training 3/15-3/21 race week

3/15- Trak Shak 3.1 in 20:47 (6:41 pace) plus cool down. Best time of the year. I did have to stop at a red light for over a minute but I still would have broken 21 without the stop. On one level, I am pleased with this run because it was only 1 day after a quality long run. On another level, I still felt sluggish and simply "just not right." I hope I can turn the corner soon. Race day is just 6 days away. Even pace but zero finishing kick. Splits: 6:41-6:47-6:38-42. I am satisfied with my time but not pleased with how I felt. I drank a recovery drink last night with just a little taurine and I didn't feel well at all in the morning. I may try some neurotransmitter support but will not do anything new or stupid on race morning.
Grade:B-/2 credits/distance=4.0

3/16- This is a scheduled easy day and it is now a rest day. I tried some tyrosine with vitamin C and had a negative reaction within 2 hours. The good news is that it means that my body is producing enough adrenaline without it and too much with it. I have now narrowed the cause of my mild fatigue down to one and it has got to be excess glycine. I felt great last Wednesday at the Trak Shak and it may have been because I forgot to take it the night before. Taurine also increases glycine so that's probably why I can't tolerate that stuff at all. Of course, stopping it now could throw the rest of my formula out of whack and I have a race to run in 5 days. I could turn the corner or be a disaster. I wouldn't have it any other way. As for today, I know that I will suck big time so rather than take a D or an F in an easy run, I'll rest completely and let tomorrow be quality.

3/17- Trak Shak 6.5 @ 7:04 pace. New course PR. No glycine and that made a big difference. This course has 4 absolutely nasty hills so this run was far superior to my Lakeshore 5 @ 7:09. Best time of the year for 5M (35:04) and 10K (43:56) but the most important thing was that I felt like myself today. I'd say this translates to about a 34:30 (6:54) on a Lakeshore 5. I can't predict what will happen if I stay off the glycine permanently. Do I need to cut it out or merely reduce it? Strong performance. A sub-7 would have been a solid A.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=6.5

3/18- Last quality run until race day. Hoover 4.5 @ 7:12 pace, water stop followed by a 400 sprint in 76 seconds (best time of the year) then a cool down. Pretty even pace (7:08-7:16) Decent performance. Medical report showed modest improvement (ugh) but at least it was a bit better than 3 months ago. I think that I would run about 1:36 on the Baton Rouge course and Atlanta is at least 2 minutes slower. I'll be happy with anything under 1:40. Excess glycine was the cause of my fatigue and I remain unsure of what to do about it. No more experimentation until after race day.
Grade:B/2 credits/distance=5.5

3/19- 3 mile recovery jog in 23:57 (7:59 pace). That's right. A recovery jog at less than 8:00 pace. I actually tried to slow down but I was in rhythm and could not. That means that I can really jack up the mileage in April. Maybe back to the 50 range but not 60. I took 1 glycine and felt a bit sluggish almost immediately. Hopefully I can wean off the chromium and stay on the SBF/Lithium and maybe add some choline/inositol. I was a bit stiff and the grade is based on how I felt, which was average. This run will probably make little difference but it does add 3 to my weekly total.
Grade:B-/1 credit/distance=3.0

3/20- Drive to Atlanta. Rest day.

3/21- ING Georgia half marathon in 1:38:18
Grade:B/4 credits/distance=14.0
HM grading scale: 1:30:00 is set at 100 with 2 points off for each minute after that so:
A:1:30-1:34/B:1:35-1:39/C:1:40-1:44/D:1:45 or worse/F: only DNFs

Weekly summary:
High quality but low mileage. Every single mile was under 8. Pretty good race week overall. Nothing spectacular but nothing less than B- either and I like the consistency.
Distance=33.0/GPA= 33.5/11=3.05