Java Stop

I quit drinking coffee and coffee based drinks today...no more runs to Starbucks or stops at the various espresso stands on my way to work. The reasons are two fold:

1 - It simply doesn't make sense for me to drop $15-20 a week on coffee when at any moment I could lose my job. While $20 a week doesn't appear to be that much on the surface, over time that $20 adds up. I would much rather up the amount of money I am tucking away into savings for a family trip next year than slam down an iced americano to 'wake me up.' Which brings us to the next reason...

2 - I have a crazy theory that my coffee consumption goes hand in hand with my various muscle cramping issues. There is nothing for me to really base this on, aside from the caffeine in the coffee being a diuretic. Could I be dehydrating myself early on in the day by knocking back a quad americano, meaning I am playing catch-up leading up to my afternoon run? I think so. I also think the caffeine is blanching my system of electrolytes, vitamins, and minerals, so there is an imbalance that is never remedied...regardless of how much water I drink before I run. Again, this is all wild speculation on my part, but I am tired of worrying about my hamstrings seizing up when I push the pace or my calves knotting up like a stored away strand of Christmas lights.

So, day one with no coffee....and I have a searing headache. It could be coffee withdrawal related...or it could be from a raging case of tetanus. I sliced my left index finger wide open yesterday wrestling with a bag of organic weed & feed and hedge clippers. Now, this is the same finger I smashed black & blue with a framing hammer a few weeks back, so it was still about 40% numb when I managed to cut it. I didn't realize how bad I was cut until I started bleeding all into the bag of weed & feed (now even more organic!). I ran into the house, ran the cut under tap water, rinsed it some more with peroxide, and then slathered a concoction of Neosporin and super glue into the wound to prevent infection and to seal the cut. Then I wrapped some gauze around it, taped it off, and called it a day....not until this morning did I think, 'Hmmmm, those hedge clippers were kind of gross...maybe I should have gone to the ER for a stich or toe (the cut is almost bone deep) and a tetanus shot.'

If I come down with a case of lock jaw, we'll all know I should have gotten the tetanus shot....