Training 9/11-9/17

9/11- On just the 3rd day off caffeine, I'm seeing BIG changes.  Whole Food C appears to be no longer tolerated, which was expected.  The same thing happened after the first blood donation.  I experienced a need for it, which was followed by a sudden intolerance.  Fortunately, glycine appears to be tolerated once again.  As for the workout, it wasn't pretty.  3 miles in an overall time of 26:04 (8:41 pace) but if you dig deeper, there are signs of hope.  The first mile was 9:20 and I slipped to the 10 minute range by the end of it.  After popping the glycine, I improved to an 8:36-8:08 with a last half mile in 3:56.  The explanation is caffeine inhibits the glycine receptors, causing the intolerance.

PM- Repeated the 3 mile at Gold's after the boss let us go home early.  I was worse after additional C but better after more glycine.  My time is down to 23:24 (7:48 pace) with a slight negative split.  Vitamin C will be cut out but in a few more days, assuming that the glycine remains tolerated, other pills won't even phase me. The rain isn't all that bad so far but the wind is beginning to pick up now.
Grade:C/1 credit/distance=6.0

9/12- Hoped to do 5 at Gold's and settled for 3 with a time of 22:51 (7:37 pace).  MINUS 9 over yesterday which is better than nothing but I was hoping for a little better.  It's Day 4 now and the adrenal spike has not calmed down yet.  I still need mega ADHS and with the low dose, I'd really suck.  That should be resolved in 2-3 more days.  As for the glycine, it's still tolerated.  On the first attempt, it caused some minor muscle aches early but that MAY have been due to the caffeine.  We shall see.

I sure hope I'm done with caffeine for good now that I know the damage it's caused.  Cheating once a week won't hurt but 1 turns into 2, which turns into 4 then I'm right back where I started.  If I can make it 21 days, my odds improve tremendously.

Weather:
Yesterday wasn't nearly as bad as feared.  Birmingham was right on the edge.  About an hour to the southeast and it would have been really ugly.  Georgia got hit harder and so did South Carolina.  The worst is over now but we won't see the sun for another 2 days.

PM- 5 miles in 37:24 (7:29 pace).  Solid performance.  Continued steady improvement BUT the muscle soreness does NOT feel natural.  It's probably the glycine.  If that's the case, it's either the precursor SHMT (which failed probably because of caffeine) or glycine every 3rd day.  Will continued abstinence from caffeine stop the sensitivity?  Possible but unlikely.
Grade:B/2 credit/distance=8.0

9/13- AM- Day 5 and I have plateaued.  Overall time was a respectable 22:17 for 3 miles (7:26 pace) but I opened with a 3:22 first half mile.  Just like the first round with the glycine, it was unsustainable and I was forced to run the remainder at standard effort.  Last 2.5 were done in 18:55 (7:34 pace), which isn't bad but this is the first day that I did not improve.  That's it for today.
2 options:
-Take glycine every 3rd day
-Go with SHMT spray.
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=3.0

9/14- Turned 37 years old today.  That number has been in my head for quite some time as the year of deliverance.  I'll know one way or the other very soon.

AM- Aimed to take a shot at a sub-6 Mile but knew warming up that it wasn't to be.  Just jogged around the parking lot 2 times instead for the equivalent distance.  Learned that the form of glycine isn't important.  Whether plain or with B-6, the effect is the same.  Without caffeine, it will indeed solve the sensitivity but it will also cause abnormal soreness especially in the calf and hamstring muscles.  With caffeine, it is not tolerated at all.  I am on Day 6 now and the adrenal spike will probably be all gone tomorrow.  I will try the SHMT spray as the precursor and hope for better results.  There could be another deficiency in play that is causing the reaction to glycine.  The smart money is on Vitamin E and I just ordered a bottle.

PM- 4 miles easy on Canterbury-Jemison.  Finished in 31:16 (7:49 pace).  Not bad for a hilly route.  Average performance.  Pace was pretty even but I did struggle on the hills.  All in all, it was a rather ordinary day for me.  Nothing great happened but nothing awful either.
Grade:B-/1 credit/distance=5.0

9/15- Interval testing and got good news and bad.  As expected, the adrenal spike has died down on Day 7.  Extra ADHS made little difference.  3x3 laps at Gold's with a Mile cool.
3 ADHS- 2:27 (7:21 pace)
6 ADHS- 2:24 (7:12 pace)
SHMT- 2:29 (7:27 pace)
  Looks fairly even but based on how I felt, it was obvious that SHMT slowed me down.  The abnormal soreness kicked in harder on the cool down.
No grade: distance=2.0
Reaction:
Glycine and its precursor (SHMT) will produce the same reaction.  I'll be free of sensitivity but have to deal with muscle aches unrelated to training.  If need be, it's a deal that I am willing to take but something else is in play that is holding me back and I intend to find it.

9/16- Hoping for a breakthrough on Day 8.  It did not happen but to my credit, I did not cave.  7 miles starting from O'Henry's.  Followed the usual script.  Began losing contact with the pack around 2 miles but fell off dramatically after 3.  Managed to fight my way through to salvage 7 miles in a time of 58:30 (8:21 pace).  I bet I could have muscled through another 6.1 and finished a half mary in about 1:54 but that's a full 10 minutes down on my post-35 PR so it's not nearly good enough.
Grade:C/1 credit/distance=7.0
Reaction:
SHMT spray or glycine pills?  If I must, it will be the latter.  I'll probably be better tomorrow so I'll attempt to go 10.  Vitamin E will arrive possibly today, Monday at the latest.

PM- No running but did learn something.  Yasko recommended Grapefruit Seed Extract for high Benzoate.  I picked up a bottle at Whole Foods and it FAILED!  Same old stiff all over feeling as before the glycine.  SHMT did NOT protect against it.  BUT glycine actually helped later.  Vitamin E did NOT arrive so I have to wait until Monday.  That could be a game changer but if not, SHMT is OUT and so is the GSE.  It will have to be glycine every 3rd day or possibly micro doses every day.

9/17- AM- DISASTER.  2.5 miles on Lakeshore in 23:53 (9:33 pace).  Forgot to take B-12 this morning.  That's right!  ONE MISSED DOSE!  Added a half mile cool.
Grade:D-/1 credit/distance=3.0

PM- Gold's 3 in 21:54 (7:18 pace).  Very even splits and felt smooth but as usual, the glycine robbed me of my top gear.  What was responsible for the dramatic improvement in just a few short hours?  You guessed it.  Just one dose of B-12.  I can live with something like that but NOT the moving targets.  Again, my demands are HARDLY UNREASONABLE!
Grade:B+/1 credit/distance=3.0

Weekly summary:
An improvement over the previous 3 weeks but still not good enough to win.  I'm 0-3 in the critical 8 week stretch so I've got to win the next 5 in a row to make the goal.  I have 3 options going forward:
- Cut the TMG to 1500 and take 500 glycine.
-Take 1000 glycine every 3rd day.
-Stay the course and hope Vitamin E is the game changer OR find another game changer.

If I don't do anything stupid such as a caffeine binge or trying another questionable pill to substitute for glycine, the status quo is something that I can accept but not happily.  Sore muscles and lack of access to top gear won't ruin my life but it's still annoying.
Distance=37.0/ GPA= 19.7/8= 2.46