Ultra Marathons

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KinkyS Nov 2015 9:38pm, 20 Nov 2015 17,152 posts	0 KinkyS It was about reducing tolerance to caffeine in the long term rather than just clearing it from my system in the short term. Stopping for a few days never had the same effect.
flanker Nov 2015 11:43pm, 22 Nov 2015 16,174 posts	0 flanker My intake is several cups of tea and probably a couple of strong coffees a day, and sometimes a can of coke. Yet I can still get a kick out of a caffeine gel or red bull. I'd give up alcohol before I gave up caffeine.
57.5 Degrees of Pain Nov 2015 2:26am, 23 Nov 2015 2,631 posts	0 57.5 Degrees of Pain The pharmacological and physiological effects of caffeine depletion are science fact. However whether an individual will get a performance benefit is highly variable. Personally I'm not about to give up coffee to see if will help me!
Joe Hawk Nov 2015 9:28am, 23 Nov 2015 4,837 posts	0 Joe Hawk I'd give up alcohol before I gave up caffeine. Question is would you give up running before either ? :-D
flanker Nov 2015 9:50am, 23 Nov 2015 16,176 posts	0 flanker If I have to give up any of them nobody will want to be anywhere near me.
Derby Tup Nov 2015 9:54am, 23 Nov 2015 18,723 posts	0 Derby Tup
Mr. K. Nov 2015 9:55am, 23 Nov 2015 3,437 posts	0 Mr. K. Caffeine is great esp those SIS double expresso gels. Anyone doing the `Gatliff` event at the weekend?
Too Much Water Nov 2015 10:02am, 23 Nov 2015 5,405 posts	0 Too Much Water Mr K - umming and ahing, it's a long drive for me to get there, but a fun event. If cold and clear - yes, if wet - no! Would only do 35k as a max. My take on a lot of the 'giving up alcohol / caffeine / funky diets / crazy kit / shoes' scene is that for most people it makes very little difference other than maybe a placebo affect, and certainly a more direct benefit would be doing more / better training! if running is a fun hobby, why make your life less happy for it? as for the hokas / kit stuff, if it works for you great but I think the main winner is the marketing teams for these products! I tend to avoid caffeine as a rule but only due to it's effect on me. in long races I often want a cup of tea - because it's hot not so much for the caffeine!
flanker Nov 2015 10:21am, 23 Nov 2015 16,177 posts	0 flanker Yep, shifting that extra stone of lard around the middle or putting in those extra 20 miles of hills a week will generally do more good than spending £100s of the latest magic bullet gizmo. However the former are far harder work. Agree that we do it for the fun, so if it's not fun, why bother. Theres a reason I don't do clock up loads of marathons running up and down sea walls, around lakes, or in multiple small loops.
57.5 Degrees of Pain Nov 2015 2:08pm, 23 Nov 2015 2,634 posts	0 57.5 Degrees of Pain I'll take a marginal gain of any sort in a really long race. Especially a placebo effect as it has no side effects! But I think we need to obscess over a few details, for practice in case we move to bike racing or triathlon where they seem to do nothing but.