Caffeine and the adrenaline monster

So after I posted last nights blog entry I was inspired to do a bit of research of my own on this caffeine and adrenaline thing. Mostly because my inner addict wanted to disprove it as it needed a fix desperately. But alas it backfired on me; another serious blow for my mental state of mind.

In looking through different articles I read about the conditions that can occur when using this miracle drug (caffeine). And it described what I was experiencing to a “T”. At the ragged edge of exhaustion, and not because I’m training to much, just because I’m taxing the body continually and it catches up. And then you have to pay the piper so to speak.

In essence, and you can read this for yourself here and here (to name a few articles), your body essentially is running on adrenaline too much when using caffeine and eventually it gets plumb tired out. There are alternatives to coffee that are a little better such as Tea which is lower in caffeine but in the end too much of a good thing is a bad thing for Paully.

I figure another week of abstaining (from coffee that is) and I’ll be right as rain. Until then I suggest you stay clear of Mongo for my own protection.

Is not a Maxwell House morning

You’ve all seen those commercials with Maxwell House coffee.. “the best part of waking up is Maxwell House…bla bla bla”. The commercial has some guy or gal smelling their coffee as they have their morning carafe to jump start their day, and body. The look on their face is absolute elation.

Now think of the complete opposite, some guy (or gal) getting up, wiping the sleep from their eyes and heading out into the day without a cup’a joe. For the first few days they struggle through the day wandering here to there in a daze. Suffering from a caffeine withdrawal headache the size of Mt Everest and the sudden and uncontrollable urge to stomp on things. It’s an ugly ugly thought isn’t it.

Ya, well the later is starting to be me, and likely 43 other SNKCR riders. You see as part of getting the legs ready to peddle across the country we also need to start weening ourselves off the java. Coaches orders.

Now I’m skeptical of this fact, primarily because I’m in withdrawal, but caffeine supposedly has this ability to over stimulate the adrenal glands and that and multi-day distance cycling is supposedly bad.

I started the weening process Monday and so far I feel like someone drilled a few extra holes in my head.

At least on the bright side pizza now has company on the most wanted but unattainable list.

Hmmm the smell of Ben-Gay.

You can tell the die hard cyclist at a glance. They are the ones who limp into work on Monday mornings, sporting a “tan” created by a combination of wind burn, and cold and are wearing a grin from ear to ear. Their legs stiff from self-abuse on the bike all in the name of fitness.

Ah the smell of Ben Gay in the morning!

That is a good description of what I’m going to look [and smell] like tomorrow. Shuffling my feet because my legs are cram-packed with goodness in the form of Lactic Acid. And I’m loving it.

Today’s forecast was so enticing I could just not restrain myself. Neither could Swinny (Dave Swindells), so we met up in Limehouse for a training ride. Today’s treat included nice clear roads so we could ride our road bikes and give the cross bikes the day off. Riding my roadie instead of the “tank” was a treat indeed. Don’t get me wrong I love my Jake the Snake but it is like driving a tractor trailer and the Kestrel is like a Maserati in comparison.

Dave and I live 9k or so from each other so we tend to ride to Limehouse from our homes and then ride out together. The wind today was from the north so it didn’t matter what direction we decided to ride in we were going to have to work. So we settled on a loop from Limehouse to Moffat (moe-fat as I like to call it), Glen Edin, Rockwood, Acton and then back to Limehouse.

When I ride with Dave I always know its going to be a good workout. Dave stands a good 6 inches taller than me and as a result is gifted with long levers for legs. His peddle stroke is akin to a graceful gazelle; whereas I’m more like a hobbit on steroids and my legs are firing madly to keep pace. It’s probably kind of comical to watch us ride by, in a twisted kind of way. Our route was a mix of rolling hills and short climbs, something I love to ride but suffer on. Dave on the other hand just floats up them. As he pointed out its all relative. So true.

By the time we rode into Rockwood my little tree stumps where feeling the burn and Dave had to slow his pace a little to let this old fart keep pace. All-in-all it was a great ride just shy of 70km. A good start to my first week cycle (last week was a recovery week for me).

Now sitting here writing I find I must have to make a big decision, call for help to get up or just roll off the chair and crawl to wherever I left those compression tights.

Hmmm decisions decisions… thud.