London Marathon

After years of racing endurance sports and developing his expertise in fuel and hydration, JP had a fine-tuned nutrition strategy which he was able to implement at the London Marathon. He’s practiced fueling during both training and racing, so he knows he can comfortably tolerate high volumes of carb with no GI distress. He also knows the importance of pre-fuelling and consumed a PF 30 Chew as well as a PF 30 Gel in the final 30 minutes before the race, spiking his blood sugar and getting a headstart on fueling. He ended up taking an extra PF 30 Gel which he carried as a spare, simply because he was running for longer than his goal time, and didn’t want to risk ‘bonking’ and not getting to the finish line.

As one of the saltier sweaters on the PF&H Team, JP knows that it’s crucial for him to prioritise starting and preventing dehydration more proactively than others. During the race, he drank from his hand-held Soft Flask filled with PH 1500 and also carried Electrolyte Capsules to adequately replace electrolytes whilst picking up plain water once he’d finished his Soft Flask. This is a really good way of controlling his fluid intake, and is a technique he’s used a few times now when combatting long endurance events, which can cause significant sweat losses.

JP’s a regular at the office coffee machine, and he tolerates caffeine well and doesn’t experience negative side effects from the stimulant. As such, he may have benefitted from an increased caffeine intake during the marathon, perhaps by swapping his pre-race gel for a PF 30 Caffeine Gel. This would put him more in-line with the scientific recommended guidelines and help to reduce his perception of fatigue. Having not practiced with Caffeine Gels much in the lead-up to the race, he decided to stick to what he’d done in training, which shows his deeper understanding of ‘nothing new on race day’!