Training 10/28-11/3

10/28- Gold's 5 miler almost all out in a lame 39:05 (7:49 pace).  Used the anger as fuel for a 7:23 last mile.  2nd day off the antibiotics and I was not significantly better than yesterday.  That means that there could be other factors at work and I won't rule out magnesium.  Clean diet for the first time in several days.
Grade:C-/1 credit/distance=5.0

10/29- Gold's 5 miler in 35:23 (7:05 pace). Popped some extra Mag after Mile 2 and clocked a sub-7 pace the rest of the way.   This was an improvement of 3:42 over yesterday but this time, my reaction is So what?  Similar improvements have happened before and were followed by another collapse. This time is hardly worth celebrating as it is nearly 4 minutes from my PR.  Once again, I need magnesium.  That's right, in this month alone, I have been on it then forced off and now I've been forced back on.  Is it too much to ask just to function at 90% and be able to do so consistently?  My 90% would be mid 1:30s for a half, which is not too shabby.
The antibiotic use likely played a role in the magnesium depletion so I fully expect that I will be forced off again soon and will endure another collapse in the very near-future.  Sorry for the pessimism but I'm only being realistic given this nightmare of a year.
Grade:B+/1 credit/distance=5.0

10/30- 5 mile time trial and my time is down to 33:32 (6:42 pace).  1st half: 16:40, 2nd half: 16:52.  Fastest time since June and just 33 ticks shy of "competitive shape."  Actually felt somewhat like my old self today but the news is not all good.  I bumped up the Mag from 100 mg to 150 mg this afternoon and I could tell before starting that it was not enough so I went up to 225 mg.  The same dosage would have been toxic only 2 weeks ago.  I still don't know why this happened and I still expect to be forced back off and collapse to 9:40 Mile shape.  I did have a minor slip with the caffeine but once a week won't hurt me.  Just don't make a habit of it.  Do I chance it and race in West Virginia?  I'm leaning towards going.  Tulsa is nearly sold out.  The hair test will be sent in 4 weeks and I should get some answers.  Which problem is worse, the high Na or low Mg?
Grade:A-/2 credit/distance=6.0

10/31- Lakeshore 6 just before the rain hit.  Finished in 45:47 (7:38 pace).  Not a bad time for a planned easy day but I was not pleased with how I felt.  1st half was a comfy 22:16, 2nd half was a weak 23:31 and had to work to maintain the 7:50 pace.  An average performance overall.  Passed 1,500 miles on the year so as much as this year has sucked, I'm still getting decent mileage and not losing too much fitness.
Grade:B-/1 credit/distance=6.0

Update: Good news and bad news.  The bad is that once again, changes must be made just after I thought I was getting it together.  Glad I did not get my hopes up.  The good news is that I found out why I needed magnesium this week and it was my own damn fault.  I skipped too many doses of Vitamin C.  Vitamin C enhances magnesium absorption.  Thus, without it, I needed to supplement Mag but with it, it's too much of a drain on my adrenaline. There is a chance, albeit slim, that Thym-Adren+C+ a clean diet will maintain my Mag levels.  I will proceed as planned with the all Thym-Adren strategy until Thanksgiving.  Then depending on my medical report, I will either stay with it or go with more Cal/Mag and less Thym-Adren.  On lowered Thym-Adren, I will not need Vitamin C.  I'll bet my tissue Na is down to the 60s by now.  The West Virginia decision will be made this weekend.

11/1- Planned rest day.  As expected, I am not feeling the best on my first day off the Mag and back on the C but I bet I could handle an easy workout today if the schedule called for it.  I hope to be well enough to go long tomorrow but if I can't, I can do it on Sunday.

11/2- COLLAPSE!  Can't say I'm surprised.  3 miles in 25:10 (8:23 pace) with a 3rd mile in 9:30.

PM- 1 mile junk run in 7:06.  Felt better but so what?
Grade:D/1 credit/distance=4.0

11/3- Reminiscent of the Crazy J of old today.  Lakeshore 14 in 1:41:40 (7:16 pace).  1st half in 51:07, 2nd half in 50:33.  Pace was pretty steady at just under 7:20 for the first 13 then slammed a 6:47 in Mile 14.  I believe I had a 1:33 half in me today in a race setting.  Again, so what? 1 good run does not make everything right.   I cut the Thym-Adren from 8 pills to 6 and if I did not do that, I would have been just as horrible as I was yesterday if not worse.  What are the odds that this is the long-term answer?  Slim-none.  I am going to chance it and race next week in West VA.
Grade:A/2 credits/distance=14.0

Weekly summary:
2 good days in a week is not good enough at this stage of the treatment.  Because the good days occurred on my planned quality days, I managed to pull out a win.  If I win next week, that's 2 in a row.  How about a winning streak?
Distance=40.0/GPA= 24.1/8= 3.01
YTD; 1,520 miles and that's all I'm posting.