Mel Varvel
IRONMAN® Wales
Mel's headline numbers
Mel's strategy
Fueling
Carbohydrate is the main fuel you burn when racing. Failing to fuel properly is a leading cause of underperformance in longer races.
Mel has been working hard on increasing her fuel intake in the build-up to this race, as it’s been a struggle for her in the past. Using mainly PF 90 Gels, Mel fueled extremely well on the bike, managing to hit ~73g carb per hour. However, she did experience stomach discomfort coming off the bike, and subsequently struggled to fuel without feeling nauseous on the run. This meant her intake dropped significantly (60% from bike to run) which most likely contributed to Mel hitting a wall in the second half of the run. In future, some more gut training especially on her tougher training sessions, should help Mel avoid this discomfort and get her to maintain consistently high energy levels across a race.
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.
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.
Given Mel’s losses are High (1,290mg/L), nailing her hydration strategy remains important, even when it’s Mild.
Learn moreMel used PH 1500 (Drink Mix) for electrolytes on her bike alongside a couple of Electrolyte Capsules to replace a good proportion of her high sweat sodium losses. She frontloaded her sodium intake, taking more of it on the bike than on the run, meaning that even when it dropped significantly during the second half of the run she was still pleased to report zero cramping as she avoided race-impacting levels of dehydration.
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.
Mel utilised the ergogenic benefits of caffeine well during this race, with both a pre-race coffee and PF 30 Caffeine Gels during the race, topping up her levels to reach the 3-6mg/kg recommendation.
How Mel hit her numbers
Here's everything that Mel ate and drank on the day...
Mel's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
PF&HMel's full stats
Data Confidence?
There is some confidence in the quantities and brands of products consumed but the data may lack specifics (e.g. volumes specific flavours). A high number of estimations have been made and the room for error is moderate-high. There may also be the possibility that some intake has been grossly over- or under-estimated.