In preparation for the marathon, other athletes are focusing on reducing their mileage and increasing carbohydrate intake. Not me. I am focused on reducing my caffeine intake. This "caffeine taper" is crucial to surviving 3+ hours of grueling caffeine deprivation (not to mention running).
This week I began diluting my daily morning coffee (not my afternoon coffee though). Friday morning I blended one spoonful of decaffeinated coffee and two spoonfuls of the regular caffeinated stuff. Today I blended 50% decaffeinated and 50% caffeinated. The dream is to achieve a low coffee consumption level by next Sunday. Wish me luck.
5 comments:
How will this benefit you? Will it make you grumpy?
AZ
No no Jay can NEVER be grumpy! I want to know too what is the secret Jay.....I am a coffee addict too... but if it helps me in any way on Sunday I will sacrifice my sacred cafe latte this week!
If it would help me in any way I'd start drinking coffee...
How about a double expresso in your "special needs" bag? Oh, this is not an Iron Man on Sunday? Only a piddling marathon?
Research has shown that caffeine enhances peformance in endurance events by delaying fatigue by reducing the the athlete's perception of effort. Caffeine does this by increasing your concentration of beta-endorphins.
Caffeine also has been found to delay fatigue during exercise by blocking adenosine receptors.
The performance enhancing effects of caffeine decreases with habituation to caffeine intake, so to get the benefit of caffeine it is best to eliminate caffeine intake for several days before the event.
When you are from Seattle and addicted to caffeine like me though, it is a matter of just needing the coffee to maintain a base level of functioning.
I would by no means recommend one start suddenly drinking massive amounts of coffee before the marathon on Sunday morning. This would most likely result in a digestive disaster. For me, I would never have made it through the Ironman without the colas at every aid station.
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