Does caffeen help long distance?

Question

I keep hearing from runners in my team that they drink coffee the morning of the race. Does this really help?? explain please.

Answer 1

Well it may help if they run before the caffine makes you crash. i do not like caffine becasue it leaves me feeling more tired than I would if i had just not had it beforehand.

Answer 2

it depends on how long the race is if its really long you ll get tired in the middle of the race but if its short it does work!

Answer 3

Drinking caffeine before a training run/race of any length is a BAD idea.

1) Caffeine dehydrates you. If you become too dehydrated when running (especially long distance), you will get sick and often faint.

2) Caffeine increases your heart rate, which will also be increased by the running. You run the risk of a heart attack.

3) Caffeine decreases your appetite, which means you won't feel hungry and might not eat properly on the day of your race/run.

You should be eating carbohydrates like pasta and bread and fruit, plus drinking plenty of water, NOT drinking caffeine or any kind of "energy drink."

Answer 4

It might, it may also hurt.

Many people believe that caffeine helps with mid distance races (5k and 10K.) I remember hearing lots of rumors that Daniel Komen used to dose up on caffeine before many of his great races in the late 90's.

At one point, the IAAF and IOC had a limit of how much caffeine one could have in their bloodstream. Anyything above the limit counted as a failed drug test. The amount was high enough that one would have to take pills, nit just drink coffee. I believe they have since removed caffeine from the banned substance list.

The downside is that caffeine can contribute to dehydration, and if the consumption is timed improperly, you may be crashing from a caffeine high when your race starts, which would never be good for performance.

Since no one really knows if caffeine helps, it is best to not use it as a performance enhancing supplement since the downsides seem greater than any potential upside.

That said, when i was running competitively at a Div 1 college, I regularly drank coffee in the morning, and sometimes at night. I never drank it to improve my running, but mostly to wake up in the morning, stay up to study, and because I happen to like coffee.