Training 3/12-3/18

3/12- Gold's 5 in 39:52 (7:58 pace).  MINUS 35.  I'll take it but I'm still not feeling anywhere close to my old self.  Sluggish and sore all the way.  1st half-19:47, 2nd half-20:05.  Did not finish strong.  Had to fight just to maintain pace.  I bet the PABA flare is starting to hit now.  That means tomorrow morning will be ugly but I should improve as the day progresses.  I'm only taking 100 mg.
Distance=5.0

3/13- Back side of the PABA flare went as expected.  Rough morning but did improve in the afternoon.  Jemison 3 mile on a mostly flat route.  Finished in 23:03 (7:41 pace) with a slight negative split.  2 more miles would have resulted in a time just a hair better than yesterday but I'm hoping for a 37:xx tomorrow for 5 miles.  A couple thoughts:  The flare hit 3 days after stopping the probiotics despite drinking a beer on Sunday.  Most likely, that means that I can handle it occasionally.  Second, the PABA flares are requiring much lower doses.  Perhaps, this is the last one.  Doubt it but we'll see.
Distance=3.0

3/14- Gold's 5 in 37:42 (7:32 pace).  MINUS 26.  Splits were 18:47-18:55.  Good start and solid finish and the pace never went above 7:40 in the mid section.  Not bad but I've still got a ways to go.  I won't even allow a glimmer of hope until I am under 36.  Not sure if I'll push it too hard tomorrow but if I do, I want a sub-37.
Distance=5.0

3/15- Not a relapse but this was a let down.  Came through 1 Mile on Lakeshore in 7:04 pretty much spent but did have even splits.  Treated the 2nd mile as a cool down and did not time it.  There are 2 possible explanations.  I did drink beer for the 3rd time in 6 days last night and 2 per week is probably my limit.  2nd- It appears that TMG needs to be reduced or eliminated.  TMG= Trimethyl glycine so that's not a shocker.  I normally take 2 of those suckers but a 3rd today made things worse.  We'll see what happens tomorrow.
Distance=2.0

3/16- AM-Very interesting experiments.  Began with no Ultimate B, Methyl folate OR TMG but the full dose of everything else:
Opened with a 2:57 3 lapper (8:51 pace)
Ultimate B- 2:46 (8:18 pace)  MINUS 33 but not nearly good enough
I clearly still need methylation support.  The 3rd interval was crazy.
It was a 2:25 overall but the first half was done on MF only without TMG and managed only a 1:34 (9:24 pace) so I was worse than the opener.  TMG is clearly still needed but at a lower dose.  Popped a TMG and finished with a 51 second back half (5:06 pace).  If I had been wearing racing flats instead of regular trainers, it would have been even faster.  

Did not have time for further testing but was noticeably worse after taking just half of an additional TMG.  REALLY DON'T FEEL GOOD ABOUT THAT SENSITIVITY!  Got home and tested additional glycine.  What was previously a non-factor turned BAD!  Did not attempt an evening workout.
Distance=1.0
Reaction:
Not a total shock and I kinda saw this coming.  Since probiotics can produce benzoates and the Glycine conjugates them, it follows that my need/tolerance for Glycine has diminished now that I am off the probiotics.  I get the sense that extra TMG is bad even with a reduced glycine dosage but I will try it tomorrow.  If the sensitivity becomes unmanageable, I can switch to SAM-e or Yasko's Methyl Mate.  I would prefer to avoid the latter because it can raise Ferritin.  I hope to stabilize on 1g of TMG.  Group run will probably be rained out.

3/17- Another very interesting interval session.  
Opened with no Glycine or TMG but the full dose of everything else.
500 TMG- 3:22 (10:06 pace)
1000 TMG- 2:52 (8:36 pace) MINUS 90
1500 TMG- 3:04 (9:12 pace) PLUS 36
  1000 is clearly the sweet spot with the TMG regardless of the Glycine dose, which was 0 for each interval.  Now, when you add the glycine:
1000 Glycine- 2:35 (7:45 pace)  MINUS 87
2000 Glycine- 2:05 (6:15 pace)  MINUS 90
3000 Glycine- 1:54 (5:42 pace)  MINUS 33
4000 Glycine- -2:06 (6:18 pace) PLUS 36
-The sweet spot is 1000 TMG and 3000 Glycine.  It is possible, however unlikely. that the Glycine dose must be 5000 if I take less TMG.  That will be confirmed tomorrow.  AFTER the workout.
Distance=2.0 

3/18- Took the sweet spot that I found yesterday and it has turned sour already.  Glycine dose is trending down rapidly.  If it evolves into a complete intolerance, I am dead.  Took 3 today and it will be just 1 tomorrow.  With nothing to lose, I am going to test the tolerance to preservatives now that I am off the probiotics.  I knew it would suck before I started but forced 1 Mile on Lakeshore in a time over 10 minutes.  A trace of extra glycine made it "WORSER" so I confirmed the culprit.
Distance=1.0

-19 miles on the week