Ray and I were having a conversation this morning about how it feels like Wednesday today, but it’s Thursday.  And what a pleasant feeling that is.  I know, we have such substantive conversations, don’t we?  You’re jealous.

About a year or so ago (I guess it could be a year and a half, don’t really remember) I switched to decaf coffee.  I did this because I love coffee, and this love has manifested itself in a desire to drink several cups a day.  But I also don’t sleep.  Ever.  And I thought maybe it had something to do with the caffeine.  For a while I was keeping it to fewer than two cups a day, but still not sleeping, so I had a brainstorm: switch to decaf, and I can enjoy my coffee without worrying whether I’ll ever get to sleep 12-14 long hours later.  So I did, and I actually started sleeping a TINY bit better.  But since then my consumption has crept back up to, I don’t know, somewhere between 4-5 cups per day (it’s hard to count because I never drink the mug more than halfway because at that point it’s too cool so I fill up again in order to warm up the beverage. Temperature issues!) and I have again not been sleeping well.  It could be other things, and it could be the caffeine.  Yes, folks, most mass-produced decaffeinated coffee actually retains up to 50% of the caffeine of full strength coffee.  Since the coffee I drink is provided free at work, I’m not about to go out spending extra money on special caffeine-free decaf.  Thus I am going to have no choice but to cut back, again.  Boo.

In fitness news, it’s no secret that I need a shake-up. I’ve been trying to add in weights and lunges and other cross-training attributes, but it doesn’t make me look forward to it any more and it certainly isn’t helping my poor outcome.  So starting on Monday I’m going to start Hal Higdon’s spring training workout.  Hal Higdon is my favorite running coach, and his website provides dozens of completely free training schedules, complete with thought processes and best practices.  People who have never run before can easily be introduced in a safe and effective way. Truly a humanitarian and selfless effort on his part.  Anyway, since I’m not in training for any race and yet I need help staying at a decent fitness level, the spring training workout is perfect.  The mileage is low but it will definitely help me on speed, force me to do hill work (which I detest) and shake things up a little.  I had been thinking about doing a month-long challenge, but this is three months and will provide a good basis upon which to start training for the Arlanta half marathon in November. I will update each week on how successful I am in following the workouts!