Lindsay Flanagan
Marathon World Championships
Lindsay's headline numbers
Lindsay'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.
In the lead up to the World Championships, Lindsey incorporated gut training in race simulation sessions to progress from ~20g/h, to hit the highest carb intake she has ever consumed during a race. By using a combination of PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix and PF 30 Gels, she exceeded her previous carb intakes and reported her “stomach felt the best it ever has during a marathon”. As this well executed plan allowed Lindsay to “feel strong until the very end”, she may wish to continue her gut training and push towards 90g/h in an attempt to boost her energy levels further.
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.
Whilst Lindsay’s losses are on the low side, getting her hydration strategy right is still crucial when it’s hot and/or humid as her higher sweat rate in these conditions can result in significant net losses over the duration of a race.
Learn moreSince working with the PF&H team, Lindsay carried out sweat rate data collection to understand how much sweat she loses and had a Sweat Test to understand how much sodium she loses within that sweat. These insights helped her implement a precise race day hydration strategy. In the hot conditions in Budapest, Lindsay drank a pre-planned fluid volume of 230ml roughly every 5km to minimise her level of dehydration and avoid the associated decline in performance. And she used PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix alongside water to make sure the relative sodium concentration of this intake matched her sweat sodium 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.
Lindsay began the day with a strong caffeine dose which due to caffeine’s ~4-5-hour half-life will still have been in her system throughout the race to increase her perceived energy levels. She may wish to take another final dose within the last 30 minutes pre-race, for example in the form of a PF 30 Caffeine Gel, to elevate her blood caffeine and glucose levels upon starting the race to maximise its benefits.
How Lindsay hit her numbers
Here's everything that Lindsay ate and drank on the day...
Lindsay's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
Lindsay
PF&HLindsay's 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).