• Precision Fuel & Hydration Sweat Test Officer and trail running coach, Joe Wenman, ran his first ever road marathon at the Manchester Marathon, clocking a half-marathon personal best (01:30:30) through the first 21.1km before cramp meant that it was a battle for survival in the second half of the race
• It was very much a learning experience for Joe and he said post-race, “I shouldn’t have put as much pressure on myself” and that road running is “mentally totally different to trail running”
• Furthermore, his hydration strategy didn’t go entirely to plan as he lost some electrolyte capsules through a hole in his shorts, which meant that he didn’t take on as much sodium as he had planned to. Although his fueling strategy was a definite positive…

Hydration

• From his Advanced Sweat Test we know that Joe is a ‘salty sweater’, losing 1,208mg/L of sodium per litre of sweat. Therefore he sensibly made sure he was optimally hydrated going into the marathon by preloading with 500ml/16oz of PH 1500 the night before, as well as the morning of racing
• After a successful start to the race where he held an average pace of less than 4 minutes per kilometer in the first 10km, Joe discovered that the PH Electrolyte capsules (250mg of sodium each) he’d been carrying had fallen out of a hole in his shorts
• Joe said this affected him mentally as he was always thinking about what he could pick up from the aid stations to replace the sodium he’d missed out on in the electrolyte capsules. Unfortunately, the aid stations didn’t have many sodium-rich options that Joe felt confident taking
• Joe did pick up ~1.8L (63oz) of plain water, drinking an average of ~507ml/16oz per hour. In his previous Ultra race, conditions were similar to Manchester (average temperature ~7°C/45°F), and his sweat rate was ~1L/32oz per hour. At Manchester, Joe thought his sweat rate was “slightly higher than at Portsmouth”. Therefore, assuming this was true, his hourly fluid intake would have replaced a good proportion of his fluid losses, but he would have been operating at a significant deficit in terms of sodium because of the lost electrolyte capsules…
• He only managed to consume a total of ~766mg of sodium (~216mg/hr), from three PH electrolyte capsules early on; the relative sodium concentration of Joe’s intake across the race was therefore ~425mg/L, which fell some way short of replacing his high sweat sodium losses (~1,208mg/L)
• Despite Joe’s good intentions, this level of replacement was low and he mentioned that he was “really craving salt at the end”. This low level of sodium replacement may explain why Joe experienced “fairly bad”, mild cramps during the second half of the race, which caused his pace to drop from 4:44 min/km at halfway to a 6:23 min/km pace towards the end
• Joe knows that there are areas for improvement (one being to sew up the hole in his running shorts!) and rated the hydration strategy that he executed as a 4 out of 10

Fueling

Conclusions

• Joe built on his marathon fueling strategy from last year’s trail race in Portsmouth by following our recommendations to increase his total carb intake at Manchester Marathon
• However, the lost electrolyte capsules meant Joe was unable to adequately replace his sweat sodium losses, which may have contributed to the cramping he experienced and the subsequent slowing in pace
• Joe will be looking to increase his carb intake up towards that 90g/hr mark and make sure he doesn’t have any holes in his pockets so he can replace a higher proportion of his sodium losses in future events