CAFFEINE

What does it do to you?

   Well, sure you get the wide eyed energizer feeling from it. But I get a little more than that from this stuff. I drank a home-made cold Chai latte this AM. It tasted great. I actually let the tea bag brew over-night -which might be why I felt the way I did this AM.

So the second thing it does to me though is more like caffeine over-dose, super high BG level feeling, restless leg syndrome, and A.D.D. - all wrapped in a rather unpleasant package. This toon pretty much says how I feel afterwards.

   Now, to be clear, this appears to happen with certain quantities of caffeine. For example if I drink a Mt. Dew too quickly, or that Chai this AM and the afforementioned is the result. If I slowly enjoy a cherry Coke, no problem. But I have to say I'm kind of affraid of feeling like I drank a Mt. Dew (x10) and knowing it's going to be hours before it gets better. All I can usually do to help is hydrate.

   So, do you drink any of those energy boosting drinks (say for a race)? How do they make you feel?

The Life of Mike

I'd like to say life is humdrum or hunky dory right now, but we all know that that's rarely the case for a perfectionist busy-body who never has enough hours in the day to get all of the things done rolling around in his head. That's me in a nutshell. So, I'm checking off project after project as I complete them....buuuutttt, I swear that list isn't getting any smaller.

On the other side of that sheet of paper though are some things that are a little more important to me. Like running, cycling, and co-leading a team of folks to the Tour De Cure this year.

RUNNING: I love it. It clears my head and calms me. I continue to do the basics for right now...a 3.3 mile very hilly trail run done 2-3 times a week. Call it maintnance running. When I can check off a few more items on the other side of this sheet, or after the tour whichever comes first, I'll start longer runs again.

CYCLING: I've got a nice hill training route I do almost every Friday. It's about 13 miles and has an elevation gain of about 1300 feet. And the ride back to the house ends with a nice large hill too, so this is not a slacker ride for sure-(at least for this pup). I'm also doing more training rides with the group little-by-little and getting in mileage on my own also. The best thing so far to happen to me is that one of our local gas stations agreed to allow me to do a fundraising event at the gas station. We're going to advertise in advance and the day of, and provide full-service for all clients (pump thier gas and wash front and back windows) for the price of the regular fuel. We'll be taking donations for the American Diabetes Association for this service. I don't know about anyone else, this station use to have a full service option, which is gone now, but there is nowhere locally that provides full service anymore. So,I'm excited to see how this works. We'll do this on a Friday in about two weeks.

And then there is mowing the lawn, powerwashing the pool deck, planting, getting the irrigation systems up and running again this year, finishing the rain water barrel collection system, getting the facsia and soffet repairs finished, getting a new pool liner installed.....yadda yadda yiippa yappa...ackkkckaa. Anyway, to put it generically "I'm awefully busy".

Those Winter Days

That is "those winter days" that are almost gone...for we in the south at least. I'm finding myself low on the need to write in the blog right now. What can I say, I'm running a little, and ramping up my cycling a bit for a metric (maybe century) in May....Tour De Cure calls again. So, 8 of us escaped for an Olympics/Valentine cabin long weekend get-away. Man, if you can't take a real vacation and leave the country or head out a few states, then a long weekend near home is always a good thing. We got snowed in the night we got there, so my run the next AM was rather cold, peaceful, and beautiful. Good time - good friends. The next weekend we had sunny weather in the 50's, so you couldn't pass up a bike ride in weather like that.

...and life goes on.

Lackadaisical Running

     "lackadaisical". I feel like that's my word for the month, as for getting my tail out on the trail and burning some calories. It amazes me the number of things that can happen in an individuals life to avert their attention from the necessities of balance. Taxes, Holiday's, getting ready for spring planting, financial adjustments, and even a friend from college days passing on. It's at moments like this that I marvel at those who can handle more than this very calmly.

    So, it is I find myself feeling a bit more lethargic currently, about getting out to run. Not every time, but enough it's annoying. Man, I never use to be this way. If writing this junk down is healing, then I feel better. So, on I go running 2-3 times a week, and yet it still feels insufficient. Probably because at the moment I feel way out of my training zone and barely ready for a 5K. I'm probably wrong and just whining. Usually by the first or second mile I'm warmed up and feeling better about the run. It's funny though, 2 weeks ago I had a Sunday run and it was like 15 degrees (F) outside. That Tuesday I ran again and it was about 55 degrees (F). That just messes with my mind man. I mean I'm wearing cold gear one day freezing my tail off until I get to the tree buffer, out of the wind, and warm-up, and then the next run I'm wearing shorts and a T. Tennessee weather is physcotic. Next steps, keep running (increasing long runs), and get back on the saddle. It's been like two months since I've touched my bike. Poor thing is lonely out there in the garage.