Nicole Brunt
IRONMAN® World Championships
NiceTop 50, F30-34Nicole's headline numbers
Nicole's strategy
Fueling
T - 1-4hrs: Ate a carb rich meal (Low in fat & fibre)
T - 15mins: Took in a final dose of carb
"I had a flat patch coming onto the bike, and then felt really tired from 30km to 80km. After a toilet stop at 100km, I felt much better for the rest of the race, even on the last lap of the run. "
Nicole consumed a decent amount of carbohydrates across eleven and a half hours of racing, with a slightly higher intake on the run compared to the bike (the opposite trend to what we see across our Case Study Database). For future races, we’d advise increasing her intake on the bike to meet the recommended 90g/h, especially as her stomach felt comfortable and she even felt ‘quite hungry’. Increasing her fuel intake on the bike will improve her carbohydrate availability and energy levels to keep her racing harder for longer.
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.
Nicole1740mg/L
Nicole 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.
Given Nicole's losses are Very High (1,740mg/L), nailing her hydration strategy becomes especially crucial when it's hot and/or humid.
Learn moreT - 60mins: Drank ~500ml of strong electrolyte drink
"I was really lucky with the weather so my sweat rate wasn’t super high, and overall I think my hydration went quite well. "
In her previous race at IRONMAN® Cairns, Nicole likely didn’t drink enough fluid or electrolytes, leading to her suffering quite badly including some severe cramping. This time, she appropriately increased her intake and felt much better for it. Although it was still under her recommended sodium intake (Nicole is a *very* salty sweater and found out exactly how salty a few days *after* the race), this was a vast improvement for her and likely replaced a much higher proportion of her losses, especially given the mild conditions. For Nicole’s next race, she should further increase her sodium intake to help her retain more fluid, particularly on the run where her sodium consumption drastically dropped. Practically, she could simply take a few more Electrolyte Capsules to achieve this.
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.
Consuming caffeine in the hours before the start may have increased perceived energy levels
Nicole surpassed the [recommended caffeine dose]() and actually took some of her PF 30 Caffeine Gels quite *late* on in the race. Given it takes ~45-60 minutes for caffeine to peak in the bloodstream, she likely missed out on some of the ergogenic effects when she needed it most. Going forward, she could consume smaller doses earlier on in the run to gain the largest benefit and avoid any negative impacts of large doses.
How Nicole hit her numbers
Here's everything that Nicole ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“Throughout the race I felt quite calm mentally, and compared to my last IRONMAN® race this was a huge improvement. ”
“Nicole had a great first IRONMAN® World Champs experience, demonstrating significant improvements in her fuel and hydration strategy compared to her last race. For the future, she could benefit from increasing her carb intake, especially on the bike, and further refining her sodium intake to more closely match her super salty sweat losses. ”
PF&HNicole'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.