That's great, Ralph. I don't know how long it's been since I've gone 48 hours! Not that I have a problem (yet), but it has become a bad habit recently. Go easy on the soft drinks. They are loaded with sugar. That wakes you up, similar to caffeine so that's probably why you're not suffering from caffeine withdrawal. When I was pregnant and had to go off caffeine/boos, I used to take unsweetened fruit juice and cut it with 50% perrier or soda water - it's really nice and more refreshing than pop.

I'm sure you'll find an equilibrium on the exercise before too long. Running is not the easiest thing to start with but once you get into it, it's hard to beat for the lift in mood.

Thanks for the support. I was taking 5 drinks a night and when that got to be a ritual where I took all 5 in rapid succession, (4 shots followed by a beer) I thought this couldn't be good. By soft drinks I meant both regular coke and flavored soda water. I figure compared to beer I'm not doing much worse by drinking liquid sugar yet I do know it's nearly as bad for me.

I love to run. I am quite familiar with the runner's high and my best mile is 6:12 so I used to be good. I dreamed of a 4 minute mile but I'm not Kenyan so 6 and change will do. Heck if I could get under 8 today I'd be pretty happy.