RACE DAY BOOST

For you coffee believers. Do you lay off the coffee for a few days before the meet or just keep drinking it regularly? Would that I could. I experimented with dropping off my coffee to zero this past fall with the idea that I would then re-load prior to competition. I was only successful in going about 3 weeks without caffeine, not long enough into my training to then see how this played out in a taper situation. So, I did keep up a medium level of caffeine ingestion at about 300mg per day throughout my fall training (using a typical assumption that a shot of espresso is about 100mg). I generally consumed those three shots immediately before & after my AM workout and then one shot mid-morning. During my big meet, though, I did go up to almost double that. The increase generally came from having an extra espresso shot pre-racing and then an extra shot before my 4th or 5th event. I certainly swam well, but don't believe the caffeine was the major influencer physically; maybe a slight edge psychologically. I noticed that coffee worked for me immediately. ...The key for me is to drink coffee on an empty stomach to get the full affect of the caffiene boost. True. Though health experts will cringe, the same principle applies to your preferred end of the day relaxation beverage.:)

For you coffee believers. Do you lay off the coffee for a few days before the meet or just keep drinking it regularly? Would that I could. I experimented with dropping off my coffee to zero this past fall with the idea that I would then re-load prior to competition. I was only successful in going about 3 weeks without caffeine, not long enough into my training to then see how this played out in a taper situation. So, I did keep up a medium level of caffeine ingestion at about 300mg per day throughout my fall training (using a typical assumption that a shot of espresso is about 100mg). I generally consumed those three shots immediately before & after my AM workout and then one shot mid-morning. During my big meet, though, I did go up to almost double that. The increase generally came from having an extra espresso shot pre-racing and then an extra shot before my 4th or 5th event. I certainly swam well, but don't believe the caffeine was the major influencer physically; maybe a slight edge psychologically. I noticed that coffee worked for me immediately. ...The key for me is to drink coffee on an empty stomach to get the full affect of the caffiene boost. True. Though health experts will cringe, the same principle applies to your preferred end of the day relaxation beverage.:)