1st
Ruth Astle's scorecard
IRONMAN Mallorca
Saturday 16th October, 2021
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
99g
Carb per hour
404mg
Sodium per hour
495ml
Fluid per hour
815mg/L
Relative sodium concentration
196mg
Total caffeine
How Ruth hit those numbers
How Ruth's hydration and fueling went...
- Ruth had an awesome race at IM Mallorca becoming an IRONMAN champion for the first time! She finished in an impressive sub-9 hour time (08:59:15) and executed a solid fueling and hydration plan
- Ruth’s carb, fluid and sodium intake was well dialled throughout the race. She used a pre-made carb-rich energy drink mix on the bike which front loaded her carbs and sodium ahead of the run where she made use of the 3 available aid stations across the four-loop course to meet her needs and finish strongly
Hydration
- It was fantastic to see Ruth preload ahead of IM Mallorca using PH1500 as per our recommendations. This will have ensured she was toeing the start line in a well-hydrated state. On average, she drank ~495ml/hr (~16oz/hr) across the race, which broke down into ~423ml/hr (~14oz/hr) on the bike and a higher average of ~770ml/hr (~26oz/hr) on the run
- Ruth felt she did a good job with her hydration strategy in this race, sticking to her planned strategy which was to use her pre-mixed bottles on the bike plus some water from the on-course aid stations and picking up cups of water, coke and red bull on the run. Other than the very first aid station which she planned not to stop at, Ruth picked up bottles from all aid stations. For Ruth this was a very effective strategy, only getting caught out once, in the final 15-20 minutes of the bike where she ran out of water
- Ruth told us she only peed once on the bike in the final half an hour but noted peeing a lot on the run, up to as much as twice per lap (there were four laps in total). This is suggestive of over-drinking as it’s far more frequent peeing than would be expected for an event of this length whereby some degree of dehydration is to be expected (therefore the body tries to conserve water and doesn’t urge us to pee too often). This frequent peeing is in line with Ruth drinking a much greater volume on the run versus the bike
- To be clear, whilst ~770ml/26oz isn’t an excessive hourly fluid intake per hour during a race in hot conditions, Ruth is a smaller athlete and therefore it should be noted that this is a relatively greater fluid intake than an athlete of bigger body size
- Ruth’s carb mix on the bike was sodium-rich and meant she took in plenty of sodium in this time which front loaded her intake ahead of the run. Here her sodium intake dropped off significantly but between preloading before the race and a good intake on the bike this is a fine strategy. Ruth reported no issues with cramping
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
30g
carb 30 mins before
60-90g
carb per hour during
- Ruth ate a carb-rich breakfast the morning of the race and met the Quick Carb Calculator's recommendations of 30g carb 15 minutes before the swim by consuming an energy gel with caffeine. This will have topped up her fuel stores well and given her perceived high energy levels on the start line
- On average across the 9-hour race she consumed an impressive 99g carb per hour. This is above the recommendations of the Quick Carb Calculator but given that evidence suggests a higher carb intake can relate to better performance, as long as GI issues can be avoided this high carb intake should be viewed very positively. Ruth rated her GI comfort during the race a 9/10, saying she only felt slightly uncomfortable in the last half hour on the bike but because she felt she needed a change of calories, as opposed to any real danger of GI issues
- Ruth achieved this high average carb intake by consuming a huge ~145g/hr on the bike and a lower intake of ~53g/hr on the run. This tapering in consumption from the bike to the run isn’t uncommon to see in triathletes, though the difference isn’t usually as extreme in long distance events. That said, when an athlete fuels so well on the bike, as Ruth did, this allows for a slightly lower run intake (typically >60g/hr would be recommended on the run)
- To meet her fueling needs on the bike, Ruth used a very carb-rich powder pre-mixed in her bottles. This was diluted in 1L of water and she picked up two further bottles of plain water from aid stations. On the run Ruth moved onto energy gels which most athletes find a more efficient source of energy whilst moving at pace
- Ultimately, Ruth felt her energy levels were good throughout the event (rating them 9/10), only experiencing a dip during the first lap of the run where she didn’t take on nutrition, but as soon as she started getting gels in she said her energy and hydration levels felt good
Conclusions
- Overall, Ruth said that this was ‘the best I have felt throughout a whole race’ and that bar the one less aid station that they were promised on the run, nothing that Ruth planned changed on race day. We agree that Ruth did a fantastic job at meeting her fueling and hydration needs and this was reflected in her brilliant race outcome
- The only tweak to Ruth’s strategy we would suggest is to dial back her fluid intake on the run to avoid excessive peeing but that said if this volume of fluid was Ruth listening to her body and drinking to thirst then no changes should be made
Key info
Ruth Astle
Female
Result
Position
1st
Overall Time
8:59:15
Swim Time
0:55:01
Bike Time
4:51:44
Run Time
3:07:25
Normalised power (Bike)
203W
Event information
Sport
Triathlon
Discipline
Full distance
Event
IRONMAN Mallorca
Location
Alcudia, Mallorca
Date
16th October, 2021
Website
Swim Distance
3.8km / 2.4mi
Bike Distance
180.2km / 112.0mi
Run Distance
42.2km / 26.2mi
Total Distance
226.2km / 140.6mi
Bike Elevation
1920m / 6,299ft
Race conditions
Weather Conditions
Hot
Precipitation
No Rain
Min Temp
14°C / 57°F
Max Temp
23°C / 73°F
Avg Temp
20°C / 68°F
Humidity
64%
Athlete feedback
Race Satisfaction
10/10
Hydration rating
9/10
Energy levels
9/10
Toilet stops
Yes
Once on the bike and a lot on the run
GI comfort
9/10
Cramping
No cramping
Ruth's full stats
Carbohydrate (g) | Sodium (mg) | Fluid (ml) | Caffeine (mg) | Relative sodium concentration (mg/L) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Overall | |||||
Total intake | 893 | 3,628 | 4,450 | 196 | 815 |
Per hour | 99 | 404 | 495 | 22 | |
Bike and Run | |||||
Total intake | 868 | 3,606 | 4,450 | 96 | 810 |
Per hour | 109 | 453 | 559 | 12 | |
Bike | |||||
Total intake | 704 | 3,450 | 2,050 | 0 | 1,683 |
Per hour | 145 | 711 | 423 | 0 | |
Run | |||||
Total intake | 164 | 156 | 2,400 | 96 | 65 |
Per hour | 53 | 50 | 770 | 31 |
Data Confidence
1
2
3
4
5
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.