Swashbuckler Middle Distance

Tash meticulously planned and logged her carb-load the day before this race, consuming ~10g per kilogram (2.2lb) of bodyweight, which is right in line with the scientific recommendations. Inspired by Ant’s carb-loading email, she hit her target using a couple of bottles of Carb Only Drink Mix, a handful of sweets, white rice and copious amounts of porridge. During the race, Tash was on track to hit her planned carb numbers, before ejecting her bottle of PF 300 Flow Gel in the final 30 minutes of the bike. Unfortunately she developed a ‘stabbing pain’ in her stomach during the early parts of the run, so she couldn’t take in much fuel, and only had the mouthful of Flow Gel and a single PF 30 Gel instead of her planned ~75g/h. Tash admitted she hadn’t done as much gut training as she’d have liked before this early-season race, so going forward, will look to simulate her planned carb targets more often during race-specific training sessions.

Tash has struggled with debilitating dehydration at several of her previous races, including headaches and drops in blood pressure. To combat this, she preloaded well beforehand, and planned to slightly ‘over-salt’ her drinks throughout to encourage her body to retain as much water in the blood as possible. Despite doing this, she reported feeling quite thirsty, likely a result of not having any plain water and coming in under her fluid target particularly on the bike. Her high-sodium Soft Flask with one PH 1500 (Tablet) in 250ml was part of the strategy to encourage her to drink during the run, which is something she typically struggles with; this strategy worked well, and as a result she drank more cups of water than she ever has from the run aid stations. Slightly reducing the relative sodium concentration in her plan could help combat her excessive thirst during and after the race, perhaps by adding a bottle of plain water to her bike set up.

Tash enjoys coffee as much as the next person in the office, so it was no surprise to see plenty of caffeine in her fuel and hydration strategy. After dropping her bottle of Flow Gel on the bike, Tash reached for the spare gel in her bento box to try and limit the damage, but accidentally had a PF 30 Caffeine Gel instead of a regular PF 30 Gel. Noticing this, she decided not to take the whole gel during the bike, as she still wanted to take a separate Caffeine Gel during the run, and understood the possible risk involved with going above and beyond the scientifically recommended caffeine dose. However, since she was experiencing stomach pain on the run, she ended up not taking the caffeinated gel, so her total intake was well within the recommended range for someone of her body weight.