Does anyone stop taking caffeine for a week or two before a race so that it has a more profound effect? Has anyone experimented with this?
Does anyone stop taking caffeine for a week or two before a race so that it has a more profound effect? Has anyone experimented with this?
Trevelyan Harper wrote:
Does anyone stop taking caffeine for a week or two before a race so that it has a more profound effect? Has anyone experimented with this?
I do this for some races. Nowadays I typically have 1-2 cups of coffee a day, so a week before my goal race I will try to abstain from all caffeine except for maybe one cup of coffee on a Tuesday or Wednesday that week. I had some pretty good results doing this. Can't say for sure it makes a difference since I don't know how I would have raced had I not done that, but I had very good races so I will likely keep that up for races I plan to run fast at.
And after 40 years of racing I thought the coffee was an "enhancer" for getting to the porta potty a few times pre-race...
It only makes a difference in amounts small enough to affect only people with very low tolerance. 100 to 200mg can speed up someone with low tolerance, but 400mg is too much for them. Those with high tolerance are basically immune to being very amped up at any dose.
totally untrue
Trevelyan Harper wrote:
Does anyone stop taking caffeine for a week or two before a race so that it has a more profound effect? Has anyone experimented with this?
YEs, i did, and it had unexpected consequences. Every time i would get depressed and lethargic before the event, and by the time i toed the line, i didn't give a crap, i just wanted the thing to be over. I thought it was due to travelling to races, etc., but later figured out that it was the lack of my usual caffeine. I would never do that again.
Bad Wigins wrote:
It only makes a difference in amounts small enough to affect only people with very low tolerance. 100 to 200mg can speed up someone with low tolerance, but 400mg is too much for them. Those with high tolerance are basically immune to being very amped up at any dose.
0/10
Citation?
seattle prattle wrote:
Trevelyan Harper wrote:
Does anyone stop taking caffeine for a week or two before a race so that it has a more profound effect? Has anyone experimented with this?
YEs, i did, and it had unexpected consequences. Every time i would get depressed and lethargic before the event, and by the time i toed the line, i didn't give a crap, i just wanted the thing to be over. I thought it was due to travelling to races, etc., but later figured out that it was the lack of my usual caffeine. I would never do that again.
And the caffeine on race day didn't help? Seems an odd experience. Usually only the day after I have no caffeine am I ever lethargic / unmotivated. After that I feel fine. Maybe taper off sooner? Or less severely?
ThatAverageRunner wrote:
seattle prattle wrote:
YEs, i did, and it had unexpected consequences. Every time i would get depressed and lethargic before the event, and by the time i toed the line, i didn't give a crap, i just wanted the thing to be over. I thought it was due to travelling to races, etc., but later figured out that it was the lack of my usual caffeine. I would never do that again.
And the caffeine on race day didn't help? Seems an odd experience. Usually only the day after I have no caffeine am I ever lethargic / unmotivated. After that I feel fine. Maybe taper off sooner? Or less severely?
Mostly, on race day, i didn't notice it.
I just do better being up for the whole experience, including the days leading up to it. I should mention that these usually involved flying to events, staying in hotels.
I tend to get stressed out regardless the week of a major event regardless. I need my usual coping mechanism intact throughout.
Reptilians wrote:
Don't Cheat Yourself wrote:
If the rules don't prohibit it, it is not cheating. PED's are only cheating if they violate rules, not simply because they enhance performance. Steroids, EPO and any other PED's wouldn't be cheating if the they were an accepted part of the sport.
I agree. If nothing that enhances performance was allowed, training would be banned too. I think unless there is to be a rule against it, using any sort of caffeine is fine.
This.
To the OP: Do you know why EPO and steroids are banned? It isn't just because they are performance enhancing drugs. It is because they are performancing enhancing drugs with negative health consequences (even death). So they are banned because if they were legal, athletes would be placed in a situation where they are forced to risk their health/life in order to be competitive at their sport.
So with this in mind, caffeine isn't illegal because in the non-ridiculous amounts that are permitted, it isn't going to kill you like EPO might.
As background, I drink at least 5-6 cups of coffee per day, and it typically has very little effect on my energy level. I just like the taste. I can have a big cup and go right to sleep.
I typically go through a caffeine fast before a big race. I first switch to decaf, and then I allow myself one cup of regular when I get a headache. First day, I get a headache in the afternoon. Second day, the headache is in the evening. Third day, I don't get a headache, but I wake up with one on the fourth day. After that, I'm fine. I will keep drinking decaf, which has trace amounts of caffeine, but I figure it's close enough. If decaf tasted as good as regular, I'd be perfectly content.
Anyway, when it comes to race day, I will have one cup when I wake up, and I usually feel very alert after that. Then I'll take a 200mg pill shortly before the start of the race, and when that hits me, I'm bouncing around like a jackrabbit. There's always some degree of race day excitement, but this is definitely something more. I find that when the race starts, I can run my goal race pace and I feel like it's the easiest thing in the world, at least for the first half or so of the race. And this isn't just at marathons. I had the same experience in a track 5000.
There's a lot of debate about the mechanism of caffeine's performance benefits, but one of the theories is that it mostly acts on the brain by reducing perceived exertion. That actually feels right to me. The end of a race is as brutal as ever, but I feel like the incredibly easy early miles have spared my psychological energy reserves for the big fight at the end, whereas if it had felt harder, earlier, then I just wouldn't have as much willpower left.
800 dude wrote:
As background, I drink at least 5-6 cups of coffee per day, and it typically has very little effect on my energy level. I just like the taste. I can have a big cup and go right to sleep.
I typically go through a caffeine fast before a big race. I first switch to decaf, and then I allow myself one cup of regular when I get a headache. First day, I get a headache in the afternoon. Second day, the headache is in the evening. Third day, I don't get a headache, but I wake up with one on the fourth day. After that, I'm fine. I will keep drinking decaf, which has trace amounts of caffeine, but I figure it's close enough. If decaf tasted as good as regular, I'd be perfectly content.
Anyway, when it comes to race day, I will have one cup when I wake up, and I usually feel very alert after that. Then I'll take a 200mg pill shortly before the start of the race, and when that hits me, I'm bouncing around like a jackrabbit. There's always some degree of race day excitement, but this is definitely something more. I find that when the race starts, I can run my goal race pace and I feel like it's the easiest thing in the world, at least for the first half or so of the race. And this isn't just at marathons. I had the same experience in a track 5000.
There's a lot of debate about the mechanism of caffeine's performance benefits, but one of the theories is that it mostly acts on the brain by reducing perceived exertion. That actually feels right to me. The end of a race is as brutal as ever, but I feel like the incredibly easy early miles have spared my psychological energy reserves for the big fight at the end, whereas if it had felt harder, earlier, then I just wouldn't have as much willpower left.
Abstaining from caffeine is a no go..the withdrawal headaches for me just aren't worth it, caffeine is wildly addictive. Idk how people drink it at night though, even as a lifer with coffee, I am very sensitive to it past 3pm. I love a good cup of black coffee after a long run or race too, can't drink it after my runs during the weekday but after a weekend run, I'll enjoy some joe. I've thought about espresso before a race because it's less liquid in your stomach and the roughly the same caffeine content, have any of you tried that vs a regular size cup?
Regarding the morality of it, I have zero qualms. This isn't even remotely against the rules, so it's not cheating, period. This discussion reminds me of that scene in Chariots of Fire when the dons are complaining about Harold Abrahams having adopted the "attitude of a professional" by training on his own.
I won't claim that there aren't some grey areas in sports. Certain field-of-play infractions can be viewed as "tactical fouls" or as cheating, depending on your perspective (and cultural background). Getting TUEs for potentially performance enhancing substances may be within the rules, but that's also more controversial because the premise of TUEs is that the substance shouldn't be performance enhancing. Caffeine isn't one of those grey areas.
good ol caffeine wrote:
Abstaining from caffeine is a no go..the withdrawal headaches for me just aren't worth it, caffeine is wildly addictive. Idk how people drink it at night though, even as a lifer with coffee, I am very sensitive to it past 3pm. I love a good cup of black coffee after a long run or race too, can't drink it after my runs during the weekday but after a weekend run, I'll enjoy some joe. I've thought about espresso before a race because it's less liquid in your stomach and the roughly the same caffeine content, have any of you tried that vs a regular size cup?
I wasn't surprised by that Outside article, because it always seemed to me like people have wildly different reactions to caffeine.
I used to do an espresso before very early morning workouts because I could down it very quickly and get out the door. When it comes to races, I typically get up as much as 4 hours early, so I'm less concerned about liquid volume. I want to make sure that I can take several trips to the restroom before I toe the line.
800 dude wrote:
As background, I drink at least 5-6 cups of coffee per day, and it typically has very little effect on my energy level. I just like the taste. I can have a big cup and go right to sleep.
No kidding...a "big cup" and you're out like a light? Wow...if I have just a regular cup of java after 8:00 pm, I'm literally climbing the walls all night. ?
I can say what I did.
The first two years if my racing I did have cups of tea before a race and thought I ran just fine. I always had my tea and toast in the morning before my runs.
Then I had a with a nutritionist who convinced me not to have it anymore. After initially missing my morning routine of tea, I was okay about it. I set off on a year of pr s.
My adrenals didn't get so fatigued with all of the up and down. My thyroid straightened out along with general overall tiredness.
For me it worked out great!
However, now that I am not racing anymore I do have coffee in the morning, bulletproof.
De-fizzed coke at mile 18-20.
Boom.
800 dude wrote:
Regarding the morality of it, I have zero qualms. This isn't even remotely against the rules, so it's not cheating, period. This discussion reminds me of that scene in Chariots of Fire when the dons are complaining about Harold Abrahams having adopted the "attitude of a professional" by training on his own.
Agreed. For years I refused to take it before races because I thought it was immoral. Somewhere along the line I decided anything within the rules is fair game, and the last 3-4 years or so I take a 200 mg tablet before most races. It's interesting to me how much flak some elites get for "grey zone" activities that are 100% legal, yet most runners are totally okay taking a legal PED.
jewbacca wrote:
800 dude wrote:
Regarding the morality of it, I have zero qualms. This isn't even remotely against the rules, so it's not cheating, period. This discussion reminds me of that scene in Chariots of Fire when the dons are complaining about Harold Abrahams having adopted the "attitude of a professional" by training on his own.
Agreed. For years I refused to take it before races because I thought it was immoral. Somewhere along the line I decided anything within the rules is fair game, and the last 3-4 years or so I take a 200 mg tablet before most races. It's interesting to me how much flak some elites get for "grey zone" activities that are 100% legal, yet most runners are totally okay taking a legal PED.
I do think there's a difference between taking caffeine and "grey zone" activities.
Caffeine is implicitly sanctioned by many races. I haven't run a marathon that _wasn't_ handing out caffeinated gels on course. And there's a lot of races in the winter that offer coffee at the finish.
To me, that puts caffeine in a complete different category from other PEDs.
When you are routinely taking IV's before a race or using private lab tests to stay under a threshold, that to me is crossing from gray to black.