IRONMAN 70.3® World Championships

In the past, Harry has been sensitive to higher carb consumption across both the bike and run legs, which has meant his intake often falls lower than the recommendation. But, this is the first time since one of his races in 2022 where he has achieved very close to 90g/h without any real GI discomfort! For his strategy on the bike, Harry relied on PF 30 Gels and PF 90 Gels in his water bottles to access both his carb and fluid, mixed in appropriate amounts to help him hit his initial targets for both. This combined approach is increasingly used by pros to ensure easy access to the fuel and hydration they need. However, it’s only as effective as the careful and accurate planning of your expected carbohydrate and fluid requirements, achieved through methods like gut training and sweat testing. Interestingly, Harry’s carb intake increased from bike (~93g/h) to run (~116g/h), which is the opposite of what we typically observe. This was driven by his steady intake of cola on the run in addition to his planned intake of three PF 30 Gels.

As an experienced racer who is in tune with his sweat losses, Harry likely consumed enough fluid throughout the race to prevent accumulating too great a level of dehydration, which could have negatively impacted his performance, especially later in the race as conditions warmed up. Although Harry under-consumed sodium relative to his sweat losses, he reported no sign of cramp. His preloading strategy with strong electrolytes the night before and the morning of likely meant he started well-hydrated. This likely helped him cope with inadequate replenishment of his sodium losses during the race, as well as his appropriate total fluid consumption, keeping him above his threshold for experiencing those negative symptoms of dehydration.

Harry didn’t consume any caffeine directly, aside from the cola intake. As he has struggled with various gut discomfort in the past, he is hesitant to reintroduce caffeine. Given the potential performance benefits however, he should look to introduce caffeine in training to see if it starts to sit right for him now that he has had a better race from the GI perspective, so he can hopefully benefit from the performance enhancing effects in the future.