Customer Testimonials

Matthias Weitz ( triathlete and AG podium regular)

"I have been training in a structured manner since 2013 with 4 different coaches and approaches to the sport. I've completed 12 Ironman Events since 2012 including 2x Hawaii but I have not received specific pointers to my exact sweat rate and sodium level. After testing with John I was shocked to find out that all of those 12 Ironmans were finished in a severly dehydrated manner. I tried the given protocol from John at Carbon Endurance before a Vo2 max Swim Set of 90 Min. in warm outdoor conditions where I normally would have been shattered after, but as weird as it sounds, the lack of dehydration and the right amount of sodium made it so much less taxing than I could have ever imagined. Next day a 6 hour long ride with minimal carbs to test what impact hydration has on my performance, overall feeling and recovery. Another shocker, I rode it through and was fresh after which would never have been the case before.

I personally need 1.2 L of liquid at 22 degrees celsius and easy effort on the bike with 532mg of sodium per Liter of sweat.

At Ironmans so far I was advised (also Kona at 35-42 degrees celsius) to drink closer to 800ml per hour. Realistically I sit around 1.5 - 1.8 L per hour at those temp. but it still needs to be tested and logged into the spreadsheet I reveived from CE after my test.

Triathlon folks are looking at huhe investments to get to the next level of personal developtment but ignore the basics like hydration, nutrition and sleep.

I cannot wait to race my next Ironman and experience hour 7 as hydrated as my body should be to perform at it's best."

Patsy ( Mountain biker):

I took up mountain biking like some people slip on a banana peel. It was a complete mistake. I had just turned 49, and a colleague of mine got me to sign up for what sounded like an amazing adventure, crossing the Namibian desert on a bike. Who could say no to that, right? I had no idea what I was getting into. I didn’t have a bike, I had never even heard of clipless pedals or cycling shorts. I guess ignorance is sometimes bliss. That was 18 months ago. I did cross that desert, but barely made it in one piece. I’ve since taken skills classes, upgraded my bike twice, and worked with a proper ultraendurance coach for more than a year now. It’s both stubbornness and simple love for the sport that drive my motivation. I’m an expert in many other things in life, but in mountain-biking, I’ve embraced the thrill and sheer fun of being a beginner. There’s something extremely invigorating about that.

Needless to say, the learning curve has been steep. I’ve gone from zero to completing about 10 races, including several multistage, highly technical ones to single stage ultraendurance events of 180km and 230km in a bit over a year. In 2019, my total distance cycled was about 10,000 kms.The progress has been dizzying. There is so much to learn in this sport, about training, about how my physiology reacts to stress and rest, about racing, and pacing yourself. Mountainbiking is a hard sport on the body, and I mostly race in hot or very hot conditions. I discovered Precision Hydration products through my coach who advised me to take a sweat test. I generally geek out on data and the science, so PH fit me perfectly. I love that it’s evidence-based and customized to my particular sweat profile. Getting your hydration right in ultraendurance especially can be the difference between thriving and DNF:ing, or worse. It might not sound like it given what I’ve been pushing my body to do lately, but I really don’t like taking risks with my health at this stage in life. So PH has become a cornerstone of my training and racing strategy. It keeps me mentally sharp throughout an event. Mountainbiking requires a lot of focus, so that mental presence is very important. I also use it during my harder training days or when the weather is hot. I travel a lot for work, so I sometimes even take PH500 after a long flight. John from Carbon Endurance/ Local PH Sweat test partner has also been extremely helpful and very supportive of my trajectory, and that’s important. I haven’t grown up in the sport so my network is small. As women who are a little older, we aren’t often encouraged to take up sports, especially not something as rough as mountain biking. We tell ourselves we’re too weak, or maybe it’s just too late. I don’t tell myself that anymore. I have many deserts and mountains to conquer yet.

Kelly Scates ( triathlete and AG podium regular):

“I don’t cramp. Why would I worry about electrolytes?”

In over 6 years as a triathlon enthusiast I had never - not once - considered my electrolyte intake. Electrolytes were something big men with cramping issues worried about. I knew in the recesses of my brain that my sports drink contained them and therefore I was probably taking in enough, right?

I was introduced to the concept of a sweat test by Carbon Endurance in 2019. This was a test to measure the sodium composition of sweat (not to be confused with sweat rate, which is the amount of sweat per hour and is condition dependent). The test itself was extremely elegant – two small electrodes are attached to the skin to stimulate the sweat impulse and that sweat is gathered and run through a machine to accurately calculate sodium loss. That simple.

The results were staggering. Turns out my sodium loss is high. Very high. Much higher than any sports drink could even begin to replenish. I had been training and racing for 6 years with an extremely depleted electrolyte balance. Somehow, I had dodged the cramping bullet but the effects of this depletion had been evident in every race and suddenly made sense. Every race I’d ever done felt like a gradual loss of tire pressure from wire to wire, a fight to hold onto energy. I had always assumed this was normal for long course triathlon. How wrong I was.

Immediately after the test, I received a comprehensive hydration strategy from Carbon Endurance, with products from Precision Hydration. The strategy was tailor made to my specific needs based on my sodium loss and sweat rate. It included plans for race preloading, as well as sodium intake during a race.

Shortly after the sweat test, I raced Ironman 70.3 Durban. I followed the sodium strategy and used PH products as prescribed. It was a race experience like none other. The biggest difference was in my energy levels throughout the race. For the first time, I didn’t feel as if the life had been kicked out of me in the last 5km of the run. I took 26 minutes off the previous year’s time and hit my first 5-hour 70.3, with a half marathon PB by far. I finished 6^th in my AG and 10^th AG overall. The difference to previous races was so stark I felt like I had discovered a silver bullet; I almost felt like I was cheating. This has continued in every race I have done since.

As athletes at any level, we are obsessed with the controllables. We put in the hard miles, spend thousands on carbon-plated shoes and the latest watt-saving tech and feverishly check the race weather forecast for weeks prior as if we can change it. For me, this is one more thing I can control, and there is nothing like going into a race with the confidence to know that my hydration strategy is sorted, no matter the conditions.