IRONMAN® World Championship

On race morning in Kona, Sam stuck to his tried and tested carb-rich breakfast of rice, a banana and a PF 60 Chew Bar, before a final PF 30 Caffeine Gel within the 30 minutes before race start to top up his circulating blood glucose for the long swim.

Knowing the first section of the bike would be technical, Sam took on a PF 30 Caffeine Gel in T1 to get ahead of his intake, then relied on bottles on the bike containing PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix as well as one aero bottle with PF 90 Gels, PF 30 Gels and PF 30 Caffeine Gels mixed in. This approach kept his high-carb strategy easy to execute. It also meant he had the flexibility to increase his intake when he felt his energy drop by taking more from his aero bottle. Having raced several IRONMAN’s before, Sam knew he’d feel hungry between mile 70 and 90. To combat this he took on an energy bar which also helped to avoid flavour fatigue.

Out of T2, taking ~300ml of cola gave Sam a lift to get started on the marathon. He then relied on PF 90 Gels and PF 30 Caffeine Gels until 22km into the run. From that point his strategy pivoted to rely on cola, an intentional move knowing that later on in the run he finds it much harder to fuel. Sam stepped up his run intake from ~58g/h at IRONMAN® Kalmar last year to ~73g/h here, an impressive increase given the extreme heat and humidity out in Kona. Raising his intake to shoot for 90g/h+ on the run could boost Sam’s energy levels even further.

Sam prepared for the heat of Kona with 3-4 weeks of sessions at the Precision Performance Lab, which helped dial in his hydration strategy. The night before, and on race morning he preloaded with PH 1500 to start as well hydrated as possible for the extremely hot and humid conditions. He drank ~8L on the bike, starting with bottles of Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix, Carb Only Drink Mix and PH 1500, while relying on aid stations to get plenty of additional water. His run strategy was to carry a Soft Flask of Carb and Electrolyte Drink Mix and top-up fluid by refilling it with water and grabbing more water cups at aid stations. As a result of his heat acclimation block, Sam’s Sweat Rate increased, so he knew he had to be proactive in taking on ~1.4-1.6L to replenish his losses. On top of this, using active cooling methods, such as putting ice down his tri suit and soaking his hat in cold water, was crucial to help regulate his body temperature.

The relative sodium concentration of Sam’s drinks was where he fell slightly short on this occasion. Supplementing a large portion of his fluid intake with water at aid stations meant that his relative sodium concentration fell below that which is lost in his sweat (which he knows from his sweat test). Taking a few more Electrolyte Capsules during the race, would have helped him replace a greater proportion of his losses and potentially benefit his performance.