cafine

very simple article which is easy understand. I see a lot of cyclists during the tours using coke during races and wondered if anyone has tried it before a running event and would it help performance?

http://www.runnerslife.co.uk/contributors/nutrition/caffine-plain-simple

during is better than before

(flat) coke is common as a drink during the marathon run of an Ironman - mainly for tha caffeine hit which keeps you going when you're flagging.  same goes for gels with caffeine in like the SiS SMART gels - I've found these great when the body is flagging and almost give a turbo like feeling

so, yes, caffeine does help performance for me

I haven't tried it, I'm worried about the effect it would have on my bowels.

but unless you try, you don't know do you?? worry can stop you improving sometimes

Agreed, I've taken it before a race before and I didn't really feel it had any effect, although obviously I can't say it didn't. Having caffeinated drinks during a run however at least psychological perks me up.

Marathon Talk had a training talk section about it ages ago linky.

They suggested to get the maximal effect you should abstain from caffeine a week or so before the race. There's also some mention that taking caffeine in the form of coffee might not be as beneficial as other chemicals in the drink might dampen the caffeine effect. The simplest way to take caffeine is in caffeine tablets (Proplus etc)  but then there is the argument that you are then using caffeine, even though it is a legal drug.

Lots of energy gels now have added caffeine as well, which allows you to easily transport it and try it during your runs. You do have to try it out to see how your body responds to it and in what quantity.

Flat coke also has the added benefits for ironman that the acid is supposed to kill anything in the water that you will inevitably drink whilst swimming!

dancing in spikes wrote (see)

Flat coke also has the added benefits for ironman that the acid is supposed to kill anything in the water that you will inevitably drink whilst swimming!

which is about as big a rural myth as you can find!  the pH of coke is around 3.5 - your stomach pH is between 1 and 3.5 (hydrochloric acid) so is more acidic in the main than coke.   and anyhoo, by the time you've hit the run in IM your stomach contents will have been turned over many times through digestion and clearance so any "mythical" bug killing properties won't have any bugs to work on!!    if any water bugs are going to get you in IM, then it will be too late by the run - they'll have done their evil job by then and the consequences will have happened or about to happen.