Mads Pedersen
ECA Canoe Marathon European Championships
Mads' headline numbers
Mads' strategy
Fueling
Carbohydrate is the main fuel you burn when racing. Failing to fuel properly is a leading cause of underperformance in longer races.
This is the highest carb intake we’ve seen from Mads over the marathon distance. He has been training his gut since working with the PF&H team on his fueling strategy, increasing from an average of ~32g/h to an impressive ~78g/h. He incorporated PF Carb Only Drink Mix into one of his three homemade drinks bags - which he hangs around his neck to give him easy access to fluids whilst racing - to reach this higher level with no stomach discomfort.
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.
By swapping his drinks bag twice at portages during the race, Mads adequately replaced his sweat fluid losses by sipping on these bags throughout. The relative sodium concentration of each bag was 1000mg/L and Mads used either PH 1000 or PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix to proactively replace his sodium losses over the very hot 2-hour race.
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.
For events shorter than 3 hours, the best approach is to pre-caffeinate in the last hour with 3-6mg caffeine per kg of bodyweight (1.4-2.7mg/lbs). Mads did this effectively by taking a 100mg caffeine tablet with breakfast and by consuming a PF 30 Caffeine Gel just before the race, which meant he consumed a total of 200mg caffeine before the start gun.
How Mads hit his numbers
Here's everything that Mads ate and drank on the day...
Mads' weapons of choice
Final thoughts
PF&HMads' full stats
Data Confidence?
There is an adequate level of accuracy in the data collected and the numbers reported. The athlete manages to recall what they ate and drank including most specifics (brands flavours quantities plausible estimations of volumes). However there are estimations made within the data which affect the overall confidence level in the data reported.