Tim Doran's scorecard
London Marathon
Sunday 3rd October, 2021
Within recommended ranges
Just outside recommended ranges
Significantly outside recommended ranges
84g
Carb per hour
0mg
Sodium per hour
456ml
Fluid per hour
0mg/L
Relative sodium concentration
0mg
Total caffeine
How Tim hit those numbers
500ml x PH 1500 (Drink Mix)
1 x PH Electrolyte Capsule
1 x Bowl of porridge
1 x Slice of bread with nutella
1 x PF 30 Energy Gel
7 x PF 30 Energy Gel
1.3L x Plain water
How Tim's hydration and fueling went...
- After a recent 100km effort with a tough recovery, Tim went into the London Marathon planning for it to be a “good solid training run” to allow him to “recover quickly and start some winter mileage”. He planned to use the race as a “strict exercise to get the right fuelling and practice with gels every 20 minutes” as we had recommended to him after his last race
- Despite not having the lead up he would have wanted, Tim had a solid race finishing in a time of 2 hours 51 minutes. He rated his race satisfaction as 10 out of 10 and he believes the “only reason” he ran as well as he did was “down to the gels”
Hydration
- Tim drank around ~456ml/hr (~15oz/hr) of fluid during the marathon by drinking roughly ~100ml/3oz of plain water every 2 miles. Considering the mild conditions, this is a decent amount which will most likely have adequately replaced part of what he was losing
- He peed once at the end of mile 8 which is not excessive and therefore suggests that he did not overhydrate.Tim believes he drank enough as he didn’t get thirsty and commented that had he pushed earlier in the race he would have adjusted by taking on more fluid
- Tim did not consume any sodium during the race and he could have benefitted somewhat from introducing some sodium into his strategy towards the end of his marathon. Fortunately having preloaded appropriately as per our recommendations and subsided this with a salt capsule too, he set himself up well to run ‘light’ on sodium and appeared to have no issues with doing this (no cramp reported for instance)
Fueling
Quick Carb Calculator Recommendation
30g
carb 30 mins before
30-60g
carb per hour during
- Tim had an excellent pre-race intake. This consisted of him eating a breakfast high in carbs and low in fibre along with a PF 30 Gel at the start line to make sure his fuel stores were well topped up for the 9:30 start
- As our Quick Carb Calculator recommends, we advise that for a race of this length and intensity that Tim consumes between 30-60g of carb per hour
- Tim was able to consume an impressive ~84g/hr which was a total of ~240g over the course of the race, solely from PF 30 Gels. Due to the positive trend we see between carbohydrate intake and performance, as long as GI issues can be kept under control then this high intake can be seen as extremely positive. Tim specified that he experienced no GI issues (10/10)
- For the last race of Tim’s that we analysed, Race to the Stones, he was able to consume ~62g/hr. Race to the Stones was longer therefore it’s not unusual for an intake towards the lower end of the 60-90g/hr recommendation to be seen. For this shorter event, pushing this carb intake up as per our recommendations and hitting ~84g/hr with a gel every 20 minutes allowed him to reach solid carb numbers. Learn more
- He said that his “energy levels throughout the race were perfect” which is great to hear and not surprising considering the high levels of carb he was able to achieve for just under 3 hours. Tim agrees, believing he fuelled enough for this race but mentioned that he could have even managed a gel every 15 minutes
Conclusions
- Despite ear-marking it as just a training run, Tim had a great race at the London Marathon after not having the lead up he would have liked. He held back in the first half but picked the pace up in the second half (he ran a 5-minute negative split!) and finished strongly
- After listening to Andy’s previous advice, Tim stuck to a strict plan of consuming one gel every 20 minutes which was an excellent amount reaching ~84g/hr. This worked out well as Tim had ‘perfect’ energy levels during the race and alongside his large intake didn’t experience any GI issues. Well done Tim!
Key info
Tim Doran
Male
Result
Position
257th
Overall Time
2:51:40
Event information
Sport
Running
Discipline
Marathon
Event
London Marathon
Location
London, England
Date
3rd October, 2021
Website
Total Distance
42.2km / 26.2mi
Race conditions
Weather Conditions
Mild
Precipitation
No Rain
Min Temp
12°C / 54°F
Max Temp
16°C / 61°F
Avg Temp
15°C / 59°F
Humidity
70%
Athlete feedback
Race Satisfaction
10/10
Hydration rating
8/10
Energy levels
10/10
Toilet stops
Yes
Once at the end of mile 8
GI comfort
10/10
Cramping
No cramping
Tim's Thoughts
For once everything went to plan. I knew lots of runners yesterday and some I beat that I really shouldn’t have, given the little amount of training. I think the only reason I ran as well as I did was down to the gels
Tim's full stats
| Carbohydrate (g) | Sodium (mg) | Fluid (ml) | Caffeine (mg) | Relative sodium concentration (mg/L) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | |||||
| Total intake | 240 | 0 | 1,300 | 0 | 0 |
| Per hour | 84 | 0 | 456 | 0 | |
Data Confidence
1
2
3
4
5
There is good confidence in the accuracy of the data reported. An athlete feels that the numbers closely reflect what they consumed despite a couple of estimations which may carry some degree of error. The majority of what was consumed is recorded to a high level of specificity (most volumes are known through the use of bottles, brands, quantities, flavours). The numbers are very plausible and align with previous data recordings (if an athlete has collected data previously).