Hi All,
I have two topics that I need help with.
How much caffeine in 24 hr is safe?
I am going to a do ~24 hr event (its a self-organized event that I am going to do on trails) in a couple of weeks and I have a question about maximum amount of caffeine I should take from gels during that.
I do not need to drink coffee on daily basis. I drink a coffee or two on weekends generally. I stopped drinking it on weekends for last few weeks so that it will be more effective when I use it in the event. I won’t have consumed any caffeine for 7 weeks prior to the event.
For reference,
Gels generally come in 0, 20, 35 or 40 mg caffeine versions.
A 12 oz of coffee have ~150 mg caffeine in it.
I was wondering what is the safe amount of total caffeine to consume in 24 hours. May be equivalent to 4 cups of coffee at max = 600 mg caffeine?
Second question regarding liquid meal replacements few hours before the start.
I am planning to start at evening so that I feel 'fresher' in the dark compare to traditional morning starts.
The downside of doing so is, I wont have empty stomach. I was thinking about eating more liquid food on the day time before starting at evening and need some ideas about it. I am looking for simple carbohydrate with high calories.
I haven't measured the exact amount of caffeine I've taken during a 100 miler but I am fairly certain it was well above 600 mg. My last 100 I started with a 20 ounce cup of coffee, taken several caffeinated gels (probably about 6-8), drank a few 4 ounce cups of Mountain Dew and Coke and had a 12 ounce red bull all in a 17 hour span. No issues with the caffeine. That said, I drink about 30 ounces of strong coffee per day so YMMV.
I have no experience with liquid diets so can't help there.