The Coffee Update

I never wrote about it hear, but after reading a post by another blogger, TriTawn regarding her dropping caffeine I decided to give it a shot myself.  I was starting to 'need' coffee post-lunch and I am not a fan of drinking coffee post lunch.  At the time I wasn't feeling overly tired, anymore than usual that is, but the craving (do addicts crave?) caffeine in the afternoon was not what I wanted.  I read about her positive experience from dropping the coffee and figured, why not try it myself.  Cold turkey...not a cup for 3 weeks.


We are now entering week three of my no coffee trial.  I found I lacked some concentration in the mornings during the first few days, and luckily I wasn't experiencing any headaches from withdrawal.  I seem to be sleeping better as I am waking up in the mornings feeling more refreshed.  The only downside is that my lower intestinal tract is not quite as fast moving, not having that morning kick start anymore.  Oh well.

It's been a challenge not to have coffee.  My girlfriend really needs coffee in the morning, especially after nights where she doesn't sleep well, which is often.  I suggested she try doing the same as me to see if it helps but I was met with the evil, 'I might smack you' face.  It was just a thought.  Work offers another challenge as we have no less than 4 pots of various coffees ready to drink at any given time.  The smell of the coffee is the hardest to ignore.

I seem to be past the hurdles.  Here's to continued caffeine free living!

Things are starting to look up

I ran for the 2nd time this week and I was pleasantly surprised.  For the first time for the entire summer I was able to get through 2 runs in a week and not feel like my calf was going to fall off afterwards.  This is now my 3rd run in the last 9 days and things are starting to look better.

I've been doing some foam rolling for my calves and quads to try to keep them loose.  My calf felt as loose as it has in a while when I embarked on my run.  I managed to get 4 miles in without any issues.  I kept my pace nice and controlled and was pleased to see my heart rate was nice and low.  I think some of that is my progress on the bike and continued longer workouts.  I've seen my average heart rate start to drop on my rides too, while supplying the same effort.  It's nice to feel that feeling of things getting easier.  I guess that just means I need to start training a little harder.

The weather this weekend should be fantastic so I plan to get in a nice ride tomorrow and another nice long ride on Saturday.  My Saturday rides have been coming along nicely.  I'm starting to feel stronger and the time on the bike is making me more comfortable just riding.  My boss is an avid rider and suggested a ride that will be close to 40 miles when complete.  I've mapped it out and added some more so the ride will be just under 45 miles.   I'm looking forward to going on what will be my longest ride so far.  I'm going to make sure my bike is dialed in with tomorrows ride.  My rear shifter cable is still stretching out and for some reason was out of adjustment for my Tuesday ride after not giving me a single issue last Saturday.  Hopefully I can get it adjusted properly.

Hope everyone has as nice a weekend as we'll have here on Long Island!

Not running is harder than a running a marathon

The hardest part about being a runner is not being able to run.  I’ve continued to be on and off with running.  My left calf continues to be the culprit that keeps me from running and why is still a mystery.  I haven’t gone to see a doctor yet.  I keep yo-yoing back and forth about if I should or not.  On one hand I want to figure out what’s up and if I have a functional issue that keeps bringing the calf pain back, or if I simply have major damage to my calf muscle that will need some surgical repair.  The issue I have is all the loopholes and frankly I just don’t feel like dealing with all the crap just to get my calf fixed if it comes to that.  Doctors visits, rehab, a pointless x-ray, more rehab and then no sign of the issue after the 4-6 weeks of continuous rehab to only be declined for an MRI…not worth it.  I suppose I could give the insurance company a hard time since this is a recurring issue and try to get an MRI straight out of the gate but I doubt it would worked.

I’m glad that I purchased my bike when I did.  It’s been my one salvation for the last few months and I am starting to ride it on a more consistent basis and increase my mileage as well.  With the end of my summer volleyball season upon us I will have another additional day to try to get out on it.  I’ve done a few back to back rides with some decent mileage and seem to be taking the increased hours of exercise quite well.  I’ve attempted to throw in some hills (stow it Vince I know my rides are flat in comparison) to make the workouts a bit tougher  and put together a tough ride last weekend climbing two of the biggest hills in my area.  There are a few other very steep but shorter hills around which I might try soon.  They are quite a bit shorter but also quite a bit steeper with one being close to 14% grade. 

I also added a cadence sensor to my Garmin and have been working to make sure I maintain a higher cadence through my rides.  I’m managing mid-80s through most rides which is right where I want to be which is worlds above where I was when I first started biking.  I watched the rider during the tour and was amazed at their cadence while climbing an 8% grade for 10 miles.  I guess you can say they motivated me to try a bit harder.

Speaking of bike races, I’m considering entering into a duathlon or two this fall.  I pulled out of the Steamboat Marathon on October 10^th (and likely made another runner very happy since it sold out for the first time in its history) and am now looking for something to put in its place.  There are a pair of duathlons in October.  I’m sure I will be able to manage the 2 runs without incident.  I haven’t signed up yet but I am sure I will within the next few weeks.  I need to work on speeding up my rides to be competitive in the races.  We’ll see how it goes.

P.S.  I just watched the LOST series finale again.  Gets me every time.  Where are my tissues?