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12th

Adam Bowden's scorecard

Manchester Marathon

Sunday 3rd April, 2022

Within recommended ranges

Just outside recommended ranges

Significantly outside recommended ranges

  • 39g

    Carb per hour
  • 0mg

    Sodium per hour
  • 219ml

    Fluid per hour
  • 0mg/L

    Relative sodium concentration
  • 0mg

    Total caffeine
  • How Adam hit those numbers

    finish
    star
    bottle
     
    1L x PF 30 Energy Drink Mix
    2 x Porridge Pots (45g)
    1 x Small coffee
     
     
    1 x PF 90 Energy Gel
    500ml x Plain water
     

    How Adam's hydration and fueling went...

      • Adam enjoyed a brilliant race at the Manchester Marathon, where he clocked an impressive personal record of 02:17:18 (3:15min/km) and crossed the line in 12th place. This was just his second ever (standalone) marathon and we can’t wait to see what more Adam can do in this discipline after switching his focus from racing elite triathlons to long-distance running this season
      • As we saw in his 2021 Newport Marathon, Adam’s fueling and hydration during the race wasn’t what would be considered optimal for a marathon of this pace but, like before, his pre-race preparations reduced the effect of him running a little ‘light’
      • That said, this time round Adam had intended to take on more carbohydrate and fluid during the race but suffered a stitch which unfortunately limited his ability to eat and drink

    Hydration

      • Adam didn’t preload prior to this race in the conventional way (i.e. PH 1500 in 500ml/16oz drunk ~90 minutes before the race start) but he did drink 1L/32oz of the PF 30 Drink Mix in the hours before the start which delivers the equivalent of 1,000mg/L of sodium as well as 30g of carb per serving
      • This, on top of drinking PH 1500 the night before alongside his dinner, put his hydration in a good place ahead of the marathon
      • The conditions on the day were mild, around 9ºC/48ºF, so hydration wasn’t a huge challenge for Adam as his sweat losses were low during his 2 hours and 17 minutes on course. Therefore, his strategy for the race was to pick up water from the on-course aid stations as and when he felt he needed some
      • In total, he picked up six small cups which equated to ~500ml/16oz in total and ~219ml/7oz per hour. For this race, this was an appropriate strategy which regulated Adam’s thirst. On reflection, Adam did feel as though he could have drunk a bit more but the stitch he was managing became more severe when he took on fluid so he had to strike a careful balance

    Fueling

    Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation

    30g

    carb 30 mins before

    60-90g

    carb per hour during
      • Adam didn’t consume a final dose of 30g of carbohydrate in the 30 minutes before the race start. The Quick Carb Calculator recommends this final dose before the start, although whether an athlete chooses to do this is determined by personal preference and by how well they’ve fueled in the hours before
      • Before the race, Adam ate a carb-rich breakfast of porridge and 1L/32oz of PF 30 Energy Drink alongside a small coffee which negated the need for that final carbohydrate hit. This was on top of his carb-heavy dinner of pasta the night before which all-in-all stood him in good stead and with high glycogen levels before he toed the start line
      • During the marathon, Adam raced with 1 x PF 90 Energy Gel in his hand and a ‘back-up’ PF 30 Energy Gel in his race belt. The intention was to consume the PF 90 Gel over the first 12 miles, collect another one from the Elite Men’s aid station at the halfway point and to not touch the PF 30 Energy Gel (unless in an emergency!)
      • Despite the good intentions, this didn’t quite come off in practice and Adam ended up running with his starting PF 90 Gel until ~17 miles, taking a mouthful every couple of kilometres, and therefore he missed picking up the second PF 90 Gel from the aid station, thinking he’d use the PF 30 Gel later on instead
      • Unfortunately, Adam started to get a nasty stitch which was made worse whenever he tried to eat or drink and so he didn’t end up taking his back-pocket gel
      • He doesn’t believe that the stitch was caused by his fueling or hydration strategy per se, though he did find eating and drinking interfered with his breathing whilst trying to maintain his pace and thinks this might have played a factor
      • As a result, across the marathon, Adam consumed an average of ~39g carb per hour. This is below the Quick Carb Calculator’s recommendations of 60-90g/h and Adam’s pre-planned target for fueling, but is an improvement on what we saw him hit at Newport last year (~26g/h)
      • Other notable positives from this race were that Adam started fueling earlier; choosing to drip-feed his stomach from a couple of kilometers in

    Conclusions

      • Adam enjoyed a great marathon at Manchester, a course which is known for its lack of elevation and a history of producing fast times. Adam was no exception and he was pleased to break his previous PR by more than 3 minutes
      • Adam built on his marathon fueling strategy from last year and did increase his total carb intake across the race as per our recommendations
      • Overall, his carbs, sodium and fluid intake were on the lighter side of our recommendations for a marathon at this pace but nailing his pre-race intake meant Adam pulled off a brilliant performance despite managing a nasty stitch for a proportion of the race
      • Ahead of his next marathon, Adam is going to work on practicing taking his fuel whilst running at race pace

    Key info

    Adam Bowden

    Male
    Sweat sodium concentration
    778mg/L
    Sweat sodium classification
    Low
    * determined by a PH Advanced Sweat Test

    Result

    Position
    12th
    Overall Time
    2:17:18

    Event information

    Sport
    Running
    Discipline
    Marathon
    Event
    Manchester Marathon
    Location
    Manchester, England
    Date
    3rd April, 2022
    Website
    Total Distance
    42.2km / 26.2mi
    Total Elevation
    54m / 177ft

    Race conditions

    Weather Conditions
    Mild
    Precipitation
    No Rain
    Min Temp
    8°C / 46°F
    Max Temp
    10°C / 50°F
    Avg Temp
    9°C / 48°F
    Humidity
    80%

    Athlete feedback

    Race Satisfaction
    10/10
    Hydration rating
    5/10
    Energy levels
    9/10
    No dips in energy
    Toilet stops
    No
    GI comfort
    10/10
    Cramping
    No cramping

    Adam's full stats

     Carbohydrate (g)Sodium (mg)Fluid (ml)Caffeine (mg)Relative sodium concentration (mg/L)
    Overall
    Total intake90050000
    Per hour3902190

    Data Confidence

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    1

    2

    3

    4

    5

    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.

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