Jade Belzberg
Squamish 50km
Jade's headline numbers
Jade'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.
Jade came into this event with a solid fueling strategy that’s carried her through some great performances this year, including two 1st place finishes and none outside the top 10. She relied on PF 90 Gels from gun to tape, with a couple of PF 30 Caffeine Gels in the final hour to help push her over the line. This helped her hit the 90g/h scientific recommendation for a race of this duration and intensity, sustaining her energy levels right until the end. Additionally, Jade rated her GI comfort a perfect 10/10 which is testament to the gut training she has performed so she can tolerate this amount comfortably even whilst working at race intensity.
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 Jade’s losses are on the moderate side, getting her hydration strategy right is still important if she wants to perform at her best.
Learn moreJade kept her hydration strategy nice and simple, consuming plain water from her Soft Flasks, and taking one Electrolyte Capsule for each 500ml flask she drank. Considering the mild weather conditions, and her subjective feedback, this was likely an appropriate strategy for the day. However, Jade has since had a Sweat Test which revealed she loses a slightly higher concentration of sodium than she consumed during this race. Whilst it didn’t negatively impact her this time out, we’d recommend increasing the number of Electrolyte Capsules she has to two per bottle to replace a greater proportion of her losses, especially if the temperatures are higher and she’s competing for longer.
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.
Jade’s pre-race caffeine intake came from matcha tea, and she used an additional caffeine dose from PF 30 Caffeine Gels near the end of her race to top up. This put her within the recommendations, allowing her to reap the ergogenic benefits that the stimulant provides from start to finish.
How Jade hit her numbers
Here's everything that Jade ate and drank on the day...
Jade's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
PF&HJade's full stats
Data Confidence?
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.