Fenella Langridge
IRONMAN® World Championships
Fenella's headline numbers
Fenella'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.
Fenella slightly adjusted her fuel plan from her previous two IRONMAN® races, adding 150g of carb from PF 300 Flow Gel to her three bike bottles instead of the usual 120g per bottle. This allowed her to still consume ~100g/h during the bike portion which took her over an hour longer than in Hamburg or Western Australia due to the ~2,400+ metres of climbing! By dropping down to ~74g/h on the run, Fenella prevented any major energy dips, but wasn’t pushing herself to the limit as her calf injury flared up and unfortunately hampered her progress.
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.
Given Fenella’s losses are High (1,331mg/L), nailing her hydration strategy becomes especially crucial when it’s hot and/or humid.
Learn moreThe relative sodium concentration of Fenella’s drinks was slightly lower than planned during the bike. This was because she emptied 20 Electrolyte Capsules into her bento box, which started to dissolve when covered in fluid and sweat, so she only managed to consume 12. Thankfully, a bottle of on-course PH 1000 helped her get back on track down the final descent, before utilising the pro aid stations on the run to pick up pre-made soft flasks of PH 1500 (Drink Mix). She never felt particularly thirsty, which considering the modest temperatures was likely a reflection of her reduced sweat rate, thus limiting the requirement for an aggressive hydration strategy this time out.
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.
Coffee is a staple in Fenella’s day-to-day diet, so her caffeine consumption during races is usually towards the upper end of the general recommendations. This race was no exception, as she exceeded these recommendations once again, but as she had no negative side effects, she should continue to utilise the effects at this dose which suits her high tolerance.
How Fenella hit her numbers
Here's everything that Fenella ate and drank on the day...
Fenella's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
Fenella
PF&HFenella'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.