Who Forgot the Coffee?

Geez, I did!  Unbelievable.  I wouldn't call myself a coffee addict; I don't have to drink it throughout the day - and in fact I really only have about a cup and a half in the mornings and that is it.  But, generally speaking, I really, really want that cup and a half.  It's the first thing I do in the mornings - I make coffee.

Yesterday, though, in a strange, completely foreign-for-me turn of events, I F-O-R-G-O-T to make coffee.  Now, I can almost forgive myself because it was such an unusual morning for me.  Since Hubby was heading to the Glacial Trail 50 Mile and 50K race event to volunteer for a half day, waking up way before anything nearing a decent hour to do so, I had to squeeze my long run for the weekend in around the kids getting up and needing breakfast.  So, I set my alarm for 4:45 a.m.  Yeah, okay.  That didn't happen.  I listened to the alarm go off, somewhere in the fog made a mental note of it, and then proceeded to hit the snooze for a half hour.  Getting up at 5:15 a.m. instead, I managed to eat breakfast and watch what passes for the news at that time, before finally making it to the treadmill at 6 a.m.  There was no time for coffee.  I then proceeded to trot along at the Training Plan's assigned 11:06 pace for the next hour and a half.  Once the kids got up, I had a 45-minute break where I made breakfast, got the kids dressed and out the door for church with the GPs before being able to get back on the treadmill at the same pace to finish up the 4.5 miles I had left of my 12 miler.

After finishing up, stretching, showering, and getting ready for the day, I was about to head out to the gymnastics center for play time, when I realized - no coffee!  Strange, with all that running, I must have forgotten.  A stop by Starbucks rectified that situation.

Okay, so a minor slip up.  No big deal, right?  Well, fast forward to this morning.  I got up at 6 a.m. - after apparently turning my alarm off altogether - and did the few core exercises I have started as well as some running-specific PT-assigned exercises (trying to work on that strength!).  By the time I finished those, the kids were up and needing breakfast.  We ate, cleaned up, got ready to head to the bus stop, and - mental headslap - I forgot the coffee again!  This is all highly unusual for me and I don't know how to explain it.  Maybe I am losing my mind.  Maybe exercising first thing in the morning somehow gives you enough of a boost to forget about needing/wanting the coffee. I just don't know.

What I do know is that it got me thinking.  As I headed to Starbucks yet again for the second day in a row, I realized - they owe me a LOT of free coffee.  You think I am kidding?  Check out this picture.

Each of these bags represents a free "tall" coffee, and this isn't even all of them.  It's the only reason I continue to purchase Starbucks - even after they raised their prices a while back.  I may be paying $7.99 or $8.99 a bag - but once you subtract the $1.73 for the tall coffee, it doesn't seem so bad.  (That's what I tell myself anyway.)  In any case, I have a poop load of these bags because - since I keep making coffee at home - I don't need to go to a coffee shop for a cup o' joe.  Well, I think this week, that is about to change.  I have decided rather than make coffee at home, I am going to start working my way through these free cups of coffee.  I am going to go every day until these bags are gone - or until I get used to saying "tall" instead of "small," whichever comes first.

So, if you happen to see me enjoying what appears to be a home-brewed cup of coffee, know that - at least for the duration - it's an illusion.

So, what do you say?  Forgetting coffee two days in a row - mental lapse or exercise endorphins replacing the caffeine?