• Retired doctor, Martin, has qualified for the IRONMAN World Championships eight times since starting triathlon in 2005. Now racing in the 65-69 age group, Martin was looking to carry forward his form from a dominant win at the 2021 IRONMAN World Championships in Utah where he won by over an hour
• Martin has worked with the PF&H Sports Science team for a couple of years prior to this race, honing his strategy to where it is today. Happily, this meant that on the day he perceived both his energy levels and hydration as a 10 (out of 10)
• Impressively, Martin produced a time of 10:55:21 in Kona, clearly an example of someone who’s slowed the decline in performance associated with age. This time meant he beat the next best in his age group by a margin of 45 minutes!

Hydration

• Martin preloaded like he usually does with PH 1500 (Tablets) both the night before and the morning of the race, to ensure that he topped up his blood plasma volume and would start the race optimally hydrated
• After emerging in 8th position from the swim, Martin hopped on the bike which was stocked with his pre-mixed bottles of carbohydrate drink mix with additional PH 1500 (Drink Mix). He also utilised aid stations by picking up ~6.2L (218oz) of water
• This meant that he had an average intake of ~1.44L (50oz) of fluid per hour on the bike, which is at the upper limit of what we see athletes being able to tolerate. However, on this occasion it was appropriate for Martin given the extreme heat and humidity which would have been reflected in his fluid losses through sweating
• Martin knows that he has a low sweat sodium concentration of 695mg/L after taking a Precision Fuel & Hydration Sweat Test. This means that he generally wouldn’t require as much sodium during his races as many other athletes. During this race, he maintained an appropriate relative sodium concentration on the bike of ~529mg/L (mg/32oz) with the aid of some Electrolyte Capsules
• While on the run course, Martin relied on supplies from the 16 aid stations. He estimated that he picked up ~3.5L (123oz) of fluid in total, bringing his average intake for the race to ~1.04L (32oz) fluid per hour with a relative sodium concentration of ~514mg/L (mg/32oz)
• This is in line with our analysis of Martin’s hydration at the IRONMAN World Championships in St George, with a ~6% increase in fluid during this race to combat his elevated sweat rate, in part due to the higher humidity in Kona

Fueling

Conclusions

• Adding yet another IRONMAN World Championship title to his name, Martin said his second age-group victory in Kona was “very special”. He added that winning by a 45-minute margin was “the icing on the cake”, rating his race satisfaction 100 (out of 10!)
• Martin has already got his sights on his next race to qualify for the 70.3 World Championships, carrying his solid fuel and hydration plan across to shorter distance racing