What drinks are the best for runners

One of my morning rituals is a cup of coffee. Talking with other people it seems that I am not alone drinking a morning cup of coffee to start the day. The primary reason given by people is that it “wakes them up.” For these coffee drinkers, the first cup of coffee in the morning acts as a stimulant to be wide awake and ready to meet the challenges of the day. The primary ingredient in coffee that seems to trigger this response is caffeine. There are some studies that promote coffee as a way to keep active over a longer period of time. For marathon runners that is exactly what they are looking for. It got to the point that too much coffee [caffeine] was a banned substance in the Olympic drug protocol restrictions.

The other drink that is a ritual for many southerners is sweet iced tea. Here in Texas when you order iced tea the glass is very big. I visited Maine one summer and asked for iced tea. The waitress said, “It isn’t the season yet for iced tea.” I ordered a cup of tea and a glass of ice to make my own iced tea. And when it is in season the glasses only hold about 10 ounces or less. A very rude awakening for a person from Texas and the standard drinking glass of sweet tea is close to a quart in size.

Research has been both favorable and unfavorable about drinking coffee and tea. Some research claims that too much coffee causes cardiovascular problems such as increased or irregular heart rate, insomnia, irritability, and some forms of cancer. Other research says that people who drink at least three cups of coffee a day have a longer life span. And tea is a preferred drink all over the world.

The criticism of many of these studies is that many of them did not include the amount of exercise the person did, other diet factors such as too much fat or sugar, and stress related work. All of these points can make a difference in the results of a research study.

The reason this topic came up was that on a bike ride some of the other bike riders were taking electrolyte pills or tissues in their mouth for more energy. I had my water bottle full of sweet iced tea and was able to keep up, and in some cases, feel better, than the riders consuming electrolytes. My thought behind this sweet iced tea was that if the caffeine gives me more endurance and the sugar is a quick energy source why not drink sweet iced tea on a bike ride. My preferred drink before a long training run for a marathon was a glass of sweet iced tea. Along the way the choice was plain water or Gatorade. Gatorade gained popularity when a Florida football team consumed the drink that was ‘invented’ by a researcher at the University – thus the name Gatorade after the Florida Gators mascot. It was basically a combination of salt and sugar as part of the ingredients that players who lost a lot of salt through sweating were able to replace it and still keep playing. There are other brands out there that are equally good at replacing nutrients lost from sweating. And while Gatorade provides the coolers for athletic teams that does not necessarily mean the liquid inside is Gatorade. And a few race organizers trying to save a few dollars will get a form of Kool-Aid for the energy drink that is often donated by a store to that organization.

And with the recent ‘hurry up’ to get a cup of coffee or tea, it is questionable if the nutritional value is the same. A brewed cup with loose leaves versus a bag of tea leaves or coffee versus the K-cups now being used by everybody makes a person wonder if a cup of coffee is the same as it once was for nutritional value. I remember opening a jar of mixture and putting it in a glass of water and it was instant sweet iced tea. So much for getting the nutritional value of brewing coffee grounds or tea leaves for benefits.

The reason I thought of this was after running many races and organizing many races, I don’t recall ever having sweet iced tea as a drink at aid stations or after a race. I have seen coffee for early race volunteers at races, but not after a race for the runners. It might be that filling a cooler with sweet iced tea may take a lot of tea bags to get it full. And after a hot run not many runners want a cup of hot coffee. As a cook in the Army Reserves for a few years we would boil a big pot of water. Pour in a tin of coffee and stir it around. Add some cold water to settle the grounds, and the troops had coffee.