Oldenburg Marathon

As the Oldenburg Marathon is a relatively small event, runners were fortunate enough to have their own pre-made bottles ready at aid stations up until the 30km mark. This allowed Reiner to take on ~45g carb through Carb Only Drink Mix every 5km. This solid carb intake was well-tolerated and meant Reiner felt strong through the first ~three hours of the race. However, a combination of starting slightly faster than planned due to the adrenaline of the race, and only taking on one gel in the last ~12km meant Reiner’s energy levels quickly declined and he wished he’d taken more fuel with him. Overall, Reiner’s carb intake of ~78g/h is within the general recommendations for a marathon of this intensity and duration but he should aim to maintain his intake through to the end in future races to delay the fatigue he felt and better support his energy levels.

Reiner preloaded with PH 1500 (Tablets) the night before and morning of the race; however drinking an additional litre of energy drink in the hours leading up to the start will have diluted the relative sodium concentration of his preload, reducing its effectiveness to help with fluid retention and increase blood plasma volume. For the first 30km of the marathon, Reiner used 500ml bottles, each containing 1 x PH 1500 (Tablet) and 3 scoops of Carb Only Drink Mix from the personal aid stations to reach his ~1L of fluid per hour target, which will have helped to replace the majority of his perceived high sweat losses and avoid symptoms of excessive dehydration. Despite the cool conditions, he knew this would aid his performance and he made an effort to train his gut to absorb this volume of fluid even when running at a high intensity. For the last hour, Reiner relied on cups of water, cola and electrolytes from aid stations, which resulted in his fluid intake being slightly reduced but not to a problematic level, thanks to his prior consumption.

Reiner didn’t incorporate any caffeine into his race plan. An insignificant dose was consumed through a couple of cups of cola from the aid stations towards the end of the race. If he wanted to utilise the ergogenic benefits of the stimulant in future races, the recommendation would be to aim for 3-6mg/kg. Importantly he would want to test this in training before taking it into a race as individual caffeine tolerances vary.