Julie Iemmolo
IRONMAN® World Championships
Julie's headline numbers
Julie'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.
Julie stuck to her well-practised fueling strategy of using PF Carb Only Drink Mix plus several PF 30 Gels and a couple of fruit paste bars for variety. She’s tolerated this with no issue in the past, even as recent as her race one month prior where she took 3rd. Unfortunately she swallowed more seawater than normal on the swim, which she felt contributed to the stomach upset she battled on the run. Stopping frequently for toilet stops made her feel like she lost several minutes on course and this negatively impacted her race ‘flow’ and overall focus and energy levels. Looking at her bike intake though shows a solid execution of her fueling plan, as she averaged ~89g of carb per hour, consistent with what she’s trained with.
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 Julie’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 moreEven while battling an upset stomach, Julie still averaged ~501ml/h on the run, which certainly supported her hydration status and helped her keep moving all the way to the finish. Her consistent drinking on both the bike and the run delivered sodium from the PH 1000 tablets she had in her bottles, and the extra plain water she picked up on course diluted it down to match her personal sweat sodium losses. Overall, her hydration strategy was spot on for her needs and kept her from cramping like she’s struggled with in the past.
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.
After a PF 30 Caffeine Gel to kickstart the swim, Julie incorporated three more doses on the bike, spaced in alternating order with the regular gels she took on, and she strategically placed one dose specifically around the halfway mark when she noticed her energy levels were dropping. This totaled slightly above the recommended range, but since she regularly consumes and tolerates caffeine well, it worked for her, helping to mask the fatigue she accumulated throughout the race. While Julie’s more experienced with the 70.3® distance, in future full-distance IRONMAN® races, it could be worth moving one of these doses to the run to help give an additional boost.
How Julie hit her numbers
Here's everything that Julie ate and drank on the day...
Julie's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
PF&HJulie'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.