Under testing it’s been shown to speed up the process
by as much as 60%. As an example a rolled oats meal
and a very strong espresso or two as a recovery.
Thought you would like that one. Just remember to
hydrate yourself consistently afterwards. Whenever
consuming a cup of coffee add two glasses of
additional water intake to keep you properly hydrated.
Finally, there is another slight benefit, and this is the
wake up effect. If you are feeling tired or fatigued
caffeine has the ability to wake up the brain a little. Of
course it’s a temporary effect, but during a sporting
event this slight feeling of euphoria can give you a lift.
The downside though is that an athlete who
consistently takes in caffeine will not feel this affect as
much as an athlete who stays away from caffeine.
Caffeine also plays with your acid levels and can affect
your fuel intake by affecting digestion and absorption
rates of nutrient intake possibly minimizing those
benefits, and even potentially causing stomach
distress. If during a race you are wanting a caffeine
boost, please play with it during training you need to
know how your body is going to respond to the amount
of intake before and during a session.
Caffeine is mostly abused, reduce and treat it as a
luxury more than a necessity and let it work for you not
against you.
Race Day Nutrition
This is a very important mention. During your taper
weeks you have a last few chances to check out your
race day nutrition strategy. It will keep you confident
and in check with what you are going to do on race
day.
The two aspects to look at are the pre-race meal, and
this can easily be checked by getting up early eating a
pre training meal and going out on a training session
at tempo pace to gauge how you feel. The second
type of testing is to fuel during a training session. This is
also quite simple to do as all you need is at least
120min or longer and go out fairly fast (tempo) pace to
test how your stomach and palate will cope with intake
during the session. The other aspect’s to look out for are
convenience from a carry and consumption point of
view. Once you have your nutrition strategy planned,
bank it and stick to it on race day.
THE TAPER PERIOD | FUEL GUIDE