Osaka Marathon

Lisa used a combination of PF Carb Only Drink Mix and PF 30 Gels to fuel her through to a third-place finish in Osaka. Lisa felt her energy drop toward the end of the run, indicating she could’ve done with adding more carbohydrate to her fueling strategy. The fact her average carb intake was slightly below the recommendation for a marathon race of this duration and high intensity supports this. Only a small amount of carb was delivered through the drink mix because she didn’t consume much fluid in these conditions, so carrying one or two more PF 30 Gels would do the trick. She did attempt to prefuel with half a gel in the final 30 minutes before the race start, to spike her blood glucose levels, though taking the full amount might be helpful in the future.

Between the colder weather and rain, Lisa’s fluid intake was understandably on the lower end, though still appropriate for the conditions. She’s also not a very salty sweater, so her total sweat losses (fluid plus sodium) likely would’ve mounted up enough to cause any issues, and she didn't have any cramping during the race. Though she took on some sodium beforehand, she could preload with a higher strength of electrolyte drink to match the recommendations in an attempt to boost her blood plasma volume ahead of sweating, and then for warmer races, add a lower strength into her race-day fluid to mitigate potential problems.

Lisa took half a PF 30 Caffeine Gel around 30km (18.6 miles), though she may not have reaped the full benefits, as caffeine takes ~45-60 minutes to peak in the bloodstream. Her intake also fell below the recommendations of 3-6 mg per kg bodyweight. Going forward, she could take a full caffeine gel earlier in the race to get ahead of any dropping energy levels, as well as contribute to her overall carb intake.