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2nd

Damian Hall's scorecard

Lakes in a Day

Saturday 9th October, 2021

Within recommended ranges

Just outside recommended ranges

Significantly outside recommended ranges

  • 54g

    Carb per hour
  • 212mg

    Sodium per hour
  • 314ml

    Fluid per hour
  • 677mg/L

    Relative sodium concentration
  • 32mg

    Total caffeine
  • How Damian hit those numbers

    finish
    star
    bottle
     
    250ml x PH 1000 (Tablet)
    3 x Cups of tea
    2 x Slices of toast with peanut butter and banana
     
     
    1 x PF 30 Gel
     
     
    750ml x PH 1000 (Tablets)
    2 x PH Electrolyte Capsule
    500ml x PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix
    8 x PF 30 Gel
    900ml x Plain water
    -500ml x Additional fluid in mixed drinks
    400ml x Cola
    500ml x Lemon squash
    500ml x Blackcurrant squash
    4 x Hard boiled sweet
    0.5 x Banana
    25 x Handful of jelly sweets
    0.5 x Energy bar (20g carb)
    0.5 x Energy bar (19g carb)
    1 x Energy gel (23.5g carb)
     

    How Damian's hydration and fueling went...

      • Damian had a strong performance at the Lakes in a Day event a couple of weeks ago, coming in 2nd in a time of 9 hours and 43 minutes. Although he had hoped to win the event, he mentioned he was ‘pleased with his fuelling’, he ’paced it better than last time’ and that had more ‘mental positivity’ this race (which is great to hear!)

    Hydration

      • On average, Damian drank ~314ml/11oz of fluid per hour across the whole race consisting of plain water, PH1000, squash and Coca Cola. Although the conditions were mild, this is on the lower end of what we would expect to see and is lower than at UTMB (~480ml/16oz per hour). His intake was especially low between 2 to 4 hours where he was only having ~250ml/hr (~8oz/hr). In agreement, Damian knew he ‘could have drunk more’ and was aware he was ‘taking small risks with liquid’
      • In terms of sodium, Damian consumed ~212mg per hour. In relation to the fluid he was taking on board this equates to a relative sodium concentration of ~677mg/L lower than at UTMB. Considering Damian has a high sweat sodium concentration of 1146mg/L, he could have taken on slightly more sodium to replace a greater proportion of his losses
      • Damian briefly experienced some mild cramps around four hours into the race in his left adductor. At this point he took an additional two PH Electrolyte Capsules in an attempt to stave off the cramp. Anecdotally, this can be an effective way to keep cramping at bay and it seemed to work for Damian this time. Next time, a higher sodium intake throughout the race, especially during hours 2-4 where his intake dipped would be ideal before cramps set in
      • Knowing he was ‘taking risks’ with fluid, Damian rated his hydration strategy as a 7 out of 10. He also mentioned experiencing a ‘pretty uncomfortable stitch’ in the last mile. Although it is hard to determine the cause of this, being optimally hydrated with a high blood plasma volume is likely to reduce the risk of this occurring (learn more about stitches here)

    Fueling

    Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation

    30g

    carb 30 mins before

    60-90g

    carb per hour during
      • Damian fuelled well pre-race with a breakfast high in carbohydrate and by consuming a PF 30 Energy Gel 15 minutes before the start, exactly as our Quick Carb Calculator recommends, making sure his fuel stores were well topped up at the start line
      • Damian used a range of gels, drink mix, bars and sweets throughout the race to try to meet his fuelling needs. Over the whole race, he achieved a carb intake of ~54g per hour. This is higher than what Damian consumed at UTMB (~42g/hr) but falls just below our recommended range of between 60-90g/hr for a race of this length
      • When looking at a breakdown of what Damian ate every 2 hours we can see he consumed a higher ~70g/hr in the first 2 hours and during hour 4, however after that there was a drop in his intake to just over ~40g/hr for the rest of the race. We would recommend Damian looks to keep his carb consumption high throughout the race and see if he can achieve over ~70g/hr overall because evidence suggests a higher carb intake can aid performance. To be able to increase his carb intake during races while avoiding GI issues, we would advise Damian to undertake some gut training
      • Damian experienced no GI issues during the race (9/10) and said that his energy levels were ‘generally very good’ and rated them an 8 out of 10. But, he mentioned how his energy ‘ebbs and flows a bit of course’. It would be interesting to check for correlations between when he experienced perceived low energy with the parts of the race where he was consuming less carbs
      • Having had a moderate dose of caffeine from three cups of tea prior to the race, Damian will have started with high perceived energy levels, however he only consumed a very small amount during the race. Considering the duration he was running for, he could think about having some caffeine as a moderate dose (between 3-6mg/kg body weight) is recommended to aid endurance performance (learn more)

    Conclusions

      • Overall, Damian had a great race at Lakes in a Day, with a solid result and in tougher conditions than when he had raced it previously, he rated his race satisfaction as an 8 out of 10
      • He consumed adequate amounts of sodium, fluid and carb however not with great consistency over the whole 9 hours and 43 minute race. Going forward, Damian should try to consume sodium, carbs and fluid more regularly to avoid dips in intake, such as those experienced here between hour 2 and 4
      • Next time, looking to increase his carb intake to push into our recommended 60-90g/hr, possibly by doing some gut training, would be something to try to aid race performance

    Key info

    Damian Hall

    Male
    Sweat sodium concentration
    1,146mg/L
    Sweat sodium classification
    High
    * determined by our Sweat Test

    Result

    Position
    2nd
    Overall Time
    9:43:00

    Event information

    Sport
    Running
    Discipline
    Ultra
    Event
    Lakes in a Day
    Location
    Lake District, England
    Date
    9th October, 2021
    Total Distance
    80.0km / 49.7mi
    Total Elevation
    4,000m / 13,123ft

    Race conditions

    Weather Conditions
    Mild
    Precipitation
    Rain
    Min Temp
    12°C / 54°F
    Max Temp
    14°C / 57°F
    Avg Temp
    13°C / 55°F
    Humidity
    96%

    Athlete feedback

    Race Satisfaction
    8/10
    Hydration rating
    7/10
    I could have drunk more and knew I was taking small risks with liquid
    Energy levels
    8/10
    It ebbs and flows a bit but generally very good
    Toilet stops
    Yes
    Twice, not until 5-6 hours in
    GI comfort
    9/10
    All great until the last mile where I experienced a pretty uncomfortable stitch
    Cramping
    Mild cramps that I could push through

    Damian's Thoughts

     I hoped to win but was really pleased with fuelling, which felt pretty consistent for me and energy was good. I paced it better than last time, with more mental positivity too.

    Damian's full stats

     Carbohydrate (g)Sodium (mg)Fluid (ml)Caffeine (mg)Relative sodium concentration (mg/L)
    Overall
    Total intake5272,0633,05032677
    Per hour542123143

    Data Confidence

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    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.

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