Danni Shrosbree
The Traka 360km
Danni's headline numbers
Danni's strategy
Fueling
Carbohydrate is the main fuel you burn when racing. Failing to fuel properly is a leading cause of underperformance in longer races.
Danni was aiming to hit ~90g of carb per hour for this race to provide plenty of energy to her muscles. In the end, she drank less than expected and had to think on her feet to replace two ‘Jumbo Gels’. This reduced her carb intake significantly, and she felt the effects of this energy-wise in the latter stages. Going forward, Danni’s going to stick to PF 30 Gels which she personally finds stay in her small race-suit pockets better, and incorporate some more ‘real food’ when the race is over 10 hours, as she enjoyed eating the solids that she picked up along the way.
Hydration
Taking on board an appropriate amount of fluid and sodium is essential to maintaining blood volume and supporting the cardiovascular effort needed to perform on race day.
Whilst the absolute amount of sodium and fluid consumed per hour is important, it’s critical to consider these in relation to each other. This is known as 'relative sodium concentration' and it’s expressed in milligrams per litre (mg/L). How much sodium you’re taking in per litre of fluid is more important than the absolute amount taken in per hour.
Sweat sodium concentration (mg/L) is largely genetically determined and remains relatively stable. Knowing how salty your sweat is enables you to replace a good proportion of your sweat losses, which can range from 200-2,000mg/L.
Whilst Danni’s losses are on the low side, getting her hydration strategy right is still important if she wants to perform at her best.
Learn moreDanni mentioned that she was extremely thirsty for plain water during this race, which she attributed partly to having some fuel in all of her fluids, as well as getting quite a bit of muddy puddle water sprayed into her mouth along the route (evidence in the photos above). Had Danni drank slightly more plain water, the relative sodium concentration of her intake would have fallen closer to her personal sweat losses too. Going forward, Danni should look to design her strategy to separate fuel from fluid and electrolytes in these really long races, allowing her to have full control over the three levers independently.
Caffeine
Beyond the Three Levers of Performance (carb, sodium and fluid), caffeine is one of only a few substances that is proven to improve performance for most endurance athletes as it can help stave off mental and physical fatigue.
Danni does habitually use caffeine in her day-to-day life, but timed her intake during this race until the second half which was in the evening. While it would almost certainly have impacted her mental and physical output on the bike positively, she did find it tough to get to sleep after the race, which is something for consideration next time.
How Danni hit her numbers
Here's everything that Danni ate and drank on the day...
Danni's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
Danni
PF&HDanni's full stats
Data Confidence?
There is some confidence in the quantities and brands of products consumed but the data may lack specifics (e.g. volumes specific flavours). A high number of estimations have been made and the room for error is moderate-high. There may also be the possibility that some intake has been grossly over- or under-estimated.