Training 9/12-9/18

9/12- Mountain Brook Mile in 5:19.3 (fastest time since '99). Splits were 76-82-83-78. I thought my legs were dead with 200 to go but found just enough strength to beat my adult PR. The margin was less than one second but it counts. There is room for improvement as well. That 76 first lap doesn't look too bad but the first 200 was 35. I followed that up with 41s in the next 5 200s then rallied for 2 39s in the last lap. If I had gone out smarter (38), maybe I could have held 40s through the middle and then came home in 76. That would have brought me home in 5:14, which beats my goal. My energy level was similar to Pittsburgh. I had very good stuff but not quite tip top form. Maybe the quickie progression took a little out of me and could have been a few ticks faster if fully fresh. There's no subjectivity in a Mile time trial. I missed my goal by 4 seconds (1 tick per lap) so that's a 96 on the day.
Grade:A/3 credits/distance=3.0

Rant: There was a group of 3 older people walking dogs in the inside lanes before I started. I politely told them that they cannot have dogs on the track and to please move to the far outside lanes. They actually got offended and even asked me "What authority do you have?" and that I should get over any bad feelings about dogs. I don't care if you have a dog but you better make sure that it doesn't try to chase me or both of us could get hurt. Eventually they did move to the outside and there was no further confrontation. I think the problem was that since they were in their 50s or so, they didn't want to take an order from a soon to be 31 year old "kid."

9/13- MLR for the first time since Spring. Lakeshore 10 in 77:23 (7:44 pace). This is the workout that I enjoy the least because it just takes too long. There are a few puzzling developments. The groin is quite sore and I'll need another shot of prolotherapy (UGH). I've done well in sticking to my diet and it seems as if I'm having some healing reactions such as flushing toxins out. It feels weird at times but I am hopeful. There is no way that cutting out soda can hurt me in any way. It can only help me. I took one manganese this morning and had a mild negative reaction but I don't think it hurt my run in the evening. As for the workout, I was out too fast and allowed my pace to slow at the end but Miles 2-9 were pretty even, all in the 7:40s. Pretty solid but not stellar.
Grade:B+/2 credit/distance=10.0

9/14- Turned 31 years old today. Not a great day overall. Sore groin and coming down with a cold. I was sneezing uncontrollably at times. I wasn't expecting much in my run today but did surprisingly well. Trak Shak 5 in 32:58 (6:36 pace) with Lee at tempo effort. Long cool down. Warm conditions but not too humid. I took no pills today either. Perhaps the sore groin came as a result of taking excess Thym-Adren. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. If I'm less sore, I may not need prolo after all. I know I need Thym-Adren but if I can get by at a lower dosage, I suppose that's good. Please no more chromium or manganese at least not regularly. 7th day off soda.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=6.5

9/15- Planned rest day. I feel good enough to run today but I really have not had an easy day since 9/8. Smart call. I'll have to run in the morning tomorrow because I'm heading for South Carolina after work for the game. The groin soreness is still there but has diminished considerably. I'll probably run Monty without prolo and go from there.

9/16- AM- Indoor 5 mile at moderate effort in 35:55 (7:11 pace). I took a reduced dosage of Thym-Adren yesterday and it has become clear that it is the source of the abnormal soreness in my groin and hamstrings. This is NOT good news. I know that even without soda, I still need something to control my extreme fast oxidation and do not know where else to turn right now. I may have to take manganese temporarily and yes, prolo is still an option but it can wait. I probably will not do much differently until Monty and I feel good about running Cincy instead of Louisville because I may benefit from a 3 week gap. Decent performance in the workout. I would have run out of steam after about 8 miles at that pace but the Tym-Adren hasn't fully cleared and I still have a bit of a head cold. It was okay to run this workout fast because it's in between 2 rest days
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=5.5

PM- hit the road after work and stopped at Nick's in Atlanta.

9/17- No running today. Clemson 38 Auburn 24. Good game. Enjoyed the day at Clemson and had a good BBQ dinner back in Atlanta. Overall emotions were mostly positive but I could not help but think that much of my college experience was stolen from me because of adrenal fatigue. I never had that fun, carefree lifestyle even when I didn't have exams. I needed manganese today. Not good.

9/18- Because the weather was forecasted to turn warm, I opted to stay in Atlanta and do my long run on the Silver Comet trail. Very good performance. I covered 14.4 miles in 1:47:03 (7:26 pace). First half was slightly uphill in 54:18, then back slightly down in 52:45. Plan was to run the first 13 at an even effort then put out tempo effort in the final 1.4. Fastest mile was 7:17, slowest was 7:40. Most of the 1st 7 were in the 7:30s and the next 6 were 7:20s. Mile 14 was 7:07 and the final .4 was at 6:43 pace. I was hoping to have a bit more left but still pretty strong overall. I hit the sub-7:30 pace on my longest run in 6 months. The groin is still sore and I can't shake it but the news on that front is mixed. The soreness intensifies when I take the wrong pills so I know that it is related to the chemical imbalances, not improper training. As long as I remain unbalanced, I will probably need prolotherapy 2-3 times every year. That sucks.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=15.0

Weekly summary:
Strong week overall. I am much more stable. Too much Thym-Adren or manganese does hurt but the reaction is not as extreme. I don't feel horrible if I miss a dose or take 1 too many. I hit the mileage target despite only 5 days, one of which was Mile time trial. I also was successful in my long run and tempo.
Distance=40.0/ GPA= 36.4/10= 3.64