I wanted to see if anyone else had similar experiences to what I could only call an addiction. I never drank coffee and up until 2 years ago never had a consistent source of caffeine in my diet.
About 2 years ago I started drinking a pre-race energizer mix before my morning swim workouts made by VEGA. I was drinking one scoop mixed in 8oz of water 3-4 times a week. After about 4-5 months I started thinking about the drink as I was in bed the night before, almost with a sense of excitement that I would get to have it in the morning. I gradually started drinking it before all my workouts and felt like I needed it to get going. After a year I was drinking it the morning and occasionally before a night workout or if I had a meeting to go to. My daughter races in the Junior Elite series and we travel a lot and I was drinking them to stay awake driving.
I tried to stop it the week before IMCDA last August but had such a severe headache that I only made it 18 hours before starting it back up.
I have always been a great sleeper and noted that in the last few months I was waking up a few times a night, I was not doing my morning workouts and pushing them back to the evenings. I felt like I had a brain cloud and that I needed this stuff to get through my day. So 8 days ago I said screw this, and quit. I felt like there was a base drum in my head for about 36 hours. The remarkable thing for me is how "clear" my head is. Its hard to explain but I feel like have a ton more energy, more awake, and sleeping like a champ again. I feel like my thought process is clean and my decision making is no longer clouded.
I have lived a pretty clean life, never smoked a cigarette, do not drink, thankfully no drugs because if I got hooked this easy on a pre-race drink I could imagine what real stimulants would do to me!!
About 2 years ago I started drinking a pre-race energizer mix before my morning swim workouts made by VEGA. I was drinking one scoop mixed in 8oz of water 3-4 times a week. After about 4-5 months I started thinking about the drink as I was in bed the night before, almost with a sense of excitement that I would get to have it in the morning. I gradually started drinking it before all my workouts and felt like I needed it to get going. After a year I was drinking it the morning and occasionally before a night workout or if I had a meeting to go to. My daughter races in the Junior Elite series and we travel a lot and I was drinking them to stay awake driving.
I tried to stop it the week before IMCDA last August but had such a severe headache that I only made it 18 hours before starting it back up.
I have always been a great sleeper and noted that in the last few months I was waking up a few times a night, I was not doing my morning workouts and pushing them back to the evenings. I felt like I had a brain cloud and that I needed this stuff to get through my day. So 8 days ago I said screw this, and quit. I felt like there was a base drum in my head for about 36 hours. The remarkable thing for me is how "clear" my head is. Its hard to explain but I feel like have a ton more energy, more awake, and sleeping like a champ again. I feel like my thought process is clean and my decision making is no longer clouded.
I have lived a pretty clean life, never smoked a cigarette, do not drink, thankfully no drugs because if I got hooked this easy on a pre-race drink I could imagine what real stimulants would do to me!!