Lisa Weightman
Guangzhou Marathon
Lisa's headline numbers
Lisa'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.
With an additional PF 30 Gel added to her fueling strategy compared to earlier races in 2024, Lisa had a total of three PF 30 Gels and one PF 30 Caffeine Gel spread across her last marathon of the season in China. The biggest change came in the build up to her Beijing and Guangzhou marathons as she fueled more of her long training runs to help keep her pushing harder for longer, improve her performance and recovery. And she subsequently hit ~60g/h in both races. This helped provide her ample energy for this race, especially given she slowed in the second half as a result of a hamstring tweak. Moving forwards, a more structured gut training protocol would help her continue to push towards the 75g/h scientific recommendations.
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 Lisa’s losses are on the low side, getting her hydration strategy right is still important if she wants to perform at her best.
Learn moreIn the mild conditions, Lisa was proactive with her fluid intake and drank ~100ml from each of her seven bottles on course roughly every 5km (3.1 miles). This led to her highest average fluid intake of the year, which subjectively she felt left her well-hydrated. With a low sweat sodium concentration, and after a preload before the race, Lisa can perform without continuing to replace her sweat sodium losses for this ‘short’ duration. In hotter races, she may benefit from consuming some sodium, such as in the form of PF Carb & Electrolyte Drink Mix, to help her better retain the water she is drinking when her losses are greater.
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.
Given Lisa’s bodyweight, one PF 30 Caffeine Gel prior to the start and one Caffeine Gel at the 25km allowed her to sit well within the recommended caffeine dosage to enhance her marathon performance.
How Lisa hit her numbers
Here's everything that Lisa ate and drank on the day...
Lisa's weapons of choice
Final thoughts
Lisa
PF&HLisa'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.