Emma Pallant-Browne
IRONMAN 70.3® Mallorca
Emma's headline numbers
Emma'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.
Emma made impressive progress in her carb intake, increasing her average from ~71g/h the previous weekend to ~88g/h in Mallorca. This brings her intake significantly closer to the recommended 90g/h for a race of this intensity and duration. She added three extra packets of PF 30 Chews and slightly increased the concentration of her PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix on the bike. As is typical for Emma, she consumed minimal carbs during the half marathon, opting to focus primarily on hydration from on-course aid stations. She drank approximately three cups of the provided energy drink, which added up to just ~9g of carbs on the run. The ‘frontloading’ strategy for fueling is common for 70.3® distance races, though not all athletes have such a large drop off in their intake on the run. But, Emma’s performance demonstrates that she can sustain her pace with this strategy from bike to run and this race was no exception.
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 Emma’s losses are on the low side, getting her hydration strategy right is still crucial when it’s hot and/or humid as her higher sweat rate in these conditions can result in significant net losses over the duration of a race.
Learn moreWhile Emma typically carries two bottles on her bike, she opted for just one this time, mindful of weight due to a significant climb early in the course. This adjustment led to her consuming less fluid than in almost all of her races we have analysed to date, despite her high sweat rate (>2.5L/h). On the run, she began to feel increasingly hot and decided to walk through a few aid stations to prioritize hydration, drinking two cups of water and one cup of the on-course energy drink at each. Consequently, she ended up drinking more on the run than on the bike, and in hindsight, realized she should have focused more on hydration while riding. Her electrolyte intake was well above her sweat sodium concentration, which likely played a key role in preventing race-impacting levels of dehydration in the hot conditions considering her ‘low’ fluid intake.
How Emma hit her numbers
Here's everything that Emma ate and drank on the day...
Emma's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
Emma'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.