Adam Bowden
London Marathon
LondonTop 50, MPROAdam's headline numbers
Adam's strategy
Fueling
T - 1-4hrs: Ate a carb rich meal (Low in fat & fibre)
T - 15mins: Took in a final dose of carb
"My fueling was really good, and I felt energetic the whole way through. I did feel a bit strange in the last section of the race because I was quite hungry and haven’t experienced that before. "
Adam nailed his energy provisions for this marathon, coming within 1g per hour of the Fuel & Hydration Planner’s recommendations. Having access to elite bottles on course made this slightly easier as he didn’t have to rely on gels and risk dropping, or not entirely finishing them. He did find that he was quite hungry, so has since started to experiment with adding a small source of protein into his standard pre-race porridge. Because protein is satiating and can slow the digestion and release of carbs, he has been feeling a bit more 'full', so is likely to carry this plan forward to his future races.
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.
Adam778mg/L
Adam has been Sweat Tested to dial in his hydration plan
Sweat sodium concentration (mg/L) is largely genetically determined and remains relatively stable. Knowing how salty your sweat is enables you to replace a good proportion of your sweat losses, which can range from 200-2,000mg/L.
Whilst Adam's losses are on the low side, getting his hydration strategy right is still important if he wants to perform at his best.
Learn moreT - 60mins: Drank ~500ml of strong electrolyte drink
"I focused on giving the body what it needed, and felt like I nailed it."
Because Adam was running for less than two and a half hours and in mild conditions, his body didn’t have the opportunity to accumulate enough dehydration to negatively impact his performance. However, to ensure this was the case, he still drank ~275ml of fluid per hour, though it was used mainly as a vehicle for carb and electrolyte intake. With no hydration-related issues, we wouldn’t recommend that he changes this part of his strategy going into future events in similar environmental conditions.
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.
T - 0-4hrs: Had a final hit of caffeine
The caffeine from Adam’s morning coffee before the race will have directly impacted him during the race itself, resulting in approximately ~2mg/kg of caffeine circulating in his bloodstream. Still, this would be below the scientific recommendations for an event of this intensity and duration. Ahead of his next race, we would encourage Adam to trial using PF 30 Caffeine Gels during some of his longer sessions to work out whether incorporating this into his fueling strategy will work for him.
How Adam hit his numbers
Here's everything that Adam ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“I’m very pleased with this one. It was an incredible race and atmosphere. I was on for 2:15 pace up until the 30-35k mark where I started to feel a bit strange. I’m going to try and change my mileage a bit to see if this helps, but I did feel my nutrition was really good for London.”
“Adam had a great day out at the 2024 London Marathon claiming 21st place, and at 41 years old finished as the 3rd master athlete too. We wouldn’t recommend any changes to his hydration strategy and overall he was spot on with his fueling, as well. There is potential improvement from adding some caffeine to his intake and a little more protein in his pre-race breakfast to make him feel more comfortable later in the race.”
PF&HAdam's full stats
Data Confidence
We rate each of our case studies from 1-5 based on the level of accuracy, and our confidence in the data.
There is some confidence in the quantities and brands of products consumed but the data may lack specifics (e.g. volumes specific flavours). A high number of estimations have been made and the room for error is moderate-high. There may also be the possibility that some intake has been grossly over- or under-estimated.