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James Turner's scorecard

Seville Marathon

Sunday 19th February, 2023

Within recommended ranges

Just outside recommended ranges

Significantly outside recommended ranges

  • 96g

    Carb per hour
  • 127mg

    Sodium per hour
  • 279ml

    Fluid per hour
  • 455mg/L

    Relative sodium concentration
  • 400mg

    Total caffeine
  • How James hit those numbers

    finish
    star
    bottle
     
    500ml x PH 1500 (Tablet)
    1 x Serving of Rice Pudding
    1 x Beetroot Shot
    1 x Banana
    1 x Black Coffee
     
     
    300ml x PF Energy Drink Mix
    1 x PF 30 Caffeine Gel
     
     
    3 x PF 30 Energy Gel
    3 x PF 30 Caffeine Gel
    360ml x Plain water
     

    How James' hydration and fueling went...

      • James is a seriously fast sub-elite athlete, who achieved several PB’s in 2023 using PF&H products. Our sports science team caught up with him after his 2:22:45 personal best marathon in the Spanish city of Seville
      • While there are a couple of minor things James can optimise his strategy with, specifically around the timing of caffeine and carb intake, he essentially nailed his fueling and hydration on his way to the finish line. This meant he could happily report his race satisfaction as a 10 (out of 10)

    Hydration

      • James, who comes from Brighton in England, was slightly apprehensive of racing in the hotter Spanish environment in Barcelona. To combat this, he had several sauna sessions to acclimate to the heat and also ‘preloaded’ on the morning of the race, using a strong electrolyte drink (PH1500) to ensure he started optimally hydrated, giving his body the best ability to regulate his temperature effectively on the course
      • After finishing a 500ml (16oz) bottle of PF 60 Energy Drink mix that he sipped on throughout the morning of his race, James relied on cups of water from aid stations for his fluid intake. This resulted in him drinking ~279ml (9oz) of fluid per hour, with an average sodium content of ~455mg/L (mg/32oz)
      • James admits that he is a pretty ‘heavy’ sweater, but thinks that this sweat is fairly low in sodium having never had white marks on his running kit, and his sweat doesn’t particularly sting his eyes
      • This would suggest that he replaced a good proportion of the sodium that he lost during the race, especially considering the PH 1500 he had with breakfast. His fluid intake is also in line with what we see during a marathon distance race. Despite his suspected high sweat rate, his body has the ability to tolerate a certain amount of dehydration, and so it would have been inappropriate to try and replace 100% of his losses
      • James also utilised the performance benefits of caffeine, taking on 400mg during the race, as well as a black coffee with breakfast. Interestingly, because caffeine takes 45-60 minutes to peak in the bloodstream, he wouldn’t have felt the full effect of the 100mg from his final PF30 Caffeine Gel, which he took just 20 minutes before the finish line
      • In future races It’s likely James will ‘frontload’ his caffeine intake to the first 100 minutes of his race, in the knowledge that its 4-5 hour ‘half life’ means he will still have the vast majority of it in his system when he crosses the finish line

    Fueling

    Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation

    30g

    carb 30 mins before

    60-90g

    carb per hour during
      • After experimenting with a Supersapiens continuous glucose sensor, James knew that he personally responds well to a carb rich pre-race breakfast of rice pudding and bagels. To ensure he definitely had access to this, and that he wouldn’t be limited by what Spanish supermarkets had to offer, he took some with him to Spain in his luggage
      • After eating this breakfast, James went to the race start, sipping on a bottle of PF 60 Energy Drink Mix and finally topping off his energy with a PF 30 Caffeine Gel within the 30 minutes prior to race start
      • In future James is going to make sure this final gel is taken 10-15 minutes before the gun fires, so that his blood glucose is still on the rise when he starts and he can avoid an unintentional ‘crash’ by taking it on board too early
      • Despite James being so fast, averaging 3:22 mins per km (5:26 mins/mile), he wasn’t part of the ‘elite’ start group at this race and so didn’t have access to the water bottles which pros can choose to lay out ahead of their race. To make sure he was prepared, he bought a pair of shorts which could easily accommodate his seven PF 30 Gels (one spare, just in case), and carried them during training sessions so he could get a feel for where they would sit during the race
      • James was able to average a really strong 96g of carb per hour throughout his race. This is above the Fuel & Hydration Planner’s general recommendation of 90g/h during an event of this duration and intensity
      • He attributed this impressive intake to the ‘gut training’ he’s carried out in the previous seven years of competing in long running events, as well as the high carb concentration of PF 30 gels (30g in a 51g packet)
      • Happily, despite this large carb intake, James reported absolutely no stomach discomfort, giving it a perfect rating of 10 (out of 10). He also felt well energised throughout, which no doubt the carb contributed to, rating this as an 8 (out of 10)

    Conclusions

      • Overall, James had a great race in Seville all but nailing his fuel and hydration strategy in a warmer environment that he’s used to, on his way to a marathon PB
      • Going forwards in his training, James is going to experiment with the timing of his carb and caffeine to see if there’s any further improvements to be exploited ahead of his next races

    Key info

    James Turner

    Male

    Result

    Overall Time
    2:22:45

    Event information

    Sport
    Running
    Discipline
    Marathon
    Event
    Seville Marathon
    Location
    Seville, Spain
    Date
    19th February, 2023
    Website
    Total Distance
    42.2km / 26.2mi

    Race conditions

    Weather Conditions
    Mild
    Precipitation
    No Rain
    Min Temp
    14°C / 57°F
    Max Temp
    19°C / 66°F
    Avg Temp
    17°C / 63°F
    Humidity
    60%

    Athlete feedback

    Race Satisfaction
    10/10
    Hydration rating
    8/10
    If I did the race again, I might ask someone to pass me a bottle with electrolyte mix in it
    Energy levels
    8/10
    Toilet stops
    No
    GI comfort
    10/10
    Cramping
    No cramping

    James' Thoughts

     I hit my target and everything went to plan!

    James' full stats

     Carbohydrate (g)Sodium (mg)Fluid (ml)Caffeine (mg)Relative sodium concentration (mg/L)
    Overall
    Total intake228300660400455
    Per hour96127279169

    Data Confidence

    marker-icon

    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.

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