1st
Ruth Astle's scorecard
King's Cup British Gravel Championship
Sunday 19th September, 2021
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
36g
Carb per hour
417mg
Sodium per hour
441ml
Fluid per hour
945mg/L
Relative sodium concentration
0mg/kg
Caffeine per bodyweight
How Ruth hit those numbers
How Ruth's hydration and fueling went...
- Ruth had a dominant performance at the British Gravel Champs with over a 5 minute lead ahead of second place India Lee. She finished the 70km course in Suffolk in a time of 2 hours and 16 minutes
- Despite a slight crash towards the end of the race where her bike chain came off, she had a strong smooth race and followed a simple but effective hydration and fuelling strategy. Ruth said “It was a bit unexpected. I was treating it as a bit of fun but I am very happy with the outcome. It all just went better than I thought it would”
- The best ways to fuel and hydrate during gravel races is currently a hot topic for debate amongst athletes with different strategies being used to overcome the many complications due to the terrain and nature of gravel races
- Ruth said she was a bit limited by the race. She mentioned that there was a station to refill drinks but you had to stop which she did not want to do. As a result, she was limited to what she carried with her (two bottles) for the whole ride
Hydration
- Ruth consumed both 500ml (17oz) bottles over the course of the race which equates to ~441ml (~15oz) of fluid per hour. Considering the conditions weren’t too hot this seems to be a decent amount but we do not have data on Ruth’s sweat rate to confirm this will have adequately replaced what she was losing
- Ruth felt she did what she could for the race, rating her hydration strategy as an 8 out of 10 but did mention that she could have had a squeezy bottle in her back pocket as another athlete did. This would have been helpful in the last 30 minutes of the race when she had finished both of her bottles
- She consumed ~417mg/hr sodium during the race and didn’t experience any cramping. However, she believes she could have cramped if she pushed harder and was conscious of this towards the end of the race. She said ‘in an ideal world I would have had more water but I was not stopping. Maybe if it had been 5℃ hotter it would have been more of an issue but it was alright’. Learn more about cramping
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
30g
carb 30 mins before
30-60g
carb per hour during
- For breakfast Ruth had porridge, high in carbs, topping up her fuel stores. She chose not to have anything just before the race started as our Quick Carb Calculator would have recommended. However, this final snack is down to preference and Ruth made the decision not to as she has done previously at IM 70.3 Nice
- Over the two and a quarter hours, Ruth’s average carb intake was ~36g/hr. This is lower than what we would expect in her ironman races but is an adequate amount within our recommended range for a gravel race of this length and intensity (30-60g/hr)
- Only consuming carbs from one 500ml (17oz) bottle containing an energy drink mix throughout the race meant that once she had finished the bottle (after ~1 hour 45 minutes) she gritted out the last 30 minutes without anything. Her intake for the first hour and a quarter was therefore around 46g/hr, loading her up for the last 30 minutes with no carb intake
- Ruth experienced no GI issues (10/10) as we would expect considering the high amounts of carb she can tolerate in long course triathlons. She said she “felt really good” and rated her energy levels as 8 out of 10 but did add “for the last half an hour if I had to dig really deep again I probably wouldn’t have been able to”. This is likely due to her limited carb intake in the second half of the race
Conclusions
- Ruth had an excellent race to be crowned National Gravel Champ! After a result like that of course she rated her race satisfaction as 10 out of 10
- Keeping things simple with her fueling and hydration, she fuelled efficiently for a race of this length in these conditions. If the race had been hotter or if she had to push harder at the end she believes her strategy would not have worked therefore thinking of adjustments for these conditions would be a good next step. One suggestion would be to use a Hydropack of some kind in future gravel races, especially if the duration of the event gets any longer
- Her recovery has gone smoothly since the race and after a slight calf injury the past few weeks she thinks it is “getting there” and that “it will be fine for the next race (IM Mallorca)”
Key info
Ruth Astle
Female
59kg
Result
Position
1st
Overall Time
2:16:43
Event information
Sport
Cycling
Discipline
Gravel
Event
King's Cup British Gravel Championship
Location
Suffolk, England
Date
19th September, 2021
Total Distance
69.2km / 43.0mi
Race conditions
Weather Conditions
Hot
Precipitation
No Rain
Min Temp
20°C / 68°F
Max Temp
24°C / 75°F
Avg Temp
22°C / 72°F
Humidity
69%
Athlete feedback
Race Satisfaction
10/10
Hydration rating
8/10
Energy levels
8/10
Toilet stops
No
GI comfort
10/10
Cramping
No cramping
Ruth's full stats
Carbohydrate (g) | Sodium (mg) | Fluid (ml) | Caffeine (mg) | Relative sodium concentration (mg/L) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Overall | |||||
Total intake | 81 | 945 | 1,000 | 0 | 945 |
Per hour | 36 | 417 | 441 | 0 |
Data Confidence
1
2
3
4
5
There is good confidence in the accuracy of the data reported. An athlete feels that the numbers closely reflect what they consumed despite a couple of estimations which may carry some degree of error. The majority of what was consumed is recorded to a high level of specificity (most volumes are known through the use of bottles brands quantities flavours). The numbers are very plausible and align with previous data recordings (if an athlete has collected data previously).