Are you a seasoned marathon runner or parkrun alphabeteer? Perhaps you run the odd 5-10k and want to up your distance and smash your first half marathon? Maybe you’re not completely obsessed with running and just enjoy pootling around your local park...? Whatever camp you fall into, we thought we should let you know that consuming caffeine before running has been scientifically proven to help performance!
Just in case you’ve been living under a rock since you first entered the world of hot drinks, at this point we should probably let you into a little secret: coffee contains caffeine. This means that alongside helping you discover different Bristol and Bath coffee roasters, your local coffee subscription could inadvertently help you set a new PB! Let’s look at how this works:
1. Moderate caffeine intake has been shown to lower ratings of perceived exertion and effort, meaning running feels easier. This should help you maintain your pace for longer, helping improve those all-important finishing times
2. Drinking coffee can also make you feel more alert and energised. A chemical called adenosine causes feelings of tiredness when it binds to receptors in our brain. Caffeine is considered to be an adenosine blocker, meaning it attaches itself to the same receptors that adenosine would normally latch onto, helping prevent fatigue. This leads to obvious benefits when training and racing
3. The optimal time to get your caffeine fix? For shorter runs, about 60 minutes before you set off. If you’re running long distances, you can also take caffeine towards the mid/later stages of your race, though this may be easier in the form of gels etc.! Easy-peasy.
Just picture it... today you might be discovering a new Bristol coffee roaster and tomorrow you could be lining up in the 5000m final at the Paris Olympics! Or maybe not. Either way, we hope you found this information useful and that it helps you with your running!
If you would like to get into running, there are a number of excellent, reasonably priced clubs in Bristol. Here are some of our top picks:
About: a very social running club that’s completely free!
Run on: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in Queens Square (BS1)
About: a great running club that meet South of the river
Run on: Tuesdays and Thursdays from their base in Bedminster (BS3)
About: an inclusive, friendly running club with a nice social element
Run on: Wednesdays in Redland with additional social runs arranged on weekends (BS6)
About: a welcoming club that also offer track sessions in Yate
Run on: various days throughout the week (BS9)
About: a large but friendly club with a rich history. Also offer track sessions
Run on: various days throughout the week in Whitehall (BS5) and other Bristol locations
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