I'd like your response based upon your personal experience as opposed to a study. When you drink coffee prior to a training run, does it seem to benefit your run as opposed to not having your cup of coffee? Same question applied to a race.
Why do I ask? Just recently, I've started drinking coffee and I've noticed on days when I've brewed a pot, my body has felt really good running.
Or am I just projecting the impact of drinking of coffee on my runs?
Thanks.
Rich
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” - T.S. Eliot
Mmmmm...beer
If you're not used to caffeine, it will definitely have an effect on you. I drink it daily, so it has less of an effect on me, but I still drink a couple of cups before a long run or race. I don't think it has much effect on my performance, but it helps me wake up and also helps get things moving in the bathroom to make sure I'm good for the race or LR. As you continue to drink it, the caffeine will have less of an effect, but it's still handy for the other reason mentioned.
For my daily runs, I don't eat or drink anything.
-Dave
My running blog
Goals | sub-18 5k | sub-3 marathon 2:56:46!!
I'm addicted to caffeine, so coffee is beneficial to me in the morning since it prevent withdrawal headaches. It also helps get things moving, so you don't need to worry about cutting a run short or finding facilities.
I do drink coffee in the afternoon, I guess it gives me a little extra pep. The afternoon cup gets me through the 3pm tiredness that always hits me.
Runs4Sanity
Honestly.... I think the smell has more benefits than actually drinking it, I've been drinking coffee so long.... but I do notice some difference when I don't drink coffee.
*Do It For Yourself, Do It Because They Said It Was Impossible, Do It Because They Said You Were Incapable*
PRs
5k - 24:15 (7:49 min/mile pace)
10k - 51:47 (8:16 min/mile pace)
15k -1:18:09 (8:24 min/mile pace)
13.1 - 1:53:12 (8:39 min/mile pace)
26:2 - 4:14:55 (9:44 min/mile)
I've noticed (or maybe I imagined it) a slight performance boost when I drink coffee before a run. So I will always have a coffee before a race. But coffee (maybe it's just the hot beverage) makes me urinate quite a bit though. I find it pretty annoying to have to stop after only 20 minutes into a run. And sometimes another time after another 20 minutes. In the winter it's worse. When I race, I have my coffee 2h30-3h00 before race start so I have plenty of time to evacuate it all. Maybe by then the caffeine effect is gone and it's all just placebo.
Caretaker/Overlook Hotel
Yes! Beneficial.......to other people!!
When I don't get coffee, other people get hurt.
It's beneficial for other people that I drink coffee daily.
That way nobody gets hurt.
See?
Randy
Yes.
KillJoyFuckStick
Race or long trail run, he'll to the Yes.
All other runs, never have it before the run.
You people have issues
I never have coffee immediately before a run or race, due to potential GI impact. May be more in my head, but I figure better safe than sorry.
Usually I run first thing in the AM with nothing at all in my system, then have normal breakfast & coffee after. Often on weekends I have regular breakfast & coffee then wait ~2 hrs before running.
In general I have coffee every single morning of my life. Then only exceptions ever are marathons; I don't have any before, and by the time I am done it is late in the day & i am more concerned with rehydrating/refueling.
Dave
delicate flower
Coffee seems to help wake me up, get me moving, and help with the poopin'. So yes, I feel it is beneficial before morning runs. Most of my runs are in the afternoon though and I tend to not drink caffeine after noon.
<3
Caffeine definitely helps me. At the very least, it helps move things, so that I don't have to stop and use the facilities during a run.
I was drinking 4-5 cups of coffee a day this past winter, because I always felt cold and was looking for something warm. I was also training hard at the time and I started having heart palpitations at weird times of the day, and at night too. Also, I felt I was working too hard for my intervals compared to past efforts. So I decided to cut down on the caffeine and I'm back to two cups a day and I feel much better. I don't think I could eliminate coffee entirely, though.
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
When you drink coffee prior to a training run, does it seem to benefit your run as opposed to not having your cup of coffee? Same question applied to a race.
When you drink coffee prior to a training run, does it seem to benefit your run as opposed to not having your cup of coffee?
Same question applied to a race.
I am a longtime coffee drinker and as a morning runner any benefits I receive from coffee consumption are mental. That is, I do not feel like running until I have had my coffee. Otherwise, I would probably feel sluggish.
That said when I run in the evenings I do not drink coffee beforehand, but any sluggishness I feel usually dissipates within the first mile or two on its own so there is that.
As far as I know to receive the performance benefits of caffeine, you cannot drink it everyday as I do. Therefore, it does not aid my training runs or races in any way, shape, or form that I know of.
As an aside, I once quit drinking coffee for a year. There was no particular reason I just did, choosing instead to have tea here and there. Then I smelled it brewing one day and had a cup and thought to myself, why in the hell did I ever give this up?!
I have been drinking a single cup every morning every since then.
I probably drink way too much coffee but I don't drink it before a run or race any more. I may...MAY....occasionally have a little shot to help with, as Baboon put it, "the poopin'" but I can count those times on one hand. I experienced GI issues a couple times in the past and just don't want to risk it.
Yes! Beneficial.......to other people!! When I don't get coffee, other people get hurt. It's beneficial for other people that I drink coffee daily. That way nobody gets hurt. See?
This. Coffee is the nectar of the gods, nirvana. You don't want to come between me and my coffee.
There's this little voice in the back of my head I listen to sometimes, that tells me I'm addicted and should considered cutting back, but today is not that day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either.