Coffee and running…does it mix?? So, I’m definitely NOT a morning person….and when I say this…just be lucky you don’t have to be in the same house as me when I wake up. With my weird night work hours, I get to sleep in until whenever I want…basically it saves me the morning grumps because I just wake up when I wake up.

Yesterday, I had to get up BEFORE the sun rose! To say I was not happy about this is a huge understatement. But, I’m a nice person and I took a friend to the airport. So, in order for me to not crash the car, I got a cup of coffee from Starbucks (yes, something girly and sugary because I don’t actually like the taste of coffee) so I bought some double shot, skinny, latte, mocha or something, bullshit… and a blueberry muffin, cause those are delicious!

I dropped my friend off at the aueropuerte and headed back home; since I had time to spare before my afternoon plans and since I was up bright and early, I went for a long run; but I got to thinking while I was running….Is coffee actually good for runners? I know A LOT of people drink it every morning to get their day started, but I was wondering if my fellow runners do. Like I said before, I don’t have to worry about getting a jump-start when I wake up because I’m pretty awake when I get out of bed at noon (hahaha, yes, sometimes I do sleep till noon).

What I know about coffee from the gallons I used to drink in college to make it through my senior year is that it severely dehydrated me because of the diuretic effect, which would be obviously bad for long runs. Also, it raises the heart rate…again, bad. Maybe if coffee was a regular thing for me, neither of these things would happen. But coffee also umm..*cough* makes you have to poop and pee! (What am I saying…girls don’t poop) I don’t want to be only a mile into my 10 mile run holding my bladder!

What about the scientific facts… coffee has a high amount of antioxidants which has been shown to reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease. Studies has also shown that coffee has been linked to aiding to fat metabolism and easing post-workout pain.  Also, I read that it can reduce the risk for skin cancer, depression and even Alzheimer’s.  Caffeine wakes up the mind, giving you the boost/energy you need for running.

That sounds awesome! But, I kept reading…as little as two cups of joe can decrease the blood flow to the heart limiting the oxygen your heart sees.  This could be bad for aerobic exercise (duh!) since well, aerobic means using oxygen and well, you need that for running….

During my caffeinated research  run yesterday morning, I had a good 2 hours after my coffee consumption to, erm, clear my system…so I didn’t run into any problems there. Also, if you remember from my last post, I’ve been having a hard time finding my energy to run…I made it 7 miles, non stop!!    My heart felt fine, and my mind felt great. So who knows – but since my degree from college was in the sciences, I am aware that the scientific method for my “experiment” had a lot of errors…

Fellow runners, do you use coffee for your runs?? Or only when you run in the morning? 

Article I read: Runner’s World, “Java Jolt”