Thursday, 7 July 2016

A triple kind of day

I just had my third coffee for the day. I should clarify that that is unusual for me. Typically two is my self imposed limit.

I don't really have a strong reason for limiting my caffeine intake. Last year when I was having a bunch of testing done on my heart I cut caffeine out all together, but I found that it didn't make much difference. From there I have slowly increased my intake again, but I have stopped at two coffees a day. I just sort of feel that two per day is probably enough, one first thing in the morning before training and then another mid morning. I quite like coffee but I try and avoid using caffeine as a training crutch, so if I feel like more than two coffees I will drink decaf. If I am too tired to train then I try and get more sleep rather than using caffeine to get me through. I think that is sort of a bad habit that a lot of people slip into which can mask underlying issues, such as insufficient sleep.

That is of course on days other than today. Today I am tired.

The tiredness today is the culmination of a few different things I suspect. One it is Thursday and so I have a few days of solid training under my belt meaning I have a bit of fatigue building. That is fairly normal for this time of week. Secondly I am operating on slightly less sleep than is ideal. An early morning today to get on the Kickr meant I didn't get quite as much sleep as I would like. Finally, the sleep I did get wasn't the best quality. We changed pillows yesterday and it will take me a little while to adjust to the new one. It is funny, I consider myself fairly indestructible when it comes to sleep, I will happily sleep in most places and through most things (except planes, I have never got the hang of that). However, give me a pillow that isn't exactly to my tastes and I will be tossing and turning all night. I like a pillow that is thin and fairly hard, give me anything else and I just can't get comfortable.

I guess on top of those three factors you could also count the fact that I had a hard training session this morning. That might be a contributor too I guess.

Anyway, whatever the reasons I found myself pretty weary earlier today. If I wasn't training this afternoon I would just suck it up, but as it stands I have a run to do this afternoon. Sitting here in a stupor post lunch I just couldn't see how I was going to get through a run without a bit of help. Hence the third coffee. I think I was a little dehydrated too, so I also had a big drink of water. Coffee and water combined seems to have done the trick. The run this afternoon will still be a challenge, but at least it no longer seems like an insurmountable cliff. Not yet anyway.

Assuming I survive the run tonight, definitely some more sleep on the agenda for tonight though.


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