1st

Sam Appleton's scorecard

IM 70.3® Geelong

Sunday 20th February, 2022

Within recommended ranges

Just outside recommended ranges

Significantly outside recommended ranges

54g

Carb per hour

443mg

Sodium per hour

448ml

Fluid per hour

988mg/L

Relative sodium concentration

4.09mg/kg

Caffeine per bodyweight

How Sam hit those numbers

How Sam's hydration and fueling went...

Sam had a fantastic start to the season at IM 70.3 Geelong, finishing in 3 hours and 41 minutes to claim top spot on the podium! Against tough Aussie competitors, Sam raced well in the mild race conditions, using a hydration and fueling plan that he’s refined over several months
Reflecting on the race, Sam was especially happy with the run leg after making a commitment to improve it in the off season. He said, “everything went to plan, more or less! I am happy with where I am this early in the season and this is a great stepping stone into the 2022 season”

Hydration

Sam used his normal strategy of carrying two bottles on the bike, one 750ml/25oz bottle containing PH 1000 and one 450ml/15oz bottle containing PH 1500 which he didn’t finish. Then on the run, Sam had a mouthful (~30ml/1oz) of water and Coca Cola at each aid station (10 aid stations)
In total, he drank ~1.65L/56oz, equating to ~448ml/hr (15oz/hr) on average. This is a similar volume to what we’ve seen Sam drink during his previous 70.3 races, though slightly less than the World Champs and Oceanside as he didn’t finish his 450ml/15oz bottle on the bike and there were less aid stations on the run
Despite this, Sam described his sweat rate as moderate in the mild conditions (16℃/61°F), therefore drinking over 400ml/hr is a seemingly adequate amount to keep on top of his losses and is slightly higher than he managed to drink at both the Collins Cup and Boulder 70.3 in similar conditions last season
As always, Sam took on a solid amount of sodium in the fluid he drank to replace a high proportion of his sweat sodium losses. He consumed ~443mg of sodium per hour, which meant the relative sodium concentration of his intake was ~988mg/L
Sam has a moderate sweat sodium concentration of 655mg/L, so he replaced his losses well and didn’t cramp at all during the race. He was happy with his overall hydration strategy, rating it 7 out of 10, saying he did want to finish both of his bottles on the bike. When conditions get hotter later on this year, and his fluid losses are therefore higher, this will be important

Fueling

Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation

30g

carb 30 mins before

60-90g

carb per hour during

Sam had his usual pre-race breakfast of a muffin along with some plain water and a coffee. Although this might seem to be on the ‘lighter’ side for many athletes, this is Sam’s go-to pre-race meal (other than a change in muffin flavour this time around) and will have topped up his glycogen stores before the early race start of 7:00am
For a final fuel top up, Sam could consider having a gel in the last 30 minutes pre-race as we saw him do at a few races last year, including the IM 70.3 World Champs. The purpose of this final gel is to hit his bloodstream quickly, maximising carbohydrate availability, and sparing his glycogen stores for later in the race
During the race, Sam consumed an average of ~54g of carbohydrate per hour. This broke down into a higher ~82g/hr on the bike, from 3 x PF 30 Energy Gels and 3 x Energy gels with caffeine, compared to ~26g/hr on the run from a small volume of Coca Cola
This front-loading technique is often used successfully in triathlon races and, in middle distance events especially, we’ve found that such a significant drop in carbohydrate intake (~56g/hr difference) isn’t uncommon. Pushing over 80g/hr on the bike was a great technique to fuel Sam throughout and sustain his high intensity going into the third discipline where fueling is often harder due to the mechanics of running
That said, Sam should consider taking on slightly more carbohydrate on the run (over 30g/hr). For example, this could be achieved by taking on a couple of gels. This would increase his overall average carb intake and meet the recommended 60-90g/hr for a race of this duration
Sam said “I started to fade a little in the last 5km of the race” so taking on more fuel during the run, especially in the earlier stages, could prevent this
Similarly to IM 70.3 Oceanside at the end of last year, Sam drank a small amount of coffee before the race and then ‘drip-fed’ himself caffeine throughout the bike leg with three caffeinated gels. This meant his in-race caffeine dose was ~4.09mg/kg, a good dose, within the recommended guidelines (3-6mg/kg) and timed well. Using caffeine effectively can be an ergogenic aid to performance by reducing an athlete’s perception of effort

Conclusions

Using his developed hydration and fueling plan, experienced triathlete Sam Appleton had a fantastic season opener to win IM 70.3 Geelong. Unsurprisingly, Sam was thrilled with the outcome, rating his race satisfaction as 8 out of 10, but mentioned that “there is still room for improvement”
Sam hit solid sodium, fluid and carb numbers, especially on the bike. For his upcoming races, he could consider having a gel just before the start of the race, as his standard pre-race breakfast is quite light
He could also aim to consume more carbohydrate on the run which may prevent the dip in energy levels he experienced in the final 5km of the race
All in all, a great first race of the 2022 season and we can’t wait to see what the year ahead holds for Sam

Key info

Sam Appleton

Male

67kg

Sweat sodium concentration

655mg/L

Sweat sodium classification

Low

* determined by a PH Advanced Sweat Test

Result

Position

1st

Overall Time

3:41:16

Swim Time

0:21:37

Bike Time

2:02:31

Run Time

1:13:06

Event information

Sport

Triathlon

Discipline

Middle distance

Event

IM 70.3® Geelong

Location

Geelong, Australia

Date

20th February, 2022

Website

Show me

Swim Distance

1.9km / 1.2mi

Bike Distance

90.1km / 56.0mi

Run Distance

21.1km / 13.1mi

Total Distance

113.1km / 70.3mi

Bike Elevation

616m / 2,021ft

Run Elevation

200m / 656ft

Total Elevation

816m / 2,677ft

Race conditions

Weather Conditions

Mild

Precipitation

No Rain

Min Temp

12°C / 54°F

Max Temp

19°C / 66°F

Avg Temp

16°C / 61°F

Humidity

79%

Athlete feedback

Race Satisfaction

8/10

Hydration rating

7/10

I did want to finish the 1.2L/41oz I had on board my bike , but fell short of that

Energy levels

8/10

I did start to fade a little in the last 5km of the race, but overall I felt really good up until then

Toilet stops

GI comfort

9/10

I didn't really have any stomach issues at all, but a mouthful of fizzy coke at the last aid station did give me a slight stitch for a couple of mins before the finish line

Cramping

No cramping

Sam's Thoughts

Everything went to plan more or less! I am happy with where I am this early in the season and this is a great stepping stone into the 2022 season

Sam's full stats

	Carbohydrate (g)	Sodium (mg)	Fluid (ml)	Caffeine (mg)	Relative sodium concentration (mg/L)
Overall
Total intake	199	1,630	1,650	274	Relative sodium concentration (mg/L)	988
Per hour	54	443	448	74		988
Bike and Run
Total intake	199	1,630	1,650	274	988
Per hour	61	502	508	84	988
Bike
Total intake	167	1,630	1,050	250	1,552
Per hour	82	802	516	123	1,552
Run
Total intake	32	0	600	24	0
Per hour	26	0	493	20	0

Data Confidence

1

2

3

4

5

There is good confidence in the accuracy of the data reported. An athlete feels that the numbers closely reflect what they consumed despite a couple of estimations which may carry some degree of error. The majority of what was consumed is recorded to a high level of specificity (most volumes are known through the use of bottles brands quantities flavours). The numbers are very plausible and align with previous data recordings (if an athlete has collected data previously).

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