Susie Routt
Utah Valley Marathon
Provo Canyon UtahCompleted, F45-49Susie's headline numbers
Susie's strategy
Fueling
T - 1-4hrs: Ate a carb rich meal (Low in fat & fibre)
T - 15mins: Took in a final dose of carb
"I paced it well and didn’t feel low on energy at any point, which I was happy about. "
Within the last 30 minutes before the race, Susie had an additional carb hit using a PF 30 Caffeine Gel increase circulating glucose and caffeine in her bloodstream. While running, she took in ~55g of carbohydrate per hour from a deliberate mix of real food and sport nutrition consistently across the race, featuring PF 30 Gels and PF 30 Caffeine Gels alongside foods like peanut butter cones and ice lollies. This helped Susie keep any flavour fatigue at bay and her energy levels sufficient over the 5 hours 37 minutes she was out on course. With this strategy, Susie was able to hit the minimum carbohydrate recommendation all while keeping stomach discomfort to a minimum.
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.
T - 60mins: Drank ~500ml of strong electrolyte drink
"I made a conscious effort to drink water and sports drinks at the aid stations because of the heat. "
Susie nailed her hydration in the lead up to the hot race day as she knew the conditions were going to be warm (~25°) by preloading with PH 1500 the night before and on race morning to start optimally hydrated. During the race, she drank a total of just over 4L by picking up water and energy drinks at every aid station en route - a solid effort to account for her increased sweat rate in these conditions. Ahead of her next race, she should work on increasing her sodium intake, considering she took in a relative sodium concentration of only ~367mg/L. There is room to refine this, if Susie can get a Sweat Test to find out her exact losses. One way to start, as the average person is losing 949mg/L in their sweat according to our database of thousands of Sweat Tests, would be by mixing PH 1000 in her bottles, or carrying some Electrolyte Capsules to consume alongside the plain water she picks up. A higher sodium intake may help to prevent the mild cramping she experienced towards the end of her race by replacing a greater proportion of the sodium she was losing via sweat.
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.
T - 0-4hrs: Had a final hit of caffeine
Susie consumed a total of two PF 30 Caffeine Gels, one just before the race started, and one during the race, totalling ~2.74mg/kg of bodyweight - just missing out on the 3-6mg/kg range shown to unlock the endurance performance benefits. With no reported negative side effects, we would recommend Susie adds one more PF 30 Caffeine Gel mid-race to bump her up into the optimal 3-6mg/kg range.
How Susie hit her numbers
Here's everything that Susie ate and drank on the day...
Final thoughts
“Overall, I’m pleased with how I felt throughout the race. I was expecting GI issues as I didn’t practice my strategy as much as I know I should have in the build up but they never came”
“Susie met her goals to complete a strong marathon in the heat, holding steady energy throughout without the GI issues she had feared. She did really well to get plenty of fluid in and keep her fueling varied, which explains her ideal energy rating! Her next focus should be on sodium, lifting it to nearer ~1000mg/L, and possibly getting a Sweat Test to personalise this element of her strategy and replace her losses more accurately.”
PF&HSusie's full stats
Data Confidence
We rate each of our case studies from 1-5 based on the level of accuracy, and our confidence in the data.
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.