1st
Sam Appleton's scorecard
IRONMAN 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
300ml x Plain water
1/3 x Cup of coffee
1 x White chocolate muffin
*** Tip: For sea swims, put a bottle of water at T1 to rinse your mouth out
750ml x PH 1000 (Tablets)
300ml x PH 1500 (Tablets)
3 x PF 30 Energy Gel
1 x Energy gel with caffeine (24g carb, 50mg caffeine)
2 x Energy gel with caffeine (24g carb, 72mg caffeine)
300ml x Plain water
300ml x Coca Cola Original
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
IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong
Location
Geelong, Australia
Date
20th February, 2022
Website
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
No
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 | 988 |
| Per hour | 54 | 443 | 448 | 74 | |
| Bike and Run | |||||
| Total intake | 199 | 1,630 | 1,650 | 274 | 988 |
| Per hour | 61 | 502 | 508 | 84 | |
| Bike | |||||
| Total intake | 167 | 1,630 | 1,050 | 250 | 1,552 |
| Per hour | 82 | 802 | 516 | 123 | |
| Run | |||||
| Total intake | 32 | 0 | 600 | 24 | 0 |
| Per hour | 26 | 0 | 493 | 20 | |
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).