Famous Amos, First Marathon, Coffee and Depression

"Believe that you can do it, under any circumstances. Because if you believe you can, then you really will. That belief just keeps you searching for the answers, then pretty soon you get it."– Wally "Famous" Amos

Sunday’s training run began at my front door with 56-year-old Randall.  We headed for Chris’s house in order to pick him up along the way.  Approximately, an hour later, we were at his front door.  He joined us and we then continued to the quarry at the Highway 49 crossing to refill our water bottles.  We filled our water bottles, and then proceeded down the trail in the direction of Maine bar.  Chris was running well and was the first one to reach the infamous Maine bar trail.  We then proceeded, with approximately a mile climb in order to reach the 16 mile marker of the Wendell Robie trail.  From there, we came back to my front door.  Randall is in “heavy” training and continued running, while Chris and I walked the last mile or so.

At my house, Chris gave Randall pointers about proper stretching and other training techniques.  Randall is training for a marathon and is slowly building up his miles, which is the smart thing to do.  His longest run so far is about 15 miles.  He has plenty of time to reach his goal, and it does make sense for him not to push the miles at this juncture.

For me, Sunday’s run was my longest in quite a while.  Activity with my book, Tony going on vacation, resting my Achilles, cutting my hand, and burning my lip contributed to shortening my trail runs.  I felt comfortable yesterday and ran fairly well.  My next event is a half marathon at Stinson Beach, on the 12^Th, with Secretariat. I will be ready.

Today, Linda on Nails, and I did a short 5 mile or so, loop.  I felt okay.  Tomorrow, I plan to run the same loop that we did Sunday, which is about 13 miles. Famous Amos’s is right on.  Having a belief or expectation is a powerful motivator. My doctoral dissertation studied expectation as a motivational variable and found that statistically, it is a powerful predictor of performance.

In the September 27, 2011 edition of the Wall Street Journal, a new study found that women who regularly consume coffee or more specifically, caffeinated beverages are less likely to suffer depression.  In this particular study, women who had 2 to 3 cups of coffee a day  had  about  a 15% lower risk of developing depression over a 10 year period, compared to women who had only one cup of coffee or less per week.  And 4 or more cups of coffee a day reduced the risk of depression by 20%.  Researchers concluded that the study did not prove that caffeine or caffeinated coffee reduces the risk of depression.  They suggested that caffeinated coffee has a “protective effect.”  On another note, depression is a chronic health problem that affects twice as many women as men.  At least 20% of women develop depression at some point in their lives.  We know that caffeine is considered the world’s most consumed central nervous system stimulant that temporarily boosts alertness and often improves people’s moods .If you are feeling depressed, consider keeping track of the number of cups of coffee consumed.  I would not stop there, as I would also consider including physical activity or exercise as well.  Stay mentally healthy and drink caffeine, if necessary.