Basically a loyalty program from Ironman … but proud that I received the Gold (Top 2%) AWA Status for 2023.
2023 Ironman All World Athlete
Endurance
hDrop – Wearable Hydration Monitor
I *just* received my order of the hDrop gen 2 wearable hydration monitor, and used it for a short 45 min easy Zone 2 run. Based on my interest of sweat analysis, I was curious to compare my results to other tests I have done in the past. I plan to continue to use it for more sessions, and it will be interesting to see how the results fluctuate with the seasons.
| Metric | Previous Value | Per hDrop | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg Sweat Rate | 37Oz/h | 16.4Oz/h | My previous values were cycling, temps were relatively cool |
| Avg Sodium Concentration | 716mg/L – 1023mg/L | 901.1mg/L | Range of 5 tests, last 3 were all at 1000mg/L +- 50. |
After my first quick and dirty test, the unit is probably quite accurate on the sodium concentration, but I am unsure about the sweat rate. My past sweat tests were done based on weight loss during the exercise, cycling (not running) and majority were indoors. Based on the effort and ambient temp, I think around a 500ml sweat loss seems correct.
Endurance Racing – Sweat Analysis
Sweat, and specifically Sodium, is one of the three “levers” for endurance athletes when it comes to hydration and nutrition (fueling) and subsequently your performance. The other two key elements or levers are Carbohydrates and Fluids.
The most important part about sodium/sweat is that everyone has a unique sweat loss rate, and a unique sodium content ratio in their sweat. So while a more generalized approach can be defined for consuming carbohydrates, the same is not true for electrolyte loss. This is why having a sweat test is critical for athletes wanting to perform, understand and take advantage of their data to understand their personal needs and requirements.
2023 Ironman 70.3 – North Carolina
A small improvement from 2022 and a (13.1 – Half Marathon) Run PR which I am pretty happy about.
2023 Ironman World Championships – Nice, France
This was a great opportunity and wonderful experience, I qualified through a roll down slot from Ironman Texas in April. From a results experience it was not exactly what I planned, but what I earned on the day.
2023 – ORAMM MTB Race
Nice improvement of time, considering quite a big course change (Longer and more climbing this year!)
2023 Ironman – Texas
Reasonably last minute, 11 weeks before the event, I decided to sign up for Ironman Texas … a full distance Triathlon has been on my bucket list for a while now. Overall the race did not go according to plan, but most importantly I finished and it was very rewarding experience. Doing something this long for the first time is hard 🙂 Here are a few photos from the event, my favorite was the fun area of “Hippie Hollow”.
Heart Rate Intensity Zones
Since so many different sites, companies and training plans refer to different heart rate training zones, this image might help show their similarities and differences for each of the terminologies.
Endurance Racing – Sweat Loss
As one of the three important Fuel and Hydration, sweat loss, and more specifically, the replacement of fluids, is an incredibly important aspect of endurance racing, and is strongly correlated to race day survival, performance and recovery. The other two aspects, fuel (primarily carbohydrates) and electrolytes (primarily sodium) are the other two components. Without any one of the three, long distance and endurance events, or races, become considerably more challenging, and the chances of you finishing, drastically diminish.
Understanding how much fluid you have to consume during an event is determined by a variety of factors and variables. A few of the variables:
Time of Day, Heat, Humidity, Diet, and Effort. In addition, your sweat rate is unique and may also change throughout your life. Unlike your relative sodium concentration, which generally is constant throughout your life and in the majority of circumstances.
2022 Exercise Year in Review …
