Challenge Almere

In the last 30 minutes before the start of the race, Sarah opted for a handful of sweets instead of a gel to effectively top up her fuel stores and spare glycogen for later. Despite increasing her carb intake compared with some of her previous races, Sarah still fell below the recommended guidelines for a race of this duration and intensity and felt a coinciding dip in energy. While most athletes tend to front load the bike with more carbs, Sarah consumed a greater proportion of her carb intake on the run than on the bike, (~88g/h vs ~62g/h, respectively). This lower than expected carb intake on the bike could explain the fatigue she experienced, and we would recommend she practice increasing this in training to better maintain her energy levels throughout the whole race.

After a long run of tough races including the Collin’s Cup and Challenge Roth, Sarah followed the PF&H Sports Science Team’s advice and doubled her sodium intake from her previous race at Challenge Roth. This ensured she was replacing a greater proportion of her sweat sodium losses, though she could still increase her sodium intake further and perform some sweat rate testing to fine tune the fluid intake part of her strategy. Similar to her experience at Roth, Sarah didn’t pee during this race, indicating that she may have been somewhat dehydrated. Adding another bottle or a few more cups of fluid at aid stations into her strategy could help her stay better hydrated and make sure she prevents any negative consequences of dehydration.

Sarah has suitably managed to increase her caffeine intake compared to her previous races to the top end of the recommended guidelines. This will have no doubt helped her reap the ergogenic benefits of the stimulant and hopefully, along with the slight increase in carb intake, have helped to maintain perceived energy levels to see her finish strong.