. With the help of PH 1500 on the bike alongside plain water, and PH 1000 on the run, Lizzie reached a relative sodium concentration slightly above her sweat sodium concentration of 839mg/L. The cramping she experienced was likely related to her relative intensity being high towards the end of the bike, rather than any deficit in her fluid or sodium intake.
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.
T - 0-4hrs: Had a final hit of caffeine
For the first time at this race, Lizzie reached closer to the top end of the caffeine recommendations of 3-6mg/kg with the help of three PF 30 Caffeine Gels, one before the swim and two on the bike. This will have maximised the performance-enhancing effects of the stimulant across the race, something she had implemented successfully at the World Champs in Marbella 2025.
How Lizzie hit her numbers
Here's everything that Lizzie ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“It was a special day for me leading from gun to tape with the fastest swim, bike and run. Back to back to back feels great. ”
“Three wins, three years in Portugal for Lizzie is an impressive feat. Part of that comes down to her well executed fuel and hydration plan. The evolution of her carb and caffeine intake, and refinement of her fluid and sodium intake is evident in the stats and performance outcome here for Lizzie.”
PF&HLizzie'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 an adequate level of accuracy in the data collected and the numbers reported. The athlete manages to recall what they ate and drank including most specifics (brands flavours quantities plausible estimations of volumes). However there are estimations made within the data which affect the overall confidence level in the data reported.