Has anyone used Red and/or 5 hour energy in a long distance race - either ultrarun and or ultra triathlete (Ironman distance or greater)? There seems to be some potential risks and have been seeing both (trend) in 100 mile running races being used by athletes.
Thx
Have used redbull in my special needs for last two IMC … is basically my transition drink to coke. Get a good caffeine hit and a chunk of simple sugar. Freeze a bottle of it the night before and run and sip as needed. Also had a bottle in T2 in case the day was going south in a hurry, as with everything replicated it in training a couple times and actually used red bull pre a 10km race over coffee on a hot day a couple of times as well.
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x2. I had redbull in my special needs run bag and was able to get it at the start of the run for IMWI, and (although it left my hands sticky) it was awesome.
they are caffeine, just like coke, but more concentrated of course.
the other ingredients are for market sexyness and nothing more.
Has anyone used Red and/or 5 hour energy in a long distance race - either ultrarun and or ultra triathlete (Ironman distance or greater)? There seems to be some potential risks and have been seeing both (trend) in 100 mile running races being used by athletes.
Thx
I don’t really like the regular Red Bull, but have been drinking a little sugar-free Red Bull before races. Besides making me want to pee, it seems to be a good kick start for the morning, especially since my stomach doesn’t deal well with coffee.
Exactly. I can’t have coffee until about 9ish. Sugar free redbull is perfect to settle my stomach and get me a little kick in the wee hours of the morning.
I don’t know about endurance racing but I tried some 5 Hour Energy before hockey a couple times and it made no perceptible difference in energy, but I did notice my hand were shaky when I took my gloves off on the bench.
Red Bull gives me gut rot in all situations.
they are caffeine, just like coke, but more concentrated of course.
the other ingredients are for market sexyness and nothing more.
A friend of mine has two sisters with some type of mental illness. At one point, they were prescribed taurine pills as a treatment. I can assure you from their reactions, that stuff does a LOT more than market sexyness.
they are caffeine, just like coke, but more concentrated of course.
the other ingredients are for market sexyness and nothing more.
Actually, Red Bull is Caffeine. 5 Hr Energy has very little caffeine and relies on B vitamins to get you your 'energy'. That's why 5 hr does not have a crash.
For me, it’s never given me energy persay, but allows me to think more clearly around hour 3-4 on the bike. YMMV
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From five hour energy website:
“Provides a boost of energy and feeling of heightened alertness. Caffeine also facilitates the rapid absorption of nutrients, including B-vitamins. Original 5-Hour Energy contains caffeine comparable to a cup of the leading premium coffee. Extra Strength 5-Hour Energy contains caffeine comparable to 12 ounces of the leading premium coffee. Decaf 5-Hour Energy contains about as much caffeine as a half cup of decaffeinated coffee.”
I found RB to dramatically raise my thermal output, and, being a big guy, this had adverse affects as far as sweating and overheating that weren’t worth the small amount of ‘alertness’ increase it provided. I find that, especially over ultra-distance events it just isn’t about intensity for me. I wager that the bolus of simple sugar of RB is what makes it effective at feeling energetic in ultra events, not so much the taurine etc. Its a ton of sugar, fast. Also, I have since found another compound that provides virtually all the ‘focus’ and ‘boost’ that I desire, but doesn’t appear to cause me to tweak out, thermally or otherwise.
“Sugar free redbull is perfect to settle my stomach…”
Do you know that sugar-free RedBull and many other “sugar free” (low calorie) supplements come with sucralose or other artificial sweeteners? I would not consume sucralose or other artificial sweeteners as I don’t believe in their safety. There aren’t many human studies but there is much money to be made by having the FDA approve them for commercial use.
Research the side effects and safety of artificial sweeteners/sucralose/splenda. Research how they came to formulating sucralose in the first place. It wouldn’t be the first time that an artificial sweetener is first made available and considered “safe” only to be pulled years later. Amazing how frequently sucralose is used in today’s products, how much of it humans consume, yet there aren’t many human studies on it… At least somebody makes money, right?
I have to be really careful with what I eat and drink in the morning or my stomach freaks out. Coffee is bad news until I’ve been up for at least 2 hours, and I’ve never really been into drinking coffee before any kind of race or game. Still, I have a love affair with caffeine, so I drink a Sugar Free Red Bull on race mornings. During training, I drink half of one on my way to early a.m. swim practices, and the rest on my way to work so I don’t pass out at my desk. It’s excellent. For some reason, the Sugar Free Red Bull doesn’t upset my stomach, but gives me the kick I need.
I can’t stand regular Red Bull or Monster. They’re too sweet. But, Monster makes little shots in small black bottles (it’s like super concentrated Monster) that are about the size of 5 Hour Energy – I mix one of those with water in one of my water bottles to drink on the bike leg and during difficult training rides. It works for me, but you have to experiment and see what works best for you.
I feel like the Sugar Free Red Bull is pretty much just drinking a chemical cocktail, but I’m okay with that – for now.
I ran a 50K two weekends ago and my running partner had a red bull in his bag drop at the 22 mile mark. He drank half and gave me the other half. It seemed to give me quite the little boost and allowed me to focus much more on the task at hand than drinking just coke or coffee had done in the past. Maybe it was some placebo effect but it seemed to do the trick. I wasn’t having the best day and after the Red Bull that all changed. I even dropped my running my partner with about 3 miles to go.
Also, I have since found another compound that provides virtually all the ‘focus’ and ‘boost’ that I desire, but doesn’t appear to cause me to tweak out, thermally or otherwise.
Can you share what you are now supplementing with?
Also, I have since found another compound that provides virtually all the ‘focus’ and ‘boost’ that I desire, but doesn’t appear to cause me to tweak out, thermally or otherwise.
Can you share what you are now supplementing with?
Second that. Bull is one product. Others?
EFS Pre-Race.
Must have posted before putting that in there. It kind of comes across like some kind of eighth grade girl looking for attention. sorry bout that. Pre Race is mach schnell fer sheezy. Or snake oil…
Has anyone tried Verve. Its a high energy drink with tremendous vitamins added?
TREMENDOUS vitamins huh? Whew, Id hate to think I was consuming those old fashioned non tremendous vitamins.
WTF
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I’ve used RB on 400K and 600K brevets once I get sleepy at night, seems to help some and it doesn’t upset my stomach like some other energy drinks. One hard windy day I tried 5 hr energy because “gee, looks like we’re gonna be out here another 5 hours and I need some energy” but I didn’t feel anything. My current favorite for long slow brevets are the java monster or frappachino drinks-coffee, milk, and chocolate baby, calories, caffeine, works great.
Race pace efforts? Really I have no idea.