I usually have a lunch time Starbucks when I'm at work, but apart from that, I'm not too much of a coffee drinker either.

I tried drinking a can of Red Bull and eating a banana before a race but sometimes felt low on energy about 6km into the race. This might be the caffein buzz wearing off.

I have always have a doubt regarding this issue.

Reading different resources (1 for example Triathletes training bible) that recomends you to eat extra salt the day before a race for sodium reasons and better water retention......... and then reading that everybody (including Peter Reid and other Pros) have a cup of coffee before a race makes me wonder about the diuretic efects coffe has and the positive vs. negative efects one might have by drinking it.

Do we realy want a diuretic before a race????

I would like to hear a medical or nutritional expert´s point of view about this.

I always go without coffee into racing because I care more about hydration than the efect caffeine could have on my body. But don´t know if I´m woring too much.

I read all manner of sport science articles about the use of caffeine. I thought the literature made a convincing case for the beneficial exogenous properties of caffeine for endurance athletic performance.

In practice however, the introduction of 2 "doublshot Starbucks" drinks a couple of hours before a race completely wrecked me.

Why? First off, it violated the big law of "Never try something new on race day". Secondly, I was already excited as it was because it was... well, race day.

My HR went through the roof at standstill. I had a hard time keeping my breathing rhythm steady in the swim. My lungs were tired and I had a hard ride. My run was crappy. Basically, the caffeine high threw my carefully balanced training regimen out of sync and I never recovered from it because I did not train with a regular jolt of caffeine before each session.

I've trained and raced with/without caffiene, though my only source is generally my Gus. Have definately noticed a difference on the longer rides/races.

Once I start on it in a race though I find I have to keep a steady supply to avoid any sort of crashing. Usually it's into any of the Gu's with their standard level while toting the double caffiene (espresso) for the run or time where mentally I need a little bit of a boost.