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SHOP-3

Sep5

Caffeine and Runners

It’s been one of those ‘blink and you’ve missed it’ weeks. It may be because I have been busily tackling my list of goals for September already, including getting in my first squash session of the year as well as going to my first Muay Thai lesson ever!

Screen Shot 2014-09-04 at 6.33.53 PM

It is a busy week that is shaping up to be an even busier weekend with plans of going to the ElectroDash and 5 Peaks Kortright Centre races as well as headed to Niagara with some of my best friends from university. A nice balance for the weekend, but a few projects will have to take a back seat.

I had talked a little bit over the marathon on how I played around with caffeine usage and I received a number of questions on that. Basically, the week before the marathon, I cut all caffeine out. Now, please keep in mind that up until this point, I was a 2-3 x a day coffee consumer. Literally addicted and I made no apologies (it’s even in my blog name, after all). On race morning, I added it back in by taking a lemon lime Nuun Energy tab which is my favourite pre-race drink with B vitamins and caffeine.

You will find caffeine in quite a few sports nutrition products and there is a good reason for it!

Mental Alertness and Improved State of Mind

Just as your morning cup of coffee helps you get mentally ready to face the day, research shows that caffeine boosts your mental alertness, improves your mood, and boosts your desire to run hard.

Even better, for longer events, such as the marathon and half marathon, caffeine reduces a runner’s perception of effort.Even better? Caffeine increases the concentration of endorphins in the brain, the same hormones that produce a runner’s high.

Photo on 2011-05-03 at 09.19 #2

Increases sprint speed and power

Caffeine enhances reaction time and improves neuromuscular coordination (how fast your brain can send a signal to your muscles to contract and relax). This is great for any distance of running as improved neuromuscular coordination allows your leg muscles to fire faster and more forcefully, which means you can run faster with less effort.

Fat Utilization

Although it isn’t fully clear how caffeine increases fat utilization, most researchers agree that caffeine increases the number of fatty acids in the blood stream, which increases the speed at which your body can covert fat to usable energy, which conserves glycogen. This is amazing for long distance runners!

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Since the marathon, I have continued to consume caffeine, but much more cautiously than before. I will go without it some days and try to use it around heavy workouts. I have found it to be an incredible boost to put in that extra bit of work on the track or on a long run.

Tastes amazing, smells like home and makes me run faster? Sign me up!

Speaking of signing up, Olympian Adam Goucher (Kara Goucher’s husband) has started a virtual race series called Run the Edge Virtual Race series.

goucher_adamq1_world07Each month, they sign up with a charity and this month, they are supporting service dogs. Basically, you go to this link, sign up and do a virtual race with the opportunity to win prizes while supporting a charity. I am all about using my running to do good, so sign up and join me on September 27 as I race for Medical Service Dogs. 

Are you a caffeine addict? How do you take your coffee?

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Related

Filed Under: LifestyleTagged With: 5 Peaks, adam goucher, caffeine, Jessica Kuepfer, Kortright Centre, muay thai, Nuun Hydration, Run the Edge, running, Squash, weekendSeptember 5, 2014

Comments

  1. Paul Mora (@rungeek) says

    September 5, 2014 at 7:47 am

    I love love LOVE my coffee. Maybe a little too much. I take it with 2% milk and sugar, just a bit of each. I’ve drunk coffee since I was a kid, starting with a very diluted cup of coffee (basically milk with a splash), then stopped through high school, but picked it up again in university (to survive those all-nighters). Now I have 2-3 a day. I have tried to cut down but the withdrawl is awful. I may try it again pre-race, as you did, and see if it makes a difference.

    Reply
    • lacesandlattes says

      September 5, 2014 at 9:23 am

      Coffee is just such a wonderful part of life. I admire your commitment to it! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Cari says

    September 5, 2014 at 10:22 am

    I am a permanent coffee addict (it’s in my Finnish genes!) and embrace it fully. I was a casual coffee drinker until I had kids, and it became my mommy-secret-weapon when I had to go back to work following my first mat leave, lol. I do behave by only drinking it with milk (or black) and trying to limit it to only in the morning.

    Reply
    • lacesandlattes says

      September 5, 2014 at 1:50 pm

      You sound like you have the perfect addiction. 🙂 Totally managed and the fact that it makes you a better runner is even better!

      Reply
  3. Jen @ Pretty Little Grub says

    September 5, 2014 at 11:05 am

    I couldn’t live without my coffee! And I notice it helps me big time with afternoon runs. A cup about 1-2 hours before my run gets me out of the slump and ready to run. I take it with skim milk and less than a tsp of sugar.

    Reply
    • lacesandlattes says

      September 5, 2014 at 1:50 pm

      I totally agree. Coffee is one of the wonders of life. 🙂 And the fact caffeine enhances performance is an even bigger bonus!

      Reply
  4. Angela @ Eat Spin Run Repeat says

    September 5, 2014 at 1:29 pm

    I’m so proud of you for your caffeine reduction over the past couple of months! I know you really, really enjoy coffee and am sure it wasn’t easy at first. I wish I liked it because the smell is SO good, but just can’t bring myself to enjoy it. Having said that, my non-coffee fan status sort of works in my favour because it means I only need small amounts of caffeine to get me primed on race days!

    Reply
    • lacesandlattes says

      September 5, 2014 at 1:49 pm

      I know. You are so fortunate for that. My advice? Leave it as a love of the smell. Addiction to caffeine is messy. 😛

      Reply
  5. scocknation says

    September 17, 2014 at 9:34 am

    I’ll call my coffee dependence an occupational hazard. I work for Starbucks, after all! I’ve definitely felt the upside of taking in some caffeine before workouts, and if I’m doing an afternoon run after a morning shift, it’s a welcome boost!

    Reply
    • lacesandlattes says

      September 17, 2014 at 8:17 pm

      You work for starbucks?! You are my new best friend!

      Reply

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MY NEXT RACE:

Seattle Half Marathon | Burlington, ON | November 2018

Hi, I'm Jessica and this is my endurance sport blog where I share my training, races and sports nutrition. New here? Feel free to learn more about me here and if you are looking for a place to start, check out my popular posts.

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