3hr-marathoner wrote:
from what I've read in the literature, pure caffeine is a performance enhancer and as long as you don't overdo it, it's legal (there is a limit you have to be below, but it's set pretty high). The studies I've seen on the effects of coffee are less clear. You have to remember that coffee has a lot of ingredients besides caffeine and it would seem that some of these aren't helpful for performance in endurance sports and at least partially negate the benefits of caffeine. So, experiment with coffee if you want to, and you may even find you like it, but it's not a magic bullet for race performance. Caffeine pills on the other hand seem to be something of a magic bullet but in my opinion taking pills to improve performance puts you in the doping gray zone.
I totally agree with the doping gray zone. That's why I won't take any pills, like advil, vitamins, or any medicine prescribed by a doctor, like an antibiotic, or an antidepressant. All of those pills could help me run faster in some way, it's a slippery slope and the next thing you know I could be loading up syringes full of testosterone.