Training 9/5-9/11

9/5- Gold's 3 in 23:39 (7:53 pace).  Very mediocre effort.  Back in Birmingham and it will probably do me good to get back to my normal routine.  I don't think the sulfur has fully cleared yet.  Tried some zinc and selenium and both were non-factors.  Mile 1 was 7:57 then popped a selenium and improved only slightly to 7:49 (not significant) then slipped back to 7:53 after taking zinc (again, not significant).  I will order Vitamin E as succinate.
Distance=3.0

9/6- Lakeshore 2.5 in 19-flat (7:36 pace) with splits of 7:30-7:42-3:48.  Clearly better than yesterday despite cheating badly on sugar.  It's all about the sulfur intolerance.  If my recent history is any indication, I will improve steadily for 5-10 days then collapse.  Added a 5 minute cool.
Distance=3.0

9/7- Lakeshore 5 in 42:02 (8:24 pace).  Very poor performance and extra B-6 was the culprit.  Only 1 of those suckers can be tolerated and I may be better off cutting it in half.  Came through the 1st half in a not horrible 19:52 then faded to 22:10 on the back half with a 9:30 in Mile 5.  Detroit is listed as doubtful at this point.  I'm not flying away for another awful race.
Distance=5.0
Update:
Research indicates that high oxalates could be causing the sulfur issues.  The test needed is the Organic Acids Test.

9/8- Took Calcium citrate at lunch and it appears to be a winner.  I had frequent urination and it had a cloudy appearance.  Both are classic signs of oxalate detox.  There is a chance that if the oxalates are out of my system, I can handle sulfur.  If I can do that, I can get the Iron down and FINALLY get in balance.  Felt VERY much different on the run and my mind wasn't sure how to handle it.  I actually took a couple mental breaks but covered 3 miles in a moving time of 20:34 (6:51 pace).  Came through the Mile mark in 6:55 then popped a Vitamin E succinate.  Mile 2 was 6:59 but Mile 3 was 6:40 so even if the E is not a game changer, it is tolerated.  A deficiency in succinate as revealed on Yasko's MAP test can cause exercise intolerance and myopathy.  Correction of that could be huge. Faint glimmer of hope.
Distance=3.0

9/9- AM- Spain Park Mile in 6:07.5 (MINUS 8).  Split the difference between the 6 minute barrier and last week's time.  Calcium citrate appears to be a winner and the E succinate is tolerated and may be slightly beneficial.  Paced it well again with splits of 90-95-94-88.  Something still feels off today and before my next time trial, I will reduce my B-6 to half a pill.

PM- Gold's 4 in 29:58 (7:29 pace).  Solid but unspectacular.  Pace hovered just over 7:30 most of the way and needed just a modest rally to break 30.  Still feeling too over-stimulated so upon further review, the Vitamin E will only be taken occasionally and the B-6 will be reduced.
Distance=5.0

9/10- AM.  Split decision overall.  There is good news and bad.  As I suspected, the Calcium citrate appears to have solved the sulfur intolerance. That COULD BE HUGE!  B-6 reduction was probably not much of a factor.  Both the Curcumin and Yasko's Iron detox pills were tolerated (at least they were today) BUT the Calcium citrate was NOT tolerated and the workout was horrible.  Managed just 3 miles in 26:33 (8:51 pace) with a 3rd mile in 9:42.  Fortunately, I saw the collapse coming so it was a short walk of shame.
Reaction:
I got the cheap brand of Cal citrate at CVS and I did not see that it contains fillers including one ingredient in particular that I cannot tolerate.  It's a lucky thing that it did work for 2 days otherwise, I may not have realized the problem.  I tried another brand from a health foods store which DOES appear to be tolerated.  It's also possible that it must be balanced with Mag citrate but if that's the case, I need to go real easy.  Mag citrate won't raise Mag levels much and will deplete copper and ceruloplasmin.  With the Curcumin and Yasko's product, it's a good bet that my Iron panel will improve on my next test.

PM- Tacked on another 3 at Gold's.  Time improved to 24:30 (8:10 pace).  Cal citrate WITHOUT all the fillers and additives should work for me.  There is a chance that I can finish a 10 miler tomorrow.
Distance=6.0

9/11- FAILED again.  Only marginally better than yesterday's morning session.  Managed 5 miles on Lakeshore in an ugly time of 43:40 (8:44 pace).  1st half was a not horrible 20:09 then faded to 23:31 over the last 2.5 and was struggling to hold 10 minute pace at the end.

Reaction:
The Calcium citrate is a NO.  Once again, the sulfur containing pills including Curcumin and Yasko's Iron detox were not only tolerated but likely beneficial and I may do better this afternoon.  Without the Cal citrate or something else to control the oxalates, the sulfur intolerance will come back with a VENGEANCE! I don't believe better Iron regulation through blood donation will solve it either. The high oxalates are likely the reason for the B-6 sensitivity as well.  Once again, I found a solution to a MAJOR problem but the ill-effects of the solution are worse than the problem itself.  I tried balancing the Calcium citrate with extra Mag malate.  It didn't work and probably made it worse.  Extra All-In One, which contains low dose Mag citrate seemed to help marginally.  This development has left me with 3 options before blood donation:
1) Take the Cal citrate only occasionally.  The sulfur sensitivity could return as early as 1-2 days or 1-2 weeks.  We shall see.
2). Balance the Cal citrate with Mag citrate.  Again, the doses must be low to prevent loss of ceruloplasmin.  I am unsure if that will really work and Mag citrate is NOT a substitute for my preferred source (Mag malate).  Cal citrate may be just simply a NO, period.
3). Find another solution for the high oxalates.  I'll be looking through Yasko's site.

PM- Back to Gold's for experimental intervals.  Just like yesterday, I was better after taking the Curcumin and Iron detox pills.  Did the first 2 miles in 15-flat (7:30 pace) then popped a Cal/Mag citrate combo and was so bad that I didn't even try going out for Mile 3.

Reaction:
Scratch option 2.  Most of Yasko's suggestions for oxalates contained sulfur except for adenosyl B-12.  That's a viable option.  I'm going with that and I shall see if the sulfur sensitivity returns.  I will be laying off both citrates for at least a week.
Distance=7.0

-32 miles on the week.