Stimulants

[benjj]

Hello chaps, I'm after some help with stimulants please, though not the fun ones I used to enjoy as a boy in 1990's Manchester.

I compete in historic endurance rallying and am looking for a bit of advice.

The majority of my kind of motorsport is endurance in the manageable way - as in 12 hours a day at the wheel for 4 to 6 days. I have no problem with this at all.

However, this winter I am taking part in what is widely recognised at the hardest historic rally of them all - LeJog. It is a 3 day / 1500 mile blast and the timing of it works like this:

Day 1 - Start 7am, end 3am. (20 hours in car followed by 3 hours sleep)
Day 2 - Start 7am, end 9pm. (14 hours in car followed by around 6 hours sleep)
Day 3 - Start 7am, ends about 28 hours later the following morning, no sleep.

Pretty much all of the time at the wheel is competitive, and all of it is on tricky small minor roads and closed stages and tests. Essentially I'll be 'on it' for the entire time I'm in the drivers seat.

There will be meal breaks etc but no time to really catch a few zeds apart from at night, and those are deliberately very short.

What kind of supplements and/or stimulants would anyone advise? I know there are the usual Berocca type things but is there anything better?

Without wanting to sound too much like a girl I'm not really a fan of these crazy caffeine drinks I see people sipping as they walk along the road. If there was something natural(ish) I'd probably err on the side of that.

Thanks for any tips.

[pilchardthecat]

Caffeine, and if you're feeling really brave, dont have a heart/blood pressure problem and you dont mind feeling like you have an alien about to burst out of your chest; yohimbine

[benjj]

Yohimbine is a mild MAOI with stimulant and aphrodisiac effects. It is sold as prescription medicine in pure form for the treatment of sexual dysfunction.

Sounds awesome, thanks

Are glucose tablets any good? I remember snaffling them whilst wifey was giving birth to the kids.

[pilchardthecat]

You dont need a prescription I cant speak for it's sexual dysfunction properties but i've dabbled with it in the past for getting to very low body fat levels. be very careful with it though - people have been hospitalised by taking too much - start with 2.5mg

[benjj]

pilchardthecat said:

You dont need a prescription I cant speak for it's sexual dysfunction properties but i've dabbled with it in the past for getting to very low body fat levels. be very careful with it though - people have been hospitalised by taking too much - start with 2.5mg

Thanks but I fear it is a little too hardcore for me.

[pilchardthecat]

benjj said:

Thanks but I fear it is a little too hardcore for me.

Heh, you wont be falling asleep though

[benjj]

pilchardthecat said:

benjj said:

Thanks but I fear it is a little too hardcore for me.

Heh, you wont be falling asleep though

Its the heart attack that is the major concern rather than the snoozing at the wheel

[Flibble]

Also careful what you eat and what other medications you take with MAOI, they're known for having a lot of interactions with other substances which can be lethal.

[ewenm]

There are various gels that ultra-marathon athletes use like the stuff from SIS - they have carbs/sugars for energy and caffeine and are easily digested and quick to take (usually best with a water chaser).

This sort of thing: http://www.scienceinsport.com/sis-products/sis-go-...

Available online or from your local running/sports shop and some supermarkets.

[benjj]

Flibble said:

Also careful what you eat and what other medications you take with MAOI, they're known for having a lot of interactions with other substances which can be lethal.

Thanks, I'll be giving those wacky tablets a miss, I'm going to have quite enough 'lethal' in my life on this rally without additional hazards



Having had a look around online I think that the best bet is going to be a good combo of mega vitamis supplements, caffeine in the form of coffee and possibly tablets, glucose tablets, plenty of water for hydration (but not so much I need to piss every hour) and sensible eating with slow release energy.

What I'll actually do in practice is eat nothing, smoke 40 Marlboro red a day and drink espressos at every opportunity.

[benjj]

ewenm said:

There are various gels that ultra-marathon athletes use like the stuff from SIS - they have carbs/sugars for energy and caffeine and are easily digested and quick to take (usually best with a water chaser).

This sort of thing: http://www.scienceinsport.com/sis-products/sis-go-...

Available online or from your local running/sports shop and some supermarkets.

They look excellent, much appreciated. Think I'll order a few of those to have in the car for the night sections where I need to really be on it for hour after hour.

[Tribal Chestnut]

Ephedrine? Mild stimulant that'll keep you awake. You'll have to fight the urge to wee very five minutes and scratch your scalp off.

I've always found the likes of sudafed good for giving me a 'boost' if I'm starting to feel a little drowsy, but need to keep going.

[mu0n]

Popping glucose tablets? Red Bull too strong for you?

And you want a stimulant?

It just sounds like you could do with a multipack of Ribena cartons.

[benjj]

mu0n said:

Popping glucose tablets? Red Bull too strong for you?

And you want a stimulant?

It just sounds like you could do with a multipack of Ribena cartons.

I love Ribena.

[Art0ir]

Absolutely nothing of worth to add, but good luck and I hope you document your adventure with a thread on here.

[benjj]

Art0ir said:

Absolutely nothing of worth to add, but good luck and I hope you document your adventure with a thread on here.

Thanks, certainly will do.

With a bit of luck PH will be writing it up. We are running a team of two cars of Mission Motorsport crew, me and my nav Nathan (below) in my Porsche, a crew of 3 others in a 1980 3 Door rally Range Rover. It'll be quite a challenge for us all, especially for the blokes missing legs, but I've no doubt at all we'll dig deep and get to the finish.

[ewenm]

benjj said:

ewenm said:

There are various gels that ultra-marathon athletes use like the stuff from SIS - they have carbs/sugars for energy and caffeine and are easily digested and quick to take (usually best with a water chaser).

This sort of thing: http://www.scienceinsport.com/sis-products/sis-go-...

Available online or from your local running/sports shop and some supermarkets.

They look excellent, much appreciated. Think I'll order a few of those to have in the car for the night sections where I need to really be on it for hour after hour.

They are good but as ever with these things try them in training before using them in competition as some people react badly to them. For example, I can't use Lucozade Sport energy drink as it causes havoc with my stomach. Fortunately I found this out in training before trying to use it in a race

[benjj]

ewenm said:

benjj said:

ewenm said:

There are various gels that ultra-marathon athletes use like the stuff from SIS - they have carbs/sugars for energy and caffeine and are easily digested and quick to take (usually best with a water chaser).

This sort of thing: http://www.scienceinsport.com/sis-products/sis-go-...

Available online or from your local running/sports shop and some supermarkets.

They look excellent, much appreciated. Think I'll order a few of those to have in the car for the night sections where I need to really be on it for hour after hour.

They are good but as ever with these things try them in training before using them in competition as some people react badly to them. For example, I can't use Lucozade Sport energy drink as it causes havoc with my stomach. Fortunately I found this out in training before trying to use it in a race

Thanks, noted, particularly on a dodgy stomach - my colon will be puckering like a rabbit's nose anyway while driving 1500 miles on ice and snow as fast as I can, really don't need to make that any worse...

[OlberJ]

Jesus, i get knackered after a 2 x 4 hour stints in a day "on it". How on earth do you manage all that driving over several days?

Shirley it's a bit on the dangerous side?

[benjj]

OlberJ said:

Jesus, i get knackered after a 2 x 4 hour stints in a day "on it". How on earth do you manage all that driving over several days?

Shirley it's a bit on the dangerous side?

Yep, it is pretty tough and rather dangerous. The main hazard is lack of sleep, as prompted me starting this thread. Lack of sleep in combination with the route (all on very minor roads) means that the main challenge is keeping the car on the road and heading in the right direction. Everyone runs a full alpine/winter rally setup but accidents do happen.