Hi there!

First of all, thank you for the kind, kind comments regarding my picture on Thursday.  They all made me feel wonderful!  It makes me think I should update my blog header even more (thanks for the suggestion, Paula!).  I am wearing another white shirt today, but I'll spare you the details because it's a boring polo shirt with my company's logo on the front.  I call it "sporting my school spirit". 

Anyway, I weighed in this morning and wouldn't you know it I weighed over 5 pounds more than I did yesterday!  And yesterday was significantly lower than last Monday's weight.  I'm assuming it was the popcorn (salt) I ate before bed, but instead of focusing on it too much, I'm going to let it go and not record my weight today.  I absolutely cannot stand the effects that salt has on my weight loss (or gain, as the case actually is!)

I wanted to update you on my caffeine/fluid reduction project.  It has now been two weeks since I started this plan and while the reduction part is going fine, the results of it are disappointing.  I cut down to 2 cups of coffee the first three days and then cut down to one.  I am still at one, but this down from 5-7 a day is a huge change.  I also try and only drink 64 ounces of water each day unless I'm super thirsty, and I cut off the liquids around 7pm.  So all that is good.

I'm not keeping a log or anything, but I'm sure that I am in the bathroom just as much, and I am now resigned to the fact that I'll probably log too much time in the porta-potties during my half marathon.  Last Saturday I went for my scheduled 55 minute run and had to come home at the halfway mark to pee!  And it's not like I have to go so bad that I'm dying, it's more that I know if I have to go the stress of running with anything in my bladder will lead to problems, especially if I run any downhills!  It's truly and completely irritating! 

I also don't know if I see a difference in how I feel without the caffeine.  Yesterday I would have said no difference at all, however, this morning made me think I do wake up a little more alert.  Last night I could not get to sleep.  For one, I just wasn't comfortable, and for two, I had to pee too many times (drank too much water after dinner).  When I finally did get to sleep I was awakened a few times in the night, again, to pee.  Arrrgh!  So when my alarm went off at 5:40 I hit snooze.  Then again at 5:49.  Then I turned it off at 5:58 resolved to sleep for another two hours.  But as I laid there I realized that I wasn't all that tired despite my late night and interrupted sleep.  So after about 5 more minutes I got up and headed out for my 35 minute run.  I guess I thought I would be tired so when my alarm when off I told myself I was, but as I thought about it longer I realized I could get up.  A fluke?  I don't know.  Of course reminding myself how I'd have to be running at 9pm if I didn't get up then might have motivated me a little too. 

Anyway, I'm not quitting my project and will continue.  One advantage to limiting caffeine is that I don't have to worry about a caffeine headache.  One thing about morning runs and morning races is that I don't want to drink coffee beforehand to avoid as much liquid as possible, but then I usually end up with a headache if I go too long without.  Not having to worry about such things is definitely a positive side effect of this project.  Although I still miss my coffee.  Coffee in the morning, coffee in the evening, coffee all day long. 

One other quick note, I changed my training schedule just a bit to allow for a rest day this Saturday instead of a long run.  I realized that since I'm running a 5K event on Sunday, I'd rather rest the day before so I switched around my running days this week.  I want to run strong in the 5K race because this particular event was my first one last year so it's kind of a milestone of sorts.  It's been a fun year since that first event and I can't wait to run it again!