So I'm a grad student finishing up the semester (hopefully this last paper will be done by the end of the day tomorrow). Needless to say, I've been pretty dependent on caffeine for months, and have definitely kicked it up a notch over the last few weeks. This would seem like the perfect time to begin detoxing, but I have a half-iron race next Saturday (7 days from now). I figure there are two main options: (1) go cold-turkey now, endure a few days of headaches and tiredness (both of which are inevitable, as I've been through this before), and hope I feel fine by race day. The obvious problem is that, although I never have anything caffeinated before training, I imagine my body has gotten very used to having it in my system when I do. And this is not to mention that my mornings pre-coffee or pre-energy-drink have gotten to be especially bad. I'm not sure 7 days is enough to ensure that there will be no ill-effects on race-day of kicking this habit. I'm leaning toward option (2): cutting back on it over the next week, having enough to function normally, and also having a bit of coffee or energy drink on race morning.

Anyone been in a similar situation or have any advice? Thanks in advance.