Danni Shrosbree
The Gralloch
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 rode the majority of this 111km (69 mile) course with her brake rubbing, meaning she was pushing more power than usual for the same speed. While this is one way of increasing the intensity of a given race effort, it’s not one we, nor Danni, would recommend trying. Having initially thought she was going to quit, Danni stopped eating, but once she managed to free up her brakes after an hour or so, she restarted her usual fueling strategy. Her energy levels picked up with the carb intake, and she still hit her overall carb target with no GI distress, finishing the race strong.
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 moreThe relative sodium concentration of Danni’s drinks was slightly higher than her sweat losses, which could have contributed to her feeling thirsty. However, it’s most likely that this thirst was a result of her working harder than anticipated, and therefore having a higher sweat rate than the hydration strategy planned for. She did well to make a judgement call on using her hydration pack instead of the fluid pick up station, as she thought the latter might mean she’d lose time by stopping to find the right bottle. Her ability to adjust her strategy on the fly will serve her well going forwards in her career, demonstrating the experience she’s gained as a well-rounded athlete.
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 has been working on her caffeine intake for short races, as she easily hits the general recommendations when riding longer events like The Traka 360km or Unbound 200 miler. Here, she executed it perfectly, and the reduced perceived effort as a result was surely welcomed given her unforeseen braking situation.
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.