Coach wants me to drink coffee before race

Bear of Bad News wrote:

A better solution would be to do a few extra strides before the race (maybe a bit longer than usual, too) to get the heart pumping.

is this correct? You want to be on the line with your heart bumping optimally? I normally like to be cool and calm.

sure bert wrote:

Your coach sounds like an unethical slime ball.

I agree with this.

I would not take anything suggested by the coach, would get my parents involved, and have them talk to the principal and other authorities.

J.R. wrote:

sure bert wrote:

Your coach sounds like an unethical slime ball.

I agree with this.

I would not take anything suggested by the coach, would get my parents involved, and have them talk to the principal and other authorities.

This is becoming a world of sniveling wussies. At worst (if the kid is in HS) the advice is a little off base. But professional victim JR" wants the guy investigated by "other authorities" because he suggested the mopey kid have a f-in cup of coffee. Teach the kid to cry to mommy and daddy because coach suggested a spot of tea.

Credit to the OP, he questioned the advice (a good thing) now he can read several opinions and deal with it himself. He does not need to go to mommy and daddy for piddly little crap like this.

Unless the guidelines have changed, high school coaches can not give their athletes any supplements. Coaches have been fired over handing out aspirin. Think about it: a non-guardian or non-licensed person giving a drug to a minor. Your coach has a position of authority over you but he does not have parental rights and is probably not a licensed health care practitioner so recommending you, presumably a minor, take a drug (caffeine in the form of coffe) is treading a fine line. If he was handing out cups of coffee or set out a coffee thermos for use by the team it would probably be easy to get him suspended or fired.

And if the team had a party to celebrate a win and had a pizza and 2 liter bottle of Coke with ice and paper cups it should (by your line of thought) also get him fired or suspended.

Let me emphasize that I don't think drinking a cup of coffee before a race is a big deal but there is a bigger issue here. The coach should be aware he is taking a risk encouraging it and it could cost him his job if someone chooses to litigate or the school needs a scapegoat.

Back in the dark ages, our coach would give us flat Coke to drink. Unethical bastard - he scarred me for life, but at least it wasn't Mountain Dew.

Coffee before a race or morning run? I know of at LEAST 20 elite runners that do that everyday and also before a morning 8 am race start time.

Big whoop!

Perfromance enhancer? Not really. That is a falicy, lie and just plain bullshit.

That is another myth that some people try to make you believe. There are many articles disproving coffee or even caffeine as a ped.

It dries out your tongue, makes your breath stink, and makes you thirstier than usual and need to pee more than normal. Sounds great!

Yeah Really wrote:

Back in the dark ages, our coach would give us flat Coke to drink. Unethical bastard - he scarred me for life, but at least it wasn't Mountain Dew.

_________________

How is that unethical?

It is just sugar and corn syrup.

It is what Frank Shorter drank in the 1972 Olympics.

Is he unethical?

DON'T CHEAT!!!!!!1111!

Kids, just say no to drugs.

It starts out with an innocent-sounding cup of coffee, but the next thing you know you're a 'roided up freak, then you're kicked out of your sport in disgrace, and end up running up and down a basketball court being ogled by a bunch of Okie lesbians...

Coffee is best when followed by an Albuterol chaser.

VIVARIN son. Caffiene without the gastro effects.

Big Papi wrote:

Yeah Really wrote:

Back in the dark ages, our coach would give us flat Coke to drink. Unethical bastard - he scarred me for life, but at least it wasn't Mountain Dew.

_________________

How is that unethical?

It is just sugar and corn syrup.

It is what Frank Shorter drank in the 1972 Olympics.

Is he unethical?

That rotten drug cheat!!!

I read this, then I started drinking a cup of black coffee before races. Works wonders, I dropped from a 9:50 to a 9:30 2 mile.

DjDH wrote:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/health/nutrition/26best.html

I read this, then I started drinking a cup of black coffee before races. Works wonders, I dropped from a 9:50 to a 9:30 2 mile.

Caffeine publicly endorsed by Wejo!!1!!!1!!11!!!

I'm SHOCKED, SHOCKED to find that coffee-drinking is going on in here!!11!!1!!11!!!

random a hole wrote:

OK, so its the pill thing for you that makes it unethical. So drinking a cup or two of coffee is OK?

I don't care how you ingest it, but what we're talking about is a shortcut. That's what makes it unethical.

You train harder or smarter than the next guy - fine. You have the best gear - whatever, it's not that big of a difference (unless the shoes offer some crazy mechanical advantage like having springs in it or something). Proper & smart nutrition is fine too.

It's the shortcut that makes it cheating. It's the thought that on your best day, full trained, tapered, in spikes, with tremendous competition you're a 4:02 miler and no faster. But now you ingest a chemical shortcut and suddenly you're a 3:59 miler. Those three seconds aren't from hard work or dedication, they're from a goddamn drug.

By wearing spikes instead of trainers you are 'magically' taking a second or two off your time. Is that cheating? Isn't wearing the lightest shoes possible a shortcut?

The governing body has determined what is cheating and what isn't. Caffeine, in normal doses, is not cheating. If the kid's coach told him to take 5 No Doze (sp?) and wash it down with a 4 cups of coffee, then yes, that would be unethical. Suggesting the kid drink a cup of coffee to 'wake up' is not.

There is not age limit on coffee as their is alchol. Anybody can walk into a coffee shop a purchase a cup of coffee. No big deal. If a coach gets fired for this kind of recommendation I say he is probably better off not working for that school.

It's gotta be gas station coffee though...Not that fancy stuff, fair trade stuff that you buy at one of those hippie stores.

it's gotta be drank while your in your warm up stuff, about an hour before the race at some 7/11 gas station type store.