I (heart) Tim

Recently I received a message from my very injured Canadian running coach, Kevin, describing the extent and impact of his running-related injuries. Here in New York, I have an American friend, Caitlin, who describes herself as a "running, swimming, biking, squash-playing, cooking, nature-loving, early-morning-rising" kind of girl. Caitlin has also recently suffered a string of terrible injuries. Only she can relay the series of events correctly, but I think it started with sciatica and ended with her in physio every other day for three hours at a time (I've been known to exaggerate, but this is no exaggeration), being treated for everything from a stress reaction in her foot to a bum hip. Because she's had to lay off the running (and even forgo a planned marathon this spring), cycling, and squash, her injuries have been the source of both physical and emotional distress. I can only imagine her frustration; the most serious injury I've suffered to-date is a swollen second toe -- apparently diagnosed as plantar capsilitus by my celebrity podiatrist (that is, a podiatrist to the celebrities of running), and which I will no doubt get to at some point in a future post -- and though I've had the occasional shin pain or sore knee or tight plantar fascia, I've never had to take a day off of running because of a running-related injury (which is quite amazing, all things considered).

Note: not my foot

It is therefore with much sympathy that I've been following Caitlin's injury rehabilitation. So when, a few days ago, I received an email from Kevin describing his litany of injuries and the associated sadness/pain/frustration/anger that goes with them, I thought Caitlin might like to know that she's not the only one out there who is suffering. I excerpted a part of his email to show to her, which included the following line: "I can't do ANYTHING without intense pain--inline skate, elliptical, cycle...even a 1 mile walk to Tim Hortons has me in tears (from the pain, but also from the hopelessness and powerlessness of not being able or allowed to even TRY at anything)." While Cailtin replied that she could most definitely relate to Kevin's pain and frustration, she added at the end, "I like that he walks a mile to eat donuts at Tim Horton's, hehe." But as any Canadian reader would have already understood, it's highly unlikely that Kevin was trying to walk a mile for donuts. Though I haven't confirmed this with him, I'm guessing that he was attempting the trek for the sake of Tim Hortons coffee.


Tim's is something of an institution in Canada. It's eponymous Canadian founder was a former NHL player for teams that included the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New York Rangers, but, for most Canadians today, Tim Horton's is synonymous with deliciously wonderful coffee. It has an earthy richness to it that goes down like a warm embrace in your belly, and, in my house, Tim's is all my husband and I drink. About two years ago, we began hauling it back with us to NYC every time we visited Canada, and we now try to buy a sufficient number of tins to hold us through to our next planned trip. (Canadian visitors to our humble abode are encouraged to bring a tin, too.) My family, who are also Tim's devotees, drinks several cups of the stuff each day. Last summer, on vacation with my parents in Ecuador, it was amusing to find my java-loving dad drinking only tea for two weeks: they don't have Tim's in South America.

While I normally enjoy my Tim's after my morning run and before heading to work, there have been an increasing number of studies over the last few months documenting the positive effect of caffeine on athletic performance. Apparently all one needs is about one mg of caffeine per one kg of body weight to see a beneficial effect on endurance and performance; five or six mgs/kg is probably okay, but nine mgs/kg can actually be detrimental. Since the average 12 oz cup of drip coffee contains about 200 mg of caffeine, that means I'm pretty much good to go with one cup of coffee before my run. So over the last few months, I have changed my Saturday morning long run routine to include rolling out of bed at 7 am to brew half a pot of Tim's (I don't have time to brew, drink, and let the "gastrointestinal effect" of coffee kick in before my weekday runs). Every 50-60 minutes during my long runs, I also typically ingest a chocolate-flavored Power Gel that contains 25 mg of caffeine (I recommend Power Gel, not GU, because the former has a 4:1 sodium:potassium ratio while the latter does not, and I've read that this is the optimal ratio for achieving optimal performance).

I can't say that the extra caffeine has had much, if any, positive effect on my performance, but I don't think it's harming it, either. I do remember a few long runs over the last few years, though, on which I was so tired that I thought I might be able to shut my eyes and doze off for a few minutes while still plodding along. I haven't felt that way this season, so maybe the caffeine actually is doing something. (This would make some sense, since I often run on Saturdays until 11:30 am, and by this time of the morning on any other day I would already have two cups of Joe -- excuse me, Tim's -- under my belt.) On the other hand, back when I was young and foolish and first started running routinely, I typically partied away my Friday nights and would roll out of bed hungover and on a few hours of sleep to begin Saturday morning's run. Over the last year, I've become a bit of an old fart, and I'm now pretty vigilant about 10:30 pm bedtimes on Fridays. So it may not be the caffeine at work, but rather the extra dose of prudence.

The jury is still out on whether my pre-run cup of Tim's is actually helping me to run faster, further, or stronger on Saturday mornings. It does, however, provide a good incentive to get out of bed on a weekend morning. And I imagine that, God forbid I should ever end up as injured as Caitlin or Kevin, walking to get a freshly brewed cup at the nearest store will provide a good form of cross-training -- especially if I have to walk all the way to Canada!