IRONMAN 70.3® Aix-en-Provence

Lizzie’s performance at Aix-en-Provence was the result of months of dedicated gut training and consistently practicing her personalised race fueling strategy. On the bike, she hit her highest ever carb intake of ~129g/h by consuming ~160g from concentrated carb bottles made with PF Carb Only Drink Mix, finishing all four of her planned gels and taking in ~30g of carb from two servings of PH 1500 (Drink Mix. This was a significant increase from her usual ~100g/h across her previous 70.3® races. On the run, she kept the momentum going by finishing a full PF 90 Gel, averaging out to be ~68g/h. Most importantly, she did all of this without any stomach discomfort! This consistent, high carb availability helped to maintain her energy levels on a tough bike course and set the stage for her fastest ever 70.3® run split.

In anticipation of the hot and humid race conditions, Lizzie made some smart adjustments to frontload her sodium and fluid intake in the beginning of the bike leg. She drank one litre of PH 1500, added a tablet of PH 1000 (delivering 500mg of sodium) in her carb-rich bottle (unlike previous races) and carried extra Electrolyte Capsules to support her hydration strategy. Subjectively, Lizzie felt this approach worked well. If race day temperatures had continued to climb, extending her proactive sodium and fluid intake into the latter stages of the bike and early on the run would have been helpful for maintaining her fluid balance and hydration to the finish.

Lizzie stuck to her usual caffeine protocol of relying on PF 30 Caffeine Gels, a strategy she’s refined across previous 70.3® distance races. This helped her hit the recommended caffeine range shown to enhance perceived energy levels. Having tested and dialled in her dose and timing, Lizzie has found that this approach reliably supports her focus and performance, without causing any negative side effects - an important factor given how individual caffeine tolerance can vary between athletes.