Read a couple posts on caffeine strategy for IM and I haven’t seen the answer to the question I have. I’ve done some 100+ mile training rides and find that past the 60 mile point, the caffeinated gels (every hour to 90 minutes) really help to reduce the RPE and maintain power levels when it can start to feel hard.
I’m just wondering, given I don’t have any GI issues with it, is there a downside with starting caf right when I get on the bike? I mean it reduces the RPE based on a lot of the studies (and personal experience), right? Why not start it right away on the bike? Is there an advantage with waiting? I’m thinking something on the order of 20-40mg/hour, which for me seems to give me that boost I need during the ride. I don’t take caffeine in normally, save a Dr. Pepper here every couple weeks to get me through that 2:00 dead zone on a day I just haven’t gotten enough sleep.
I’m just wondering if I’m leaving something on the table by not starting earlier, or if the strategy of waiting till my legs start to fade away from target power is a good strategy. I hate these gray area questions, but just honestly wanted to see what other people do as well.
Since you seem to tolerate the caffeine I don’t see why you can’t have it earlier…why don’t you test it during your next long ride. I admit, I am a caffeine junky…so I may not be the best person to get this type of advice from.
Depends on the length of the race. I wouldn’t start an Ironman distance race with it, however I have had good experiences at the 1/2 IM distance leaving T-1 with a 5 hour energy drink, topping it up with a couple of caffinated Powergels during the rest of the bike, and finally taking a caff pill at the start of the run.
In a Sprint or even Olympic distance event, one should get buzzed as early as possible–time it for right before the start. Caffeine takes 20 minutes to hit the system and reaches full impact between 40 and 60 minutes. Caffeine has a half-life of four hours, meaning its physiological effect is halved after four hours. This gives about three hours of linearly diminishing (legal) performance enhancement.
However, starting the caffeine on the bike within a Long or Ultra distance event has the potential to make you feel too golden too early and to burn too many matches before your first step running.
I would suggest saving the caffeine buzz for the last two hours of any event. That’s when it really works, and when one could really benefit both physically and mentally. But HOW, during running? A little pocket sleeve of caffeine pills or a highly concentrated gel flask of your favorite potion stored in your back pockets on the run. My favorite has been CytoSport’s Fast Twitch.
half life of caffeine is between 6-8h depending upon which doc/researcher you are chatting with.
Absorption is closer to 45min not 20, peak plasma levels are 1-2h.
To the OP: Most people utilize caffeine so much during the course of the day/week that do whatever you want to. If you’ve tapered off/ceased consumption than you might see a noticeable impact from it.
I suspect your noticing reduced PRE and maintained power levels are as much from ingestion of CHO in your gels/drinks as from caffeine.
Caffeine is a diuretic…if the race is hot and you start to take it right away, you could potentially become dehydrated quicker than if you started it later in the day.
I usually reserve caffeine for the last 13-15 of the run.
However, starting the caffeine on the bike within a Long or Ultra distance event has the potential to make you feel too golden too early and to burn too many matches before your first step running.
This was one of the thoughts I had run through my head too. “This feels easy, let’s take it up a little bit.” Fighting of that that urge has more to do with controlling what’s between the ears as much as anything else, caffeine of not. But I too thought holding off would be a good way of fighting off having to make that decision.
Brian, I’m using infinit and know/believe I have the proper cals/mix to keep from fading due to lack of cals, but I guess the one way I can check your theory is to next time take a gel without caf to see if I get that same boost.
As someone else said, I would think one takes in so much caffeine during a regular day that the impact during a race is minimal or at least the body is adapt to absorbing it.
My first IM will be next year so I’m interested in the responses to this. For a HIM, I use GU that contains caffeine, however my last HIM was a nutritional implosion on a biblical level. My last OLY caffeine was sport beans before the race and a GU before the swim. (1 more GU on run). I also had two salt tabs during the race that has caffeine. I felt great. Focused and energized. Set a PR. Now OLY to HIM is a whole different story. HIM to IM is another different book entirely. Look forward to reading comments on how people do this for a IM.
Diuretic or not…it seems to work differently for different bodies. I have a gel routine that has worked very successfully for me for years, but it was developed through trial and error. It’s only my opinion and I certainly ain’t no super-edumakated physiologist, but I’ve found my mental “dig-in-deep” quotient enhanced by caffeine. It seems to “deafen” the pain / perceived level of exertion. Again, only my two-bits worth, and I’m a Canuck, so that’s about 22 cents right now, and we don’t have pennies, so we’ll take that down to 20 cents market value this morning.
Caffeine is a diuretic…if the race is hot and you start to take it right away, you could potentially become dehydrated quicker than if you started it later in the day.
I usually reserve caffeine for the last 13-15 of the run.
YMMV
ohhh yeah… a coke just before the last 13 miles can def make a dif!
The thinking is in moderate amounts it’s not a diuretic when engaged in exercise.
Further, in habitual consumption of 2-3 cups of tea/coffee/soda per day, it’s been shown in studies to not increase urinary output.
There is even research to show in trained runners over 5k there is no improvement with caffeine.
Glycogen is the principal fuel for muscles and exhaustion occurs when it is depleted. A secondary fuel, which is much more abundant, is fat. As long as there is still glycogen available, working muscles can utilize fat. Caffeine mobilizes fat stores and encourages working muscles to use fat as a fuel. This delays the depletion of muscle glycogen and allows for a prolongation of exercise. The critical time period in glycogen sparing appears to occur during the first 15 minutes of exercise, where caffeine has been shown to decrease glycogen utilization by as much as 50%.
Ingest caffeine about 3 - 4 hours before the competition. Although blood levels of caffeine peak much sooner, the maximum caffeine effect on fat stores appears to occur several hours after peak blood levels.
Caffeine causes increased peristalsis (makes you poop). So does over ingestion of sugars. You see where this could go?
I make sure that I’m nice and empty before starting an Ironman race.
I drink a coffee in the morning… but then don’t take any caffeine until halfway through the bike, a 100mg tablet taped to my top tube.
Then it’s all coke for the run.
And don’t do the silly caffeine taper. Keep your regular intake… don’t mess with your body before race day.
The thinking is in moderate amounts it’s not a diuretic when engaged in exercise.
Further, in habitual consumption of 2-3 cups of tea/coffee/soda per day, it’s been shown in studies to not increase urinary output.
There is even research to show in trained runners over 5k there is no improvement with caffeine.
Yeah, saw that it does increase urinary output in larger doses. The OPs dose may not be large enough to be significant.
Here’s an article that google-fu brought back that contains some doses and results:
Caffeine is a diuretic…if the race is hot and you start to take it right away, you could potentially become dehydrated quicker than if you started it later in the day.
The research pretty much debunks the idea that caffeine causes any measurable net fluid loss.