Training 4/25-5/1

4/25- Oak Mountain run on a relentlessly rolling course. The first 4 miles were at a respectable 7:20 pace then crashed and burned. The problem was my sports drink. I experimented again with the Brian Sell Gatorade/Red Bull combo that worked great in '09. I felt okay after the first drink stop but after the second (4 miles in), I was much poorer. Mile 5 was just over 8 then I hung it up after the next .5 was close to 9 pace. I drank again to confirm the problem and was relegated to walk/jog over the final 2.5. Still very sensitive to taurine but that's okay. As long as I don't take any, I'll be fine. Half a decent run today. I get a B for the first half and an F for the 2nd half.
Grade:C-/1 credit/distance=8.0

4/26- Did not feel well when I woke up today but it was a great feeling as the taurine washed its way out of my system in the afternoon. Health screening at work today:
Weight: 154.6, BP: 118/80, cholesterol: 141. Very good numbers.
Workout today was indoors because of a fierce wind. 3 miles with the first 2 at short tempo effort and the last mile at 5K race pace. Finished with time of 19:26 (6:29 pace), which translates to just under 20:15 for a full 5K. Splits were 6:34-6:37-6:15. Pretty solid. The first 2 were on par with my 10K pace and the last mile was near 5K pace. You really can't go much faster than 6:15 on the indoor track. Only downer was the areas that were treated with prolotherapy still seem weak but the post-injection pain is gone. The taurine may not have fully cleared my system and I hope I can improve further. I probably was good for sub-20 today but not much faster.
Grade:B/2 credits/distance=4.0

4/27- Planned rest day and it was a good day for a rest. It was what I hope is the last severe storm of the Spring. Hoover was largely spared but areas north and east of town were not so lucky. As far as I know, Friday's 5K is still on.

4/28- 1 mile junk run on the 'mill. Did not feel very well. A lot of tightness in the calves with no real explanation. Race time decision tomorrow. After the tornado, my heart is really not into it. Power is still out in some areas so I'm not even sure that the race will go off as scheduled.
Grade: Non-Pass/0 credit/distance=1.0

4/29- BAD NEWS. The calf soreness was due to the chromium deficiency. If I take chromium regularly, the same thing will happen as before. My adrenals will be overstimulated and I'll have to go back on the ADHS then the cycle repeats itself. I have 2 other options: 1) reduce the ADHS and hope it'll be enough to keep the adrenals in relative balance or 2) re-introduce a small amount of copper to neutralize the zinc and I'll have to be very careful with that because copper can screw up thyroid function. Not sure what to do.
The UAB 5K was canceled because of Wednesday's tornado and I would have bailed anyway so I hit Vestavia track for a solo time trial. After loading on chromium for a temporary fix, I was able to run fairly well. Early hopes for a PR slipped away but sub-20 remained a realistic goal.
1st 400 was right on target at 91 and I was still on 19 pace through the first kilometer (3:48). As is often the case, I was faltering by the end of the first mile (6:10) but managed 1 more strong lap to reach the 2K mark at 7:41 and the first half passed in 9:41. By this point, my calf was sore and I was essentially in survival mode but battling hard to hold that sub-20. Fading fast, I hit 2 miles at 12:35. I would need 4 laps in 1:40 each and a decent kick. I could not go much faster than that but with 1 lap to go, it was clear that I had it. Final time was 19:53.
Splits by Mile: 6:10-6:25-6:35-43.
Splits by kilometer: 3:48-3:53-4:04-4:08-4:00.
6 lap cool at glacial pace with calf muscles still abnormally sore.
Grade:B/3 credits/distance=5.0

4/30- Good call on the time trial last night. There was a 5K this morning but I expected to feel lousy when I woke up and I did. Copper seems unlikely to be the answer so that leaves me with the only one option other than chromium dependency, which is lower dose ADHS. The workout was the Trak Shak 8 with the group. Ran fairly well through 6 miles (46:10) then hit the wall. Final 2 miles were 8:26 and 8:44 for an overall time of 63:20 (7:55 pace). Too bad about the 5K too. There was a guy who finished at 19:15 and would have been perfect competition for me on a good day. All around bad week for everyone in Birmingham.
Grade:C/1 credit/distance=8.0

5/1- A.M. Took only 1 ADHS in the last 24 hours which was not enough and I felt it immediately upon rising. Hit the road early after taking 2 pills, which helped but were not enough. Lakeshore 6.5 with a cool down in 46:45 (7:12 pace). Faded pretty badly in the last 2 miles and it would have gotten ugly if I had run the 10 that I planned. I know that 8 pills are too many and 4 are probably not enough. Will 6 work? That's 15 mg. of zinc, which may be too much. UGH!

P.M. Indoor 5 mile in 34:51 (6:58 pace). Pretty solid for my 2nd workout of the day. Felt a lot better after taking pill #3 and 4. Hope that I can stabilize at 6. I'd rather perform a little under par for a while than be dependent on chromium again.
Grade:B-/3 credits/distance=12.o

Weekly summary:
Bad week all around. I repeat that I MUST stay off the chromium. I need one more long run over 13 miles before the race but at this point, the transition to summer speed and time trials is in full swing. I want another shot at the 5K very soon and the weather should be pretty cool later in the week. Will the body cooperate and will 6 pills work out? GPA is lowest since January and would have been worse if not for pass/fail grading on Thursday.
Distance=38.0/GPA= 26.8/10=2.68