It started with the Splenda.
Having been sugarfree for over 10 years, I was a big fan of Splenda. Until I discovered that it has been implicated in thyroid dysfunction.
So the Splenda had to go.
Of course, life without sweets is unthinkable, so with Splenda off the table (literally as well as figuratively), I reverted back to sugar. And for a time, it was good. But then, I started noticing that some stuff was too sweet.
"Too sweet" is a concept that previously did not exist in my vocabulary. I was always the one who wanted the piece of cake with the most frosting; the third marshmallow in my s'more; the extra scoop of sugar on my Cheerios. So when I ate (for the first time in 11 years) peanut M&M's...and Reese's pieces...and Kit Kat bars, and found them "too sweet," it was a bit of a surreal experience.
Don't get me wrong; I'd much rather find candy and such things to be too sweet and thus unappealing. After all, there's a reason I quit eating them 11 years ago--a complete lack of ability to control my intake. Still, it's a bit disquieting to discover that there is such a thing as "too sweet," and to discover that many former favorites are now falling into this category. Even my beloved PopTarts seem to have now--after a couple of weeks of wild overindulgence--crossed the line into "too sweet" territory...the frosted ones, anyway. I'm still working my way through a box of unfrosted strawberry...
And now, caffeine seems to have joined the list of Bad Habits of Mine That No Longer Work For Me. As I mentioned in my last post, I've been having some trouble with PVC's--Premature Ventricular Contractions, a type of heart arrhythmia--when I skate. I've had them off and on for over 20 years, and sometimes when I skate, but they've never been as clearly exercise-triggered before as they are right now.
And they seem to happen a lot more after I drink caffeine.
I've always known that caffeine can be linked to PVC's, but I've never noticed a connection personally. They've just had their own random patterns. But now, it seems that every time I have caffeine (which is at least three times a day), PVC's follow shortly.
Yesterday was the last straw. I'd gone down to Milwaukee again to do another 3k. I was pretty confident that I could do a sub-5:00 (which I've only done twice in Milwaukee, once when the "constant tailwind" blowers were on), but I secretly was hoping for a PB. After all, things have been going really well lately. Why not?
So I did a 500, and it went well--second fastest time ever in Milwaukee. Then I had a couple hour wait before my 3k. Good, I thought, more time for the caffeine from my early-morning coffee to leave my system. (I had cut back on my coffee by about half, but hadn't thought it prudent to abandon it altogether). But, shortly before my 3k, I started getting PVC's. And I had them at the starting line. And I had them throughout the first 600 meters of the race.
I had given a local Minnesota skater, Sprinter Boy, a ride down to Milwaukee. Since his sprints were done long before my 3k, he was kind enough to offer to give me my splits on the backstretch. We had discussed my projected times, and I had predicted a 37-second first lap, followed by a 38. I wanted to hold the 39's at bay for as long as possible, and hopefully never hit 40. When the PVC's got bad at around 400 meters into the race though, I figured 37 be damned, I have to back off a bit or I won't finish the race. So I eased up for the final 100 yards of the first lap, and figured I'd point meaningfully to my chest as, I struggled past Sprinter Boy on the backstretch, to explain my undoubtedly-sluggish first lap.
When I came out of the corner and saw the lap board, though, it read...6.7. As in 36.7.
Geez, if I hadn't eased up I probably would have gotten a 35.
Shortly after that the PVC's stopped. I struggled through the next few laps but felt better as the race went on, and actually felt the strongest in the two final laps. Which was good, considering that I had a bigger audience for this race than I'm used to--I was the final skater in the meet, I had no pair and thus was the only one on the ice, and was actually skating after the time that the skate school classes were supposed to start. So I had about 100 anxious little kids and their parents watching me skate and undoubtedly thinking "can't she go any faster?" So it would have sucked to have had a bad race.
Anyway, the race turned out OK--4:56.91, my second fastest (un-blower-aided) Milwaukee time. After the first lap, the splits were a 38, one 40, and the rest 39's. So I was happy, but also a bit frustrated. It was a very unpleasant race, and the uncertainty of not knowing when I'll get PVC's and how long into the race/practice they'll last is not something I want to have to deal with every time I skate.
So I'm quitting caffeine, at least long enough to see if it makes a difference (if it doesn't, you can bet I'll crack open a cold Diet Dew before you can say Premature Ventricular Contraction). If the caffeine-ectomy doesn't work, I'll probably see my doctor (no sense seeing him before I quit the caffeine, since I'm pretty sure that's the first thing he'll recommend). In the meantime I'll nurse my caffeine-withdrawal headache and think happy thoughts about how much fun it will be to skate hard without my heart beating funny...
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