2nd
Emily Freeman's scorecard
IM 70.3® Staffordshire
Sunday 12th June, 2022
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
73g
Carb per hour
320mg
Sodium per hour
508ml
Fluid per hour
630mg/L
Relative sodium concentration
0mg
Total caffeine
How Emily hit those numbers
How Emily's hydration and fueling went...
- Emily is a member of the esteemed 2022 Zwift Triathlon Academy who will be racing the IM World Champs in Kona this coming October, supported by the team at Precision Fuel and Hydration
- This home race was a bit of a ‘rust-buster’ for Emily and her first outing representing the Zwift Academy Tri team
- Emily led from the swim, deploying her years of experience as a national level pool swimmer, before delivering the 2nd fastest bike and run splits of the day on her way to what she thought was an overall victory
- It wasn’t until ~15 minutes after crossing the finish line that another athlete who started behind Emily finished, beating Emily’s overall time by just 11 seconds
- Emily has dialled her fuelling and hydration strategy since working with the team at PF&H, and she executed her plan brilliantly during this race
Hydration
- Emily preloaded by drinking ~500ml/16oz of water with one PH 1500 tablet both the night before and the morning of the race. This will have optimally topped up her sodium levels, thus enhancing her body’s ability to retain water so she started the race maximally hydrated
- On the bike, Emily drank 1.5L/48oz of PH 1000 which gave her a total sodium intake of ~1,500mg which equated to ~573mg/hr and gave her drinks a relative sodium concentration of ~1,000mg/L
- Given Emily’s sweat sodium concentration of 1,085mg/L, as measured by our Advanced Sweat Test, and the mild temperatures on race day (9-19℃/ 48-66℉) Emily’s sodium intake will likely have been more than adequate to replace her losses from sweating, and Emily didn’t experience any cramps nor was she thirsty at the end of the bike, suggesting her fluid intake was spot on
- On the run, Emily picked up 3 cups of plain water at every aid station and alternated between drinking 2 and pouring 1 over herself, and drinking 1 and pouring 2 over herself. This gave Emily a fluid intake of ~880ml which equated to ~600ml/hr
- Sodium-wise, Emily’s plan was to take two Electrolyte Capsules per hour during the run, but she had already popped each capsule from their wrapper, and they had dissolved in her pocket before she could take them
- Thankfully due to Emily’s rigorous preloading and sodium intake during the bike, this didn’t cause any performance detriments, and she was able to finish the run strongly
- Emily rated her hydration strategy 8/10 saying “I should have drank more on the bike but I decided to race through the aid stations instead of slowing down. It was a tactical decision that luckily didn’t come back to haunt me”
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
30g
carb 30 mins before
60-90g
carb per hour during
- The night before the race Emily had a solid carb-rich meal containing chicken, rice and potatoes. On race morning she ate her usual bowl of porridge and slice of toast with peanut butter and banana for breakfast to optimally fill her glycogen stores
- Emily also primed her body for the big day ahead by taking on a PF 30 Gel ~25 minutes before the swim. This will have ensured there was available glucose in her bloodstream, thus sparing her stored glycogen for later in the race
- In the first transition Emily managed to take ~⅔ of a PF 30 Gel before hopping on the bike and heading out onto the hilly bike course
- During the ride, she managed to consume ~221g of carbs, including her gel in T1, meaning Emily’s average carb intake was ~85g/hr. She hit these impressive numbers by regularly taking a PF 30 Chew roughly every 20 minutes throughout the 2 hours 37 minutes
- Emily had planned to take another PF 30 Gel in T2, but as a competitor was hot on her heels Emily decided not to take the gel and instead head onto the run with a slim advantage over her rival
- It took Emily ~75 minutes to get through one PF 90 Gel with a bite valve on the top as she took regular sips every 15 minutes. This was Emily’s only source of carbs on the run and gave her an average intake of ~61g/hr which is just within the 60-90g/hr recommendations of our Quick Carb Calculator
- Emily rated her energy intake 8/10 and said “I wish I’d taken an extra gel on the bike as I didn’t feel full and it might have helped with those hills early on in the run”
- Emily described “taking her foot off the gas” in the final 3-4kms of the run as she believed she had the race win sealed, and therefore wasn’t using as much energy as she was in the earlier stages of the race, and subsequently didn’t feel she needed anymore fuel
Conclusions
- Overall, Emily raced well and booked herself a slot at the 2022 IM 70.3 World Championships in St.George, Utah later this year
- Emily executed her pre-race fuelling and hydration strategy excellently, with her only comment being “I probably should have drank a bit more and perhaps took an extra gel on the bike”
- Despite having a few small malfunctions such as power pedals not reading and her timing chip registering ~90 seconds before she actually began swimming, Emily was pleased with how she biked and executed a solid run to finish 2nd overall female by an agonising 11 seconds
- Emily was using this race to ‘validate’ her big winter block of training, and is certainly on track for a solid build into the IM World Champs in Kona this October
- Whilst initially frustrated, Emily took lots from this race knowing she had backed off in the last 3-4kms of the run thinking the win was in the bag, so is confident the win could have been hers had she known the race was happening behind her
Key info
Emily Freeman
Female
Sweat sodium concentration
1,085mg/L
Sweat sodium classification
Moderate
* determined by our Sweat Test
Result
Position
2nd
Overall Time
4:41:07
Swim Time
0:27:59
Bike Time
2:37:53
Run Time
1:28:32
Event information
Sport
Triathlon
Discipline
Middle distance
Event
IM 70.3® Staffordshire
Location
Staffordshire, UK
Date
12th June, 2022
Swim Distance
1.9km / 1.2mi
Bike Distance
90.1km / 56.0mi
Run Distance
21.1km / 13.1mi
Total Distance
113.1km / 70.3mi
Race conditions
Weather Conditions
Mild
Precipitation
No Rain
Min Temp
9°C / 48°F
Max Temp
19°C / 66°F
Avg Temp
18°C / 64°F
Humidity
50%
Athlete feedback
Race Satisfaction
8/10
Hydration rating
8/10
Should have drank more on the bike but was racing the aid stations rather than slowing to collect anything
Energy levels
8/10
Could have taken additional gels on the bike. Sipping the PF90 little and often would perhaps be a better strategy
Toilet stops
No
GI comfort
8/10
Bit of discomfort at mile 10 of the run but this soon passed
Cramping
No cramping
Emily's Thoughts
Although the overall win would have been nice, I raced what I thought was the front of the race and performed beyond my expectations
Emily's full stats
Carbohydrate (g) | Sodium (mg) | Fluid (ml) | Caffeine (mg) | Relative sodium concentration (mg/L) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Overall | |||||
Total intake | 341 | 1,500 | 2,380 | 0 | 630 |
Per hour | 73 | 320 | 508 | 0 | |
Bike and Run | |||||
Total intake | 311 | 1,500 | 2,380 | 0 | 630 |
Per hour | 76 | 367 | 583 | 0 | |
Bike | |||||
Total intake | 221 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 0 | 1,000 |
Per hour | 85 | 573 | 573 | 0 | |
Run | |||||
Total intake | 90 | 0 | 880 | 0 | 0 |
Per hour | 61 | 0 | 600 | 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).