
James Phillips
London Marathon
James' headline numbers
James' strategy
Fueling
Carbohydrate is the main fuel you burn when racing. Failing to fuel properly is a leading cause of underperformance in longer races.
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.
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.
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.
Given James’s losses are Very High (1,850mg/L), nailing his hydration strategy remains important, even when it’s Cold.
Learn moreAs 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.
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.
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’!
How James hit his numbers
Here's everything that James ate and drank on the day...
James' weapons of choice
Final thoughts
James' full stats
Data Confidence?
There is good confidence in the accuracy of the data reported. An athlete feels that the numbers closely reflect what they consumed despite a couple of estimations which may carry some degree of error. The majority of what was consumed is recorded to a high level of specificity (most volumes are known through the use of bottles brands quantities flavours). The numbers are very plausible and align with previous data recordings (if an athlete has collected data previously).