Training 6/4-6/10- DETOX

6/4- Hilly 2 mile junk run.  Untimed but I've seen enough to know that I still should not take more than 1 scoop of Sarcosine.  I'd probably be better off going down to a half scoop and I'm curious to know how long I can go without it.  If I stop it permanently, there is little doubt that the sensitivity will return with a vengeance.  Another product review is forthcoming.
Distance=2.0

6/5- Unplanned rest day.  How long can I go without Sarcosine?  The answer is about 30 hours.  The sensitivity kicked in BIGLY this morning and I doubled up today.  You can guess how that feels.  Back in Birmingham and back in my routine now.  Hard not to cheat when I am out of town.  Let's hope for sustained improvement for the next 30 days.

6/6- 1 mile junk run on Wisteria.  Time is too embarrassing to reveal.  Once again, I am not depressed about this.  My reaction is not much more than shrugged shoulders. I am back on Day 1 tomorrow.  As expected, I cheated back home and cheated again when I got back.
Distance=1.0

6/7- AM- 2 miles at Gold's in 18:40 (9:20 pace).  Better than yesterday and finished with a strong negative split.  (9:35-9:05).  I'll be back out this evening.

PM- 4 miles on Lakeshore and my time is down to 33:57 (8:29 pace).  MINUS 51 over double the distance versus the morning session.  I sure wish it was this easy to improve at 7:30 pace.  Again, I finished with a solid negative split.  1st half- 17:10, 2nd half- 16:47 with a last mile in 8:12.  This is only the first day clean.  20 to go I hope.
Distance=6.0

6/8- SEVERE DETOX REACTION!  At least, that's what I hope it is.  I did take a Phospho-Serine but I don't think it was the problem.  I felt no worse after taking it.  The 2nd day is often the toughest but I can't recall a day this bad before.  I am in the HARD mode in which I don't allow anything other than water so that might explain it.  As it is, I probably should have stayed home from work because all I felt like doing was napping.  I forced myself to do 1 mile at Gold's.  Time was over 10 minutes, possibly over 11 minutes.  I didn't even want to know.
Distance=1.0

6/9- AM-Did what I planned to do at the BTC.  3 miles with an early cut off in 27:33 (9:11 pace) with relatively even splits.  Not even close to acceptable but it was a big improvement over yesterday.  When the detox reaction fades, there are 2 questions that will be answered:
1) Will I be able to tolerate more Sarcosine?
2) Will I remain sensitive without Sarcosine if I am off sugar?
Predictions:
1- I am betting on a YES.  I'll up it slowly to 2 then 3-4 scoops and this time, I expect to see improvement with a higher dose.  It is likely that although mega doses will be tolerated, I will not see additional benefit beyond 2 scoops.  Maybe just maybe, I'll get back to competitive shape.

2- I am also betting on a YES there.  I've been off sugar before and for an extended period in 2012 and yes, I was still sensitive.  I've cheated far too often in this regard over the last several years but without Sarcosine, I really don't believe it would have been appreciably better if I was always clean.

PM- Another 3 mile at around 2PM this time at Gold's.  Time is down to 24:47 (8:16 pace) MINUS 55.  This time, I faded a bit on the back half.  I bet that I could have been under the Mendoza line if I had waited until evening.  Day 3 is complete.  After Day 7, I will try to up the Sarcosine dosage.  The Phospho-Serine was probably not a factor.  The detox is working so far.
Distance=6.0

6/10- AM- 3 miles on Lakeshore in 24:21 (8:07 pace).  Added a full mile cool at a glacial pace.  Splits were pretty even but I was strugg-a-ling in mile 3 and would have slowed if I kept going.  This was done in steamy conditions.  It rained last night then the sun came out in the morning so it was pretty rough but I still feel like I should have been better than this.  Why the problem?  I'm betting that it was because I took glycine and C this morning.  Without Sarcosine, it would have been over 30:00.  1 scoop got me down to the 24s.  2 scoops- better?  We shall see.

This really does feel like a glycine/Sarcosine issue because I am somewhat depressed now.   With enough Sarcosine, I am NOT depressed no matter how poorly I perform.  The answer to Question #2 is a DEFINITE YES!  This makes me feel a lot better.  If my diet had been better, IT WOULD NOT HAVE PREVENTED MY DECLINE IN PERFORMANCE!  Sarcosine is the only thing that could have made a difference.  I will try to up the dose ahead of schedule.  I'm on Day 4 now and staying strong.

PM- VERY INTERESTING!  Extra Whole Food C made things noticeably WORSE.  This proves that while a single scoop of Sarcosine will certainly help, it's not enough to resolve ALL of the symptoms of the enzyme defects.  Then as I feared, an extra scoop of Sarcosine knocked out all the issues with the Whole Food C.  Even mega doses did NOT phase me.  BUT, I had the same old issues with the extra Sarcosine and ended up worse overall at least in terms of running shape.  Once again, my overall mood was slightly BETTER.  Did a junk mile on Wisteria to confirm and indeed I was right.  Time was 9:17.  Something must be done.
Distance=5.0

Reaction:
SOMEHOW SOME WAY I MUST INCREASE MY TOLERANCE TO SARCOSINE OR FIND A SUBSTITUTE PRODUCT THAT DOES NOT CAUSE BAD REACTIONS.  I will explore several avenues.  I will make a separate post for this but here are some ideas:
1) Cut out TMG
2) Switch from Sarcosine to DMG or take some combination.
3) Take the C only occasionally in the evening.
4) 1 Sarcosine plus a pinch more.
5) Continue with the sugar restrictions and hope tolerance improves with time.
I'll explain later why each option could possibly work.
My current situation is NOT acceptable.
- 21 miles on the week.