Daniel Silvester
Loch Ness Marathon
Daniel's headline numbers
Daniel's strategy
Fueling
Carbohydrate is the main fuel you burn when racing. Failing to fuel properly is a leading cause of underperformance in longer races.
Dan’s pre-race intake was excellent; he consumed a carb-rich breakfast prior to the start of the race and topped this off by taking a PF 30 Gel just before toeing the start line. During the race itself, Dan relied solely on PF 30 Gels for his carb intake, sticking to his pre-planned strategy to consume one every 30 minutes. The scientific guidelines suggest that carb intakes of ~90g/h are more advantageous to support endurance performance, particularly during races of this distance and intensity. So, ahead of his future races, Dan could practise some more structured gut training to ensure he can comfortably tolerate the higher intakes of carb without GI 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.
Dan relied on the on-course aid stations to pick up plain water across the duration of the marathon. He supplemented the fluid he drank with Electrolyte Capsules to account for the sodium he was losing in his sweat. Unfortunately, he forgot to take any capsules until ~2 hours into the race, where he took three in the hopes of catching up and then another shortly after. Luckily, he didn’t struggle with any cramp in this race, but in future, sticking to his pre-planned strategy to spread his sodium intake out would be beneficial to stay on top of his sweat losses and avoid the negative effects of dehydration.
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.
Dan pre-caffeinated ahead of the race with a coffee around the time of his breakfast. However, he chose not to take on any additional caffeine during the marathon. If he hasn’t already, we would advise him to trial using caffeine in his training to identify if he feels the performance enhancing effects of the stimulant, and if he finds caffeine beneficial, to then implement it consistently during his races.
How Daniel hit his numbers
Here's everything that Daniel ate and drank on the day...
Daniel's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
Daniel's 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.