Canberra Marathon

Perhaps due to the early start at Canberra (6:15am), Marnie only had a mug of black coffee 60 minutes before and a PF 30 Gel 40 minutes before the gun went off. Marnie’s full-time work schedule means the majority of her training is done very early in the morning, and she’s become accustomed to running without eating prior, and chose not to change this on race morning. We would typically recommend a carbohydrate dose within the final 30 minutes before the race start, but having one slightly further out (only by 10 minutes) will still have helped Marnie to get energy into her bloodstream hopefully save her stored glycogen for later on in the race. In an attempt to avoid 'blowing up' again in the future, we would suggest that Marine consumes a high-carb meal or between 1-4g per kilogram of bodyweight in the hours before the race starts. Additionally, it would be beneficial for her to increase her carb intake during races to meet the recommended range.These strategies can significantly enhance endurance performance by increasing available energy stored in both the liver and the muscles before the race, and maintaining adequate blood glucose levels during.

Marine describes herself as a light-to-moderate sweater but says she was peeing quite a lot the night before the race, indicating she may have over-hydrated. This would have been counterproductive and potentially diluted the concentration of sodium in her bloodstream. To prevent this, we would recommend Marnie preloads by drinking PH 1500 the night before and the morning of the race to ensure adequate electrolyte intake. Due to not having her own bottles of PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix on course, she likely consumed less fluid than originally planned. Instead, she only grabbed a couple of cups at aid stations to hydrate. Marnie didn’t take on any electrolytes during the race, and considering the high intensity she was racing at, as well as the warmer conditions and high humidity, we would recommend she consumes some sodium to replace a proportion of her sweat losses. This is particularly important for hotter races when her net sweat losses are higher. She could incorporate Electrolyte Capsules into her strategy to make sure she can consume sodium even when she’s unable to collect pre-made electrolyte drinks on course.

Other than a coffee ahead of the race, Marnie didn’t take any caffeine during the run. She could consider introducing it into her fueling strategy for future races, by using the products such as PF 30 Caffeine Gels to reap the ergogenic benefits of the stimulant, delaying fatigue and reducing her perception of effort. Depending on her caffeine tolerance, it’ll be helpful for her to try this strategy out in training to work out if the stimulant is suitable for her.