3rd
Alex Leprêtre's scorecard
London Marathon
Sunday 23rd April, 2023
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
67g
Carb per hour
0mg
Sodium per hour
111ml
Fluid per hour
0mg/L
Relative sodium concentration
0mg
Total caffeine
How Alex hit those numbers
500ml x PH 1500 (Tablet)
1 x Bowl of Porridge with Honey
1 x Black coffee
1 x Banana
1 x Espresso Shot
1 x PF 30 Energy Gel
4 x PF 30 Energy Gel
250ml x Plain water
How Alex's hydration and fueling went...
- Alex is a lawyer by day and runner by night, competing both internationally, and for the Highgate Harriers running club in London
- With impressive personal bests over the 5km (13:55) and 10km (30:18) and Half marathon (63:28), Alex was hoping to carry this speed across to his debut marathon at London 2023
- As this was the first event Alex has ever had to think about fueling or hydrating during, he worked with the PF&H Sports Science team in advance to prepare his strategy
- Amazingly, despite his impressive running pedigree, Alex did not secure an elite start position, meaning he began the race with the 40,000 non-elite starters, of which only two beat him on the day. This meant Alex barely saw another runner for the 42.2km, and wasn’t able to run in a pack like the pros
Hydration
- Alex understood that starting endurance events dehydrated is actually a very common performance limiting issue, and so decided to try and start optimally hydrated by preloading with a PH 1500 both the night before and morning of the marathon
- This ‘preloading’ helps performance by encouraging retention of water within the blood plasma, so the cardiovascular system doesn’t have to work any harder than absolutely necessary. Alex has also found that this retention has reduced the feeling of needing to pee mid-race
- With the context of his excellent pre-hydration, combined with the mild (13°C / 55°F) and rainy weather, it wasn’t surprising to hear that Alex never felt particularly thirsty throughout this race
- This is because there was less need for the body to offload excess heat through sweating, and therefore less fluid loss needed to be replaced in order to keep him above 2% body weight loss, which is generally thought to be where performance declines start to occur
- While he only drank ~250ml (8oz) of plain water across the two and a quarter hours, we would still recommend drinking some electrolytes, in order to get sodium on board while running
- One of the main reasons for this is the key role that sodium plays in assisting with carbohydrate absorption, via ‘glucose sodium cotransporters’
- Happily, on the day Alex experienced no cramping and rated his hydration strategy a strong 7 (out of 10)
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
30g
carb 30 mins before
60-90g
carb per hour during
- As someone who has always specialised in shorter distance races, this was the first event in which Alex needed to consume fuel while on the move
- Alex followed the advice of the PF&H Sports Scientists to a tee and Carb loaded in the days building up to the race, culminating in a ‘pasta party’ the night before, and a breakfast of porridge and a banana
- He naturally understood the requirement during longer events for additional carb while burning so much energy (running at 3:16 mins per km) and so incorporated gut training into his marathon-specific sessions to make this as comfortable as possible on race day
- His strategy on the day was straightforward. He had one gel ~20 minutes before the clock hit zero and then had a PF 30 Gel every 25 minutes until 1:35
- He was due to have an additional gel at ~2 hours but felt full, which he’s attributing to his large tomato pasta dinner the night before. The additional carb in this gel would have pushed his average intake up from ~67g per hour to 80g/h (closer to the Fuel and Planner’s 90g/h recommendation)
- Despite making the confident decision to skip this final PF 30 Gel, Alex rated his debut marathon energy levels as an 8 (out of 10) with a bit of a lull towards the end of the race, but certainly no ‘wall’ or ‘bonk’ in sight
- Alex may want to optimise his future intake by making the most of caffeine and its performance associated benefits. His two coffees in the morning would have contributed somewhat, but a PF 30 Caffeine Gel or two, instead of regular gels may have helped reduce his perceived exertion and increase focus
Conclusions
- Alex was satisfied to run a 2:15:01 in his debut marathon, and beat all but two other people from the mass start pen to the finish line. He’s also confident that he’ll be able to beat this time when he lines up for the Berlin Marathon a few months after this race
- He did very well to average ~67g of carb per hour in the first race he’s ever had to eat and drink during, rating his gastrointestinal comfort at an 8 (out of 10), only getting some discomfort when swallowing some air with his water
- Looking forwards Alex will be able to optimise his use of caffeine, and continue gut training so he is happy tolerating additional carb towards the end of a marathon
Key info
Alex Leprêtre
Male
Result
Position
3rd
Overall Time
2:15:01
Event information
Sport
Running
Discipline
Marathon
Event
London Marathon
Location
London, England
Date
23rd April, 2023
Website
Total Distance
42.2km / 26.2mi
Race conditions
Weather Conditions
Mild
Precipitation
Rain
Min Temp
10°C / 50°F
Max Temp
15°C / 59°F
Avg Temp
13°C / 55°F
Humidity
85%
Athlete feedback
Race Satisfaction
7/10
Hydration rating
7/10
I clearly didn't take in much water, but also didn't feel thirsty or dehydrated on such a mild, rainy day
Energy levels
8/10
My energy was really good, I struggled a bit towards the end but wouldn't put this down to fueling
GI comfort
8/10
Only a slight bit of discomfort when drinking water and swallowing some air at the same time
Cramping
No cramping
Alex's Thoughts
I am satisfied with this result, but think if all goes well I can run 2-3 minutes quicker in Berlin
Alex's full stats
| Carbohydrate (g) | Sodium (mg) | Fluid (ml) | Caffeine (mg) | Relative sodium concentration (mg/L) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | |||||
| Total intake | 150 | 0 | 250 | 0 | 0 |
| Per hour | 67 | 0 | 111 | 0 | |
Data Confidence
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.