Rebecca Clarke
IRONMAN® Texas
Rebecca's headline numbers
Rebecca'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.
With lower than ideal energy levels from the start, Becs battled with stomach issues and discomfort to get enough carb in to see her to the finish line. She stuck to her usual fueling plan for a race of this distance by using PF Carb and Electrolyte Drink Mix, and PF 30 Gels. She chose to use the PF 300 Flow Gel both on the bike and run as she finds this easier to carry and take on. Despite the discomfort she experienced, Becs still managed to consume ~69g/h of carb. With a little refinement and understanding of her stomach injury and issues, Becs should be able to hit her usual intake goals as she has previously.
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.
Whilst Rebecca’s losses are on the low side, getting her hydration strategy right is still crucial when it’s hot and/or humid as her higher sweat rate in these conditions can result in significant net losses over the duration of a race.
Learn moreBeing aware of both her sweat losses, by having a Sweat Test to understand her sweat sodium concentration and doing regular sweat rate testing to get a handle on the volume of fluid loss, has helped Becs dial in her hydration strategy. Although she struggled to stick to her plan entirely, she still managed to consume an appropriate volume of fluids by using the Carb and Electrolyte Drink Mix, PH 1500 and on-course aid stations. She felt thirsty throughout the race and, especially in warmer races like this, would have benefited from consuming slightly more plain water.
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.
Becs is no stranger to the ergogenic benefits of caffeine and utilised this effectively during the race, surpassing the recommended guidelines slightly. She opts for PF 30 Caffeine Gels to hit her caffeine numbers and tops this up with some cola on course. We have previously seen Becs consuming higher caffeine doses with no adverse side-effects, which suggests that exceeding these recommendations is no issue for her and consequently we wouldn’t advise her to do anything differently.
How Rebecca hit her numbers
Here's everything that Rebecca ate and drank on the day...
Rebecca's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
PF&HRebecca's full stats
Data Confidence?
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.