6th
Sarah Crowley's scorecard
Challenge Almere
Sunday 12th September, 2021
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
64g
Carb per hour
144mg
Sodium per hour
602ml
Fluid per hour
240mg/L
Relative sodium concentration
328mg
Total caffeine
How Sarah hit those numbers
600ml x PH 1500 (Tablets)
1 x Bowl of breakfast oats
1 x Banana
1 x Handful of gummy lollies
*** Try to avoid drinking too much at this point in the race!
950ml x Plain water
1 x Energy gel (25g carb)
2 x Energy gel (22g carb)
250ml x Energy drink mix (80g carb)
500ml x Electrolyte drink mix (343mg sodium)
1L x Energy drink mix (61g carb)
200ml x Energy drink (48g carb)
1 x Caffeine tablet (50mg caffeine)
1.2L x Plain water
4 x Energy gel (22g carb)
1 x Energy chew packet with caffeine (48g carb, 50mg caffeine)
400ml x Coca Cola Original
300ml x Red Bull
1 x Banana
500ml x Energy drink (21g carb)
How Sarah's hydration and fueling went...
- After a long run of tough races including the Collin’s Cup and Challenge Roth, Sarah had a better performance at Almere coming in 6th with a time of 8 hours 48 minutes
- In similar conditions to Roth just a week earlier, Sarah consumed a similar mix of products but listened to our recommendations to try to increase her carb and sodium intake
Hydration
- Sarah consumed around ~144mg/hr sodium, which as we recommended was higher (double) her sodium intake at Challenge Roth (~63mg/hr). This was a good adjustment to replace a greater proportion of what she will have been losing. She could still look to increase this further especially in hotter conditions where her sweat rate would be higher and therefore she will be losing more sodium
- Sarah’s fluid intake was a solid amount (4.9L/166oz overall) and the same as her Roth fluid intake. However, as with Roth, Sarah did not pee at all during the race. In a race of this duration we would expect her to pee at least once (if not more) and not peeing at all could be a sign of her under-hydrating. She did mention that she nearly peed at the end of the bike but didn’t
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
30g
carb 30 mins before
60-90g
carb per hour during
- Sarah consumed a large breakfast both high in carbs and low in fibre, ideal before starting the race to top up fuel stores. As with previous races, Sarah chose not to consume a final gel just prior to the start of the swim but this time had a handful of gummy lollies 20-30 minutes before the race
- For a race of this duration and intensity, the Quick Carb Calculator would recommend Sarah consumes 60-90g of carb per hour. In her last two races Sarah had reached 59g/hr (middle distance race) and 54g/hr (full distance race) but after our recommendations Sarah strove to up her carb intake for this race aiming for the recommended 60-90g
- Sarah’s carb intake for this race was 64g/hr which broke down into 62g/hr on the bike and 88g/hr on the run. This is the opposite trend to what we often see (a tapering in consumption) but Sarah has done this before at the Collin’s Cup. Overall, this is a really good amount within our advised range, and if she can keep increasing her carb intake especially on the bike, anecdotal evidence suggests this can benefit her performance and recovery
- Sarah experienced no GI issues at all and said that her “energy was 8-9 (out of 10) most of the day except 70-100k on the bike where I wanted to stop, my legs were failing but I focused on continuing to eat and drink and things came back”. This could link to her lower carb intake on the bike therefore we would recommend she tries front loading carbs during races with higher bike intake so she isn’t trying to ‘catch up’ on fuelling later in the race
- Sarah consumed around ~328mg caffeine in total which equates to ~37mg/hr. The recommended caffeine dose for performance is 3-6mg per kilogram of bodyweight. Estimating Sarah’s bodyweight (~54kg), she is right at the top of the recommended range (162-324mg). She is accustomed to using caffeine during races and spreads her race caffeine doses out during the races well
Conclusions
- Overall, Sarah was happier with this race and mentioned that she “ran way better” and that she “just needs to build for a race now”. She listened to some of our recommendations increasing both her carb and sodium intake pushing into/towards our recommended ranges
- Sarah could still look to increase her carb and sodium intakes somewhat further but it’s fantastic to see the progress she’s made in this race and to hear how this positively influenced how she felt
Key info
Sarah Crowley
Female
Result
Position
6th
Overall Time
8:48:37
Swim Time
0:56:30
Bike Time
4:44:59
Run Time
3:03:17
Event information
Sport
Triathlon
Discipline
Full distance
Event
Challenge Almere
Location
Almere, Netherlands
Date
12th September, 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
458m / 1,503ft
Race conditions
Weather Conditions
Hot
Precipitation
No Rain
Min Temp
14°C / 57°F
Max Temp
21°C / 70°F
Avg Temp
18°C / 64°F
Humidity
69%
Athlete feedback
Hydration rating
8/10
Energy levels
8/10
GI comfort
10/10
Cramping
No cramping
Sarah's full stats
| Carbohydrate (g) | Sodium (mg) | Fluid (ml) | Caffeine (mg) | Relative sodium concentration (mg/L) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | |||||
| Total intake | 561 | 1,269 | 5,300 | 328 | 240 |
| Per hour | 64 | 144 | 602 | 37 | |
| Bike and Run | |||||
| Total intake | 561 | 1,269 | 5,300 | 328 | 240 |
| Per hour | 72 | 163 | 681 | 42 | |
| Bike | |||||
| Total intake | 294 | 827 | 2,900 | 150 | 285 |
| Per hour | 62 | 175 | 613 | 32 | |
| Run | |||||
| Total intake | 268 | 442 | 2,400 | 178 | 184 |
| Per hour | 88 | 145 | 787 | 58 | |
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.