Mario Fraioli
Boston Marathon
Mario's headline numbers
Mario'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.
During the marathon, Mario got a total of 60g of carb from PF Carb and Electrolyte Drink Mix in his Softflasks and another 120g via PF 30 Gels. This meant he averaged ~82g of carb per hour to consistently fuel his effort across the duration of the race.
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 Mario’s losses are on the moderate side, getting his hydration strategy right is still important if he wants to perform at his best.
Learn moreBoth the night before and the morning of the race, Mario used PH500 in his drinks to assist with his hydration status. In future, to ensure he starts optimally hydrated, we’d recommend an even stronger electrolyte like the PH 1500. Mario started the race with a Soft flask containing PF 60 Drink Mix, which he drank by mile 4 (kilometre 6). He picked another of these up around mile 16 (kilometre 26), but again finished it quickly and felt like he could have benefited from a third serving. The combination of these flasks and water cups from aid stations resulted in Mario averaging ~608ml (21oz) per hour, with a relative sodium concentration of ~641 milligrams per litre (mg/32oz). While Mario happily reported experiencing no cramping throughout the race, he did feel the need to pee from mile 10 to mile 14 before the feeling subsided. One way he could have reduced the likelihood of this occurring is to increase the sodium concentration of his drinks, to be more in line with his Sweat Test score of 962mg/L (mg/32oz). This would have reduced the urge to pee due to sodium’s key role in helping the body retain fluid.
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.
Mario didn’t take any caffeine on board during his race, but he did have one and a half cups of black coffee before the race which would have contributed to a reduction in perceived effort due to the ‘long half life’ of caffeine. Typically a black coffee contains ~100 milligrams of caffeine, meaning he would have taken on board ~150mg total ahead of the race. To optimise his caffeine intake in future races Mario would have benefitted from a couple of PF 30 Caffeine Gels so that his total intake is in line with the (scientific recommendations](https://www.precisionhydration.com/performance-advice/nutrition/how-much-caffeine-should-athletes-use/) and he can reap the ergogenic benefits of the stimulant.
How Mario hit his numbers
Here's everything that Mario ate and drank on the day...
Mario's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
PF&HMario's full stats
Data Confidence?
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.