IRONMAN® World Championships

Throughout the race, Zach consumed almost 850 grams of carbohydrates, averaging ~57g/h for nearly fifteen hours of racing. Although this sounds like a lot, Zach would have most definitely been using more energy than this and his body would’ve had to resort to the carbohydrates stored in his muscles to attempt to maintain his energy levels and performance. He hit these numbers by using a range of energy products and real foods. These real foods can be more satisfying to eat and keep 'flavour fatigue' at bay, especially over extended periods. Zach describes fading a little towards the end of the bike leg, but doesn’t think this was due to his fueling strategy, and perhaps his reduced long-ride conditioning in training instead. During the run, Zach’s average carb intake per hour dropped significantly and whilst he was feeling good for the first ~22km, he grabbed some salted potato chips from an aid station in an attempt to navigate his reduced energy levels, which unfortunately made him feel quite sick shortly after. By avoiding ‘unfamiliar’ foods in future races and sticking to what he’s practised with, Zach should hopefully avoid these issues moving forward.

Zach’s hydration strategy during this race would’ve likely replaced enough of his sodium and fluid losses, as he reports himself to be a fairly low salty sweater. We hope to validate this by getting Zach booked in for a Sweat Test in the future where we can more accurately dial in his hydration plan to match his individual sweat losses. Despite this, we would still recommend he bumps up his total fluid intake whilst maintaining a similar relative sodium concentration, as sweat rates usually increase when temperatures are higher. During the run, Zach relied on the on-course aid stations for all of his hydration needs, taking cups of water and coke interchangeably. Unfortunately, due to the stomach issues he experienced in the middle of the run his fluid intakes were lower than planned overall, but he managed to keep his core temperature in check by pouring cups of water over himself at every aid station.