Performance Enhancing Drugs: Which one's for me?

The complete debaucle of 2011's Natchez Trace Triathlon has inspired me to start a running post critiquing different energy drinks, supplements and various nutritional intervention practices with the sole purpose of decreasing RPE during races and training sessions. I've used a lot of different things in the past and will likely continue to experiment in the future. This post is primarily for me to review over the years to see what seems to work and what seems to disagree with me. This may or may not apply to you personally, and in no way am I advocating using one or a combination of several of the following products before consulting with a physician. Not that you'd take my words as medical advice in the first place...

I'm not here to babble. Let's get on with it.

(A continued work-in-progress)

Caffeine Pills: use it!

Serving size? one 200 mg pill. Vivarin, No Doz or generic brand

Availability? any grocery store, WalMart, any pharmacy

Cost? $8 for a pack of 2 dozen

How do you take it? Pop one 15 minutes before you want it to kick in. Wash it down with a little water.

What do you use it for? Half-marathon, Full-marathon and triathlons with runs longer than 10 miles

Pros:
- Cheap
- Easy to obtain
- IT WORKS
- Can buy in bulk
- Stores well

Cons:
- Cannot use it for short course
- Must abstain from caffeine beforehand
- Causes withdrawl
- Decreases perception of pain, possibly increasing risk of injury
- Not really safe or healthy to use all of the time
- Alters taste of foods when combined (gels)

Other things of note:
- Shoot for 1.5 to 2.5 mg/lb of body weight. For me, that's 225 to 375 mg, although I find that 200 works just fine. Find the lowest dose you can that gives you the benefit to avoid unneccessary strain on your adrenal glands.
- Completely abstaining from caffeine for 10 days prior to use maximizes benefit.
- The half life of caffeine is roughly 3 hours, possibly as low as 2 when racing intensely. Therefore, it is generally not a good idea to use caffeine for short course racing.
- When using caffeine, take in GENEROUS amounts of Coke and/or coffee post-race, or suffer the huge withdrawl headache.


Delta-E: use it!
Serving size? two packets, mixed with 6-8 oz of plain water

Availability? must be ordered online

Cost? $45 for a box of 10 servings

How do you take it? Consume 15-20 minutes prior to race What do you use it for? Long bike rides, Half and Full IM bike legs, short course triathlon

Pros:
- Works, but is not as effective as caffeine
- No after effects
- Can be taken semi-regularly
- Does not cause a lot of adrenal stress

Cons:
- Tastes like crap
- Must allow a lot of time for settling
- Expensive and inaccessible
- One more thing to have to worry about on race morning
- Creates a lot of gas if you don't let it "season"

Other things of note:
- Because it's an effervescent drink that mixes automatically in water, there's a fair amount of carbonation that occurs when you first dump it in. Allow 10 minutes if not more before consuming.


Five Hour Energy: don't use it!
Serving size? one full bottle

Availability? any grocery store, Walmart, any pharmacy

Cost? $2-3 for a single bottle

How do you take it? Down it 20-30 minutes prior to race

What do you use it for? Long bike rides, Half and Full IM bike legs, short course triathlon

Pros:
- Very cheap
- Very accessible
- Can buy only one for a single race
- Unoffensive taste
- Less than a mouthful to take in
- Some ergogenic benefit

Cons:
- I don't feel any better after taking it*
- I suspect it elevates HR*
- Contains artificial sweeteners
- Must be taken longer before race start
- Makes me gassy*

Other things of note:
- Most of the cons stem from a single bad experience at the 2011 Natchez Trace Triathlon (denoted with a *). I may give it another chance someday, in a pinch.