Line Thams
IRONMAN 70.3® Indian Wells
Line's headline numbers
Line'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.
Line woke up feeling full, so she skipped her usual carb-rich breakfast, opting instead for just a banana, rice cake, and coffee. After consulting with our Sports Science Team, she aimed to increase her carb intake from the World Champs in September and consumed five PF 30 Gels and two caffeinated gels on the bike. However, after transitioning into the run in the lead, she experienced severe GI issues, vomiting multiple times and was unable to keep any other food down. Because of this, she fell significantly short of her planned carb intake on the run. She puts this nausea down to a stomach bug that left her ill in the days leading up to and after the race, which would have influenced her GI comfort and subsequent energy levels.
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 Line’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 moreLine’s ongoing stomach issues made it particularly hard to stay hydrated during the run, as she struggled to take in fluids. On the bike before the worst of the nausea hit, she was able to consume a much larger volume of fluid, which appropriately replenished her estimated fluid loss of 1.4 liters per hour. She’d settled on this target through collating sweat rate data from various training sessions in the lead up to the race. To meet her electrolyte requirements, Line filled her bottles with PH 1000 and PH 1500, calculated from her recent Sweat Test. Combining this with her sweat rate data, she managed to replace a significant proportion of her total sweat losses (fluid and electrolytes) during the race. It’s important to note that, in addition to her sweat losses, Line’s sickness likely contributed to even further fluid losses. She managed well in a tough situation to take fluid and electrolytes on board despite the sickness and discomfort.
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.
Before the race, Line’s caffeine intake started with a black coffee, and during the race, she consumed a total of ~324mg through the use of caffeine gels. This dosage falls on the higher end of the recommended range of 3-6mg per kilogram of body weight, an effective dose for enhancing performance by masking fatigue and reducing perception of effort. Given that Line faced difficulties pre-fueling and struggled to take in carbohydrates during the run, the caffeine intake would have played a crucial role in keeping her energy levels stable throughout the race.
How Line hit her numbers
Here's everything that Line ate and drank on the day...
Line's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
PF&HLine's full stats
Data Confidence?
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).