In endurance events, the first cause of fatigue is loss of muscle sugar, so athletes do whatever they can to preserve sugar levels. Caffeine causes the body to produce large amounts of adrenalin, which causes fat to be released from fat cells and float in the bloodstream.
This extra fat is taken up by the muscles and used for energy, thus preserving the body’s limited stored supply of muscle sugar. When muscles run our of sugar, the athlete requires more oxygen to do the same job, slows down, fatigues earlier, and has difficulty maintaining his performance.
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An independent study of athlete performances showed that under the new 2012 USA Olympic Team Trials - Men’s Marathon qualifying rules passed at the recent USATF Convention, 69 men would have qualified for the 2008 Trials which were held in New York City last month, a 61% reduction from the number who actually qualfied. That race had 179 qualifiers and 130 starters.
The study, conducted by Race Results Weekly, showed that just 35 men would have qualifed with a 2:19:00 or better marathon run on either an IAAF record-standard course (no more than 50% start/finish separation and elevation loss limited to 42.195 meters), plus the Boston Marathon, from which the USATF Men’s Long Distance Running Committee said they would be inclined to accept performances.
Fourteen athletes who were accepted into the 2008 Trials with marathon marks better than 2:19:01 would have been excluded because their performances were achieved on aided courses, like the 2006 Freescale Austin Marathon (137 meter elevation loss), 2006 California International Marathon (105 meters), 2006 and 2007 St. George Marathon (781 meters), and 2007 Top of Utah Marathon (319 meters).
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