• After a strong race at IRONMAN New Zealand last time out, Rebecca went into the European Championships in Frankfurt with high hopes of another good performance
• She made some refinements to her fueling strategy to help feel stronger throughout, but Rebecca felt she ended up spending too long chasing her competitors without fueling correctly on the bike, resulting in a slight lack of energy heading onto the run
• Despite struggling to fuel correctly on the bike, she attempted to catch up during the run, whilst maintaining an appropriate hydration strategy. This helped her secure an 8th place finish, which included an impressive 3:20 marathon

Hydration

• Rebecca implemented a very similar pre-race hydration strategy to IRONMAN New Zealand, but put an entire PH 1500 Tablet into ~750ml (24oz) of water. This is slightly more water than the science would suggest is optimal for preloading her blood sodium levels. Therefore, for future races we would recommend reducing the water content to ~500ml (16oz) with one PH 1500 tablet
• Whilst on the bike, Rebecca had two 500ml (16oz) bottles - one contained one-and-a-half servings of PF 60 Drink Mix and the other had a single PH 1500 packet in. She also topped up her sodium intake with two Electrolyte Capsules. Along with the ~1L (32oz) of plain water that Rebecca picked up from aid stations throughout the ride, this brought her total fluid intake to ~439ml (15oz) per hour, with a relative sodium concentration of ~909 milligrams per litre (mg/32oz)
• Going into the run, Rebecca reported “feeling well hydrated”, and managed to maintain this feeling throughout the marathon. She did this by carrying a Soft Flask of PH 1000 (Drink Mix), as well as picking up ~1.1L (33oz) of plain water and ~360ml (11oz) of Coca Cola from on-course aid stations
• Overall, Rebecca consumed ~444ml (15oz) of fluid per hour, with a relative sodium concentration of ~604mg/L (mg/32oz). As someone with a low sweat sodium concentration of 553mg/L (mg/32oz), this hydration on the bike likely replaced a good amount of what she lost through sweating

Fueling

Conclusions

• Rebecca enjoyed a successful race at the European Championships, and reported feeling well hydrated throughout, and mentioned an effective and fast recovery period of just five days
• In future, Rebecca may look to alter the timing of her caffeine intake, to increase her energy levels before the run leg. This will help avoid that “energy lull” at the end of the bike, enabling her to feel more ready to run
• Rebecca could also consider undertaking some gut training during key sessions to help her hit those higher carb numbers throughout races