So-Cal Road Trip Plan

Okay, this one is a repeat state and won’t be done until at least next summer or possibly not until 2-3 years down the road but when I do it, it will be EPIC so here it is.  I think I’d do this one before San Antonio/Corpus Christi/Acuna.  I was in Venice Beach 5 years ago and did drive along Santa Monica and Sunset Blvd but just didn’t have time to do it justice.  I didn’t even get a taste of San Diego at all, so I’ve got to go back.

Day 1- Fly into San Diego and get in by early afternoon.  I’ll have time to do at least a walking tour of downtown and/or Old Town.  There are several good race options throughout the year but the one I’d choose is America’s Finest City (AFC) in August because it will be warm enough to swim in the ocean without a wet suit.

Day 2- Race day.  Drive to Los Angeles mostly via Freeways but on a weekend day, the traffic should not be too bad.  I’ll pass through Compton but probably won’t leave the Freeway.  Two possible detours include the Nixon presidential library (I saw Reagan’s last time) and Kenneth Hahn Park, which offers an amazing view of the LA skyline with the San Gabriel Mountains in the background.  If I do stop at the latter option, I’ll probably take Wilshire into town rather than a Freeway.  I hope to get in before dark and my hotel will be in downtown LA.  The plan for the evening is a 73^rd floor rooftop bar downtown.  I do have several friends and acquaintances in the LA area, so it would be cool to meet up with someone.

Day 3- Brief walking tour of downtown LA.  I definitely want to see the top of the US Bank tower in the daylight and go on the glass slide.  By the time I’m done, the worst of rush hour should be over, so I’ll take 101 up to Hollywood Blvd and the Walk of Fame.  I’d like to see Griffith Park and the Bowl on Mulholland but may not have the time.  From Hollywood, I’ll take the Sunset strip into Beverly Hills and see a few mansions before going down Rodeo.  I’ll probably take either Santa Monica Blvd or Wilshire to the coast.  I’d like to get there by sunset so I can view it over the Santa Monica pier.  There are some affordable hotels in the area on Lincoln Blvd.

Day 4- Early start then hit the Pacific Coast Hwy to San Diego.  La Jolla is a must see but I have several beach options.  La Jolla Shores and Ocean Beach are probably the most appealing. Sunset ought to be beautiful here as well.  I’ll stay a few blocks from the beach itself so I won’t break the bank.

Day 5- Morning and early afternoon on the beach in San Diego then I’ll head south to the border.  The plan is to get a hotel within walking distance of the border crossing.  I’ll just leave my car there then take the foot bridge into Tijuana.  I’ll stroll down Revolucion and probably have dinner with a drink or two then get back to the USA before it’s too late.

Day 6- Back to San Diego and I’ll take an evening red eye back home, so I’ll have plenty of time.  I’ll want to see the San Diego Zoo and/or more of downtown.  Can’t see everything that So-Cal has to offer but I’d say this is a good plan.

Training 8/27-9/2

8/27- 3 miles at Gold's in 26:52 (8:57 pace) with a hard fade.  Concerned now.  Perhaps the long run hit me 2 days later.  If I am not better tomorrow, it's panic time.  I want 1 Mile time trial this week and I'm shooting for at least 6:40 but the principle goal is 35 miles.
Distance=3.0

8/28- Repeated the 3 mile and my time is down to 25:11 (8:24 pace).  Within 30 seconds of the new normal and clearly feeling better.  No need to panic.  I should be up for an easy 5 by tomorrow.  The Mile time trial will be postponed until Friday but I hope to be down around 6:30.
Distance=3.5

8/29- 5 miles on Lakeshore in a time of 40:50 (8:10 pace) plus a cool.  Back to the new normal but still not real pleased with how I felt.  Faded in Mile 4 and didn't have much of a rebound at the end.  Sore legs with low energy.  I'm doing everything right with the pills and diet so I should have no excuses.  Let's hope I see improvement in my Mile time.
Distance=5.5

8/30- MAD AS HELL!  Tried an adrenal stimulant to give myself a jump start and it was a disaster.  It's my fault for trying it but the Sarcosine is SUPPOSED TO PREVENT THIS!!  As it is, I am becoming more and more intolerant to adrenal stimulants AND suppressants.  The only thing adrenal support that is tolerable is the modulator and it doesn't make much difference.  I attempted a Mile time trial and saw it was going to be ugly within 200 meters.  Came through 400 at 1:48 running all out and rapidly slowing.  Turned it into a 2 mile junk run.  Again, just 2 doses should NOT hurt me this badly!!  I'll probably struggle tomorrow as well and have to postpone the LR until Sunday.  Is there another missing piece?  I don't think so.  I've tried EVERYTHING!!  Nothing more can be done.  I've just got to accept the results but I fear the worst.  I fear a degenerative condition that will eventually leave me unable to function let alone train.
Distance=2.0

8/31- Tried to reduce the Sarcosine and it was immediately apparent that the sensitivity to Vitamin C kicked back in with a vengeance so it's still needed.  Also tried to go without the MF and DMG.  Didn't feel too bad in the morning but it was sharply downhill after noon.  Did not have to run to know that won't work.  Took the normal dosage of everything before the workout but fared no better than yesterday early. If anything, I was probably slightly worse.  Came through half mile on Lakeshore in 4:25 (8:50 pace).  Based on my research, oxalates are the most likely culprit.  Took 1 Cal Citrate pill and was clearly better.  Next 2 miles were done in 15:54 (7:57 pace) with a slight negative split.  Tacked on a half mile cool.
Distance=3.0

9/1- Overshot the balance point with the oxalates and must endure detox reaction.
Distance=1.0

9/2- Unplanned rest day

Training in Every State?

Upon further review, I'm not sure I can count Minnesota for a half marathon.  Although I did cover the full distance, only 6.7 miles were done in a race setting.  The official distance was cut short due to heat and humidity.  I most definitely cannot count a 15K race plus a 3K warm and 3K cool but this one was originally scheduled as a 13.1 so it remains debatable.  If my body does hold up, I'll be back to Fergus Falls (outside of Fargo) and take a road trip to Winnipeg, Manitoba.  Hell, I may even do it just for a 5K or 10K so I have an excuse to go to Manitoba.  There is one other state in which I have done an organized race that was not a half marathon.  That was New Jersey and the race was a Steeplechase on the track.  Any other states that I have trained but not raced?  Yes.

Washington- Centennial Trail in Spokane just a few days before the Coeur D'Alene half.

Maine- Run on the State University track in Bangor on the way back from Nova Scotia.

Maryland- Many training runs in Salisbury as well as a few on Ocean City's boardwalk.  I've also run in the National Wildlife Refuge near Assateague Island.

Utah- 3 mile run through Zion National Park at over 8,000 foot elevation.  That one was beautiful but it hurt.

Alberta- 3 mile run through Prince Island Park in Calgary.  Stanley Park is a must run in Vancouver, BC.

Prince Edward Island- Junk run on the boardwalk at Victoria Park in Charlottetown.

That leaves only 9 states in which I have not trained or raced:
Hawaii, Nebraska, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Michigan, Iowa, South Dakota, Delaware

I'll list a few other memorable training runs away from home:
- Nice beach runs in Charleston, South Carolina and South Padre Island, Texas

Anchorage, Alaska- It was just a junk run from the hotel but it was done at midnight and in mid-June, it was still daylight.

Dallas, Texas- White Rock Lake with million dollar homes.

Denver, Colorado- Cherry Creek trail with views of the skyline plus City Park.  I also ran a half mile at the top of Pike's Peak and actually managed a semi-respectable pace at 14,000 feet but it did give me a bit of a headache. Edit: I almost forgot that I also did a 6 miler at the Garden of the Gods.

Louisville, Kentucky- Nice MLR along the Riverwalk

Little Rock, Arkansas- Another nice trail overlooking the river near the heart of town.

Training 8/20-8/26

8/20- AM.  1 mile quickie at Vestavia.  Time is down to 7:15 with a last lap in 1:40.  That's MINUS 33 versus last time I ran that distance last Friday.  Starting to feel a little different too.  That's what I want.  Steady and gradual improvement with no more relapses.  Probably back out this evening.

PM- 3 miles at Gold's.  Again, I felt noticeably better and my time is down to 24:15 (8:05 pace).  MINUS 22.  I was shooting for the Mendoza line and came up short but I'm fine with that.  I actually DON'T want to see big numbers in the MINUS column at this stage.  If the program is working well, you should NOT notice much difference from one day to the next but rather improvement becomes evident over the course of several weeks.  Added a half mile cool.
Distance=4.5

8/21- 4 miles on Lakeshore in 31:32 (7:53 pace).  MINUS 12 over an extra mile.  Good job today. That's a solid improvement but not like night and day just like I wanted. I opened with back to back 7:46s then dialed it back on purpose.  The 8-flat pace that I maintained felt quite comfortable and I felt good enough to go another 2-3 miles.  Added half mile cool.  So far everything is going as planned the last 7 days or so.  The plan is to dial back the effort and hope to increase my distance.
Distance=4.5

8/22- AM- Woke up early for an impromptu Vestavia Mile.  Time is down to 6:50 (MINUS 25).  Splits were 1:40-1:46-1:46-1:38 so I had a negative split on the back half.  I hope this doesn't come back to bite me later in the week.  If I am to run this evening, it will be a very easy 3 probably at the Shak.  Foot is a bit sore but other than that, I feel noticeably better than just a few days ago.

PM- Trak Shak 1 and 3 route in 32:40 (8:10 pace).  Slower than yesterday but I meant to be.  Foot held up okay but I need a day off either tomorrow or Friday.  No more doubles or time trials.  Pace varied considerably (7:50-8:30) depending on the terrain.  That's curious but most likely due to leg fatigue.  Hills hurt a little more when you are not fully fresh.  Overall not too bad.
Distance=5.0

8/23- Jemison 3 mile in 23:44 (7:55 pace).  No complaints about this one.  I was leaning towards a rest day but the weather was absolutely beautiful (mid 80s with low humidity).  Even pace on a relatively flat route.  I could have gone longer but it's probably a smart call not to push the mileage at this stage.  Assuming a long run, I'll be in the low 30s this week and that's about what I should do.  Not a good idea to jump into the 40+ range.
Distance=3.0

8/24- Planned rest day.  Aiming for 12 miles tomorrow at a pace around 9.

8/25- Last week's long run was 10@ 9:42 pace.  Today, I managed 12 miles in 1:53:45 (9:29 pace).  That's considerably better than last week but short of expectations.  The rate of improvement is slowing and that is to be expected.  Perhaps a better way to look at it is this way:  I came through 10 in 93:49 (9:23 avg) without a kick.  Figure, that's a MINUS 20-22 over the same distance then I tacked on 2 more at 10 minute pace.  Still, a half mary race would have been in the 2:05 range today, which is quite poor even with the relaxed standards.  I must be in sub-2 shape if I am to race the full distance in 3 weeks.  Otherwise, I will downgrade to the 5 Miler.

Went out at 9:00 pace, which was too hard over the long distance but I kept the pace semi-respectable for a bit longer this time.  I crashed hard after 7.5 last time.  Today, I held it together for 9.
Distance=12.0

8/26- Naked 3 miler as a recovery jog from the Trak Shak.  Very slow pace but I meant it to be.
Distance=3.0

-32 miles on the week.  I wouldn't go as far as to say it was a good week by any stretch but I made it through without a relapse.  No real problem with the mileage so I'll shoot for 35 next week.

Training 8/13-8/19

8/13- VERY INTERESTING.  2x1 Mile at Gold's.  I attempted to run without any adrenal support and not surprisingly I struggled.  Finished in 7:51 and had to work at the end to maintain the pace.  I then popped the adrenal support (ADHS) and felt NO discernible difference.  I fared no better on my 2nd interval and actually finished 1 tick slower at 7:52.  Popped a Taurine at lunchtime and got WORSE.
Reaction:
Adrenals COULD VERY WELL BE BALANCED!  The Sulfur is the culprit for sure.  I NEED that CBS/NOS product so it's a good thing I did not toss it when it became a problem.  I MUST go slow with it.  I'll start at a quarter of a pill.

PM- INTERESTING AGAIN!  2x800 at Gold's.  I was "worser" after taking the sulfur containing Taurine, which was tolerated when I was on CBS/NOS the first time.  I opened with a 4:51 for a HALF mile (9:42 pace).  Then I took roughly 1/6 of a CBS/NOS pill and the impact was YUGE!  I improved all the way down to a 3:43 (7:26 pace) with no additional effort.  MINUS 2:16 on ONE SIXTH of a pill.  Yes, you read that correctly.  I called it a day after that.  I'm sure I could have improved further if I had taken a bit more but I also know that if a full pill is taken every day, it will turn disastrous.  I'll try going with a half pill for the rest of the week.

If I ignore the sulfur problems and go with the "stable formula", I'm just going to go backwards in terms of times and overall energy.  That's not an acceptable outcome.  I must fight the sulfur.
Distance=3.0

8/14- Planned rest day.  I have a theory that the CBS/NOS pills only work if I take caffeine.  Possible but it seems unlikely.  In any event, I'll find out by the weekend.

8/15- 1 mile junk run on Wisteria in 10:31.  It's becoming increasing clear that CBS/NOS has become a critical need.  Still, I need to go slow with this stuff.  Took less than half a pill today and I will go only slightly higher tomorrow.
Distance=1.0

8/16- AM- Another 1 mile junk run on Wisteria but improved to 9:19 (MINUS 72).  I attribute that to upping the CBS/NOS.

PM- Lakeshore 3 in 26:33 (8:51 pace)  MINUS 28.  Triple the distance.  I predict that I will not be much better tomorrow unless I take more CBS/NOS.
Distance=4.0

8/17- AM- 2x1 mile at Gold's.  Took half a CBS/NOS pill and opened with an 8:14 then took the rest of the pill and improved to a 7:47 (MINUS 27).  That's it for today.  Need a long run tomorrow.
Distance=2.0

8/18- Labored through a 10 miler at Vestavia track in 96:57 (9:42 pace).  Only goal was to finish and I barely made it.  I stopped every 10 laps to drink on a humid but overcast morning.  Did not even try to run on less than 1 pill but did take an extra at 2.5 miles and at 5 miles.  It answered all questions.  Here are the splits: 23:48-23:32-24:20-26:17.  I was slightly better on 2 pills versus 1 but not enough to be considered significant. Then I was slightly worse on 3 but did not collapse.  I think that was due as much to poor conditioning as the pills.  I did not take a 4th after 7.5 miles yet slowed considerably after that but did manage a small rally in the last lap to get under 97.
Distance=10.0
Reaction:
I'm sticking with 1 CBS/NOS pill.  No significant benefit on 2 and it presents risk of overdose.  I'll just have to hope for gradual improvements from here with NO MORE RELAPSES!  As of now, I cannot finish a 13.1 so I may run DC in 4 weeks but unless I see significant improvements, I will downgrade to the 5 mile.  This doesn't count towards a state anyway so I will not plan on going back after I finish the challenge.

8/19- 3 miles also at Vestavia.  Finished in 25:21 (8:27 pace).  That's just about what I expected.  Even pace.  Slipped a bit in lap 10 and 11 but rebounded somewhat in the last lap.  Heavy legs and no energy but that's nothing new.  I was pleased that I could run at all after yesterday's effort.

Got some bad news later in the day.  I tried some Yucca and it was NOT tolerated.  That means CBS/NOS caps is my only option and it's hardly working like a charm.  I can only hope for gradual improvement from this point.  I'm probably looking at a rough day tomorrow as well because of the Yucca experiment.

Myth of the Big Switch in Politics

Dinesh D'Souza's latest movie Death of a Nation has been universally panned by the critics.  In fact, it has a Zero percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  Yet, the same site reveals that 90% of the audience liked the film.  As for me, I already knew that actual fascism has very little in common with mainstream conservatism as well as the fact that most Republican voters are not anti-Civil Rights.  However, I did not know that Mussolini spoke very highly of FDR until the outbreak of WW2 and many of today's so-called alt-right actually believe in big government state-ism, not Reagan or Trump style conservatism.

If you buy into the liberal narrative, Trump and his supporters are "literally Hitler" and while the Democratic party may have been the party of slavery and Jim Crow, there was a "big switch" in the 1960s after the Civil Rights Act in which the Democrats became the good guys and the Republicans became the party of racism.  In the words of Mike Gundy, THAT AIN'T TRUE!  Strom Thurmond was the only prominent racist Southern Democrat who switched to the Republicans.  The rest remained Democrats.

Nixon actually campaigned AGAINST segregationist George Wallace.  His message of law and order had strong popular appeal nationwide, not just in the South.  While in office, Nixon supported Civil Rights and actually implemented the first affirmative action program.  He did start the War on Drugs however, which has had a disproportionate effect on blacks.  While I personally believe that low level drug offenses ought to be decriminalized, there is a simple way to avoid imprisonment.  Just say NO!  Overall, I don't think Nixon was a very good president notwithstanding Watergate but he was certainly not a racist. By contrast, LBJ allegedly said that his Great Society welfare programs would have "those n_______ voting Democrat for the next 200 years"  and was caught on tape many times using the n-word.  You can look it up on YouTube.

The black vote actually began going Democratic at a rate of 70% in the 1930s because of the promises of the New Deal.  It was not 90+% because many were hesitant to vote against the party of Lincoln and embrace the party of the KKK and Jim Crow.  It is well known that Jesse Owens was snubbed by Adolf Hitler but most people don't know that he was also snubbed by FDR, who only invited white medalists to the White House.  Republican Dwight Eisenhower won 3 states in the peripheral South in 1952 then added 3 more in 1956 AFTER sending troops to enforce school de-segregation.  I will concede that opposition to Civil Rights was a major factor in 1964 but The South was already trending Republican before that.

 Let's take a look at Alabama in the 1976 election, just 12 years after the landmark Civil Rights bill.  Statewide, it was a 13 point win for Democrat Jimmy Carter, who pretty much swept the rural counties with very few exceptions.  However, metropolitan counties of Mobile, Montgomery and Birmingham went to Republican Gerald Ford, who ran very well in the more affluent suburban areas.  This tells me that higher income and most educated Southerners, who were the least racist, were the FIRST to go Republican.

 I want to focus on 1 Alabama county to demonstrate the evolution of voting patterns.  Jackson County is between Huntsville and Chattanooga.  It is a predominantly white working class area with lots of jobs in the manufacturing sector.  I know it well because I've had job interviews there in the mid 2000s.  In 1976, Jackson County was 72-26 for Carter.  It was economics that explained the difference.  Higher income suburban voters went Republican because of lower taxes and limited government while lower income workers wanted bigger government. 

Now, let's move ahead to 1988.  Statewide, it was a 20 point win for Republican Bush-41 over Democrat Michael Dukakis.  By this time, almost all white majority rural counties had also gone Republican but racism was not a factor.  From 1980 onward, every social survey indicated that white southerners overwhelmingly accepted integration and felt that it had a POSITIVE impact on society.   Don't give me that crap about how the Republicans want to bring back Jim Crow because that's garbage and offensive to me as a Southerner.

 Social issues became a greater factor with the rise of the Moral Majority.  Unrestricted abortion on demand doesn't sell here.  Voters want candidates who are pro-life, pro-family, pro-gun, lower taxes and limited government.  Still in spite of the contrast in values, economic issues kept working class whites loyal to Democrats.  Jackson County was 54-45 Dukakis.  Again, this was a state that went +20 Republican so it seems pretty close but it's WAY more D than the rest of the state.

Even as recently as 2000, Jackson County went for Gore over Bush-43 by 3 points.  It wasn't until 2004 that Republicans really started picking up working class voters and things changed in a hurry.  In 2004, Jackson County swung Red by 17 points in 4 years as it was carried by Bush-43 over Kerry 56-42.  I believe the War on Terror was a big factor as support for the military is very strong.   By 2016, the once Democratic stronghold went to Trump in a 79-17 blowout.  Again, if this was a backlash against Civil Rights, what took so long for it to flip?  They say things move slower in the South but not that slowly.  If you look at West Virginia and Kentucky, the story is similar.  The most economically depressed areas of Appalachia actually voted for Obama in 2008 and did not go Republican until 2012.
Election Atlas
Prager University Video on the Subject

Training 8/6-8/12

8/6- AM- FINALLY a real interval session.  It wasn't pretty but I made it.  Did 8x400 with a 200 jog R at Vestavia with an average of 94.5 (6:18 pace).  This workout is a good predictor for a Mile time trial so figure I'm around 6:20 now.  First 7 were all 95-97 but I had something left and finished in 83.  Next time, I want to get close to a 90 average then I'll up the intervals to 10.  Most likely, this is it for today.
Distance=3.0

8/7- Planned rest day but ended up doing a 1 mile untimed junk run.  Did NOT feel well.
Distance=1.0

8/8- AM- 1 mile on Wisteria in 9:43.  This was an improvement over yesterday.
PM- Gold's 3 mile in 27:40 (9:13 pace).  MINUS 30 over triple the distance.
Distance=4.0

8/9-AM- Lakeshore 4 in 34:09 (8:32 pace).  MINUS 41.
PM- Gold's 3 in 23:54 (7:58 pace).  Under the Mendoza line.  Steady pace and needed just a small rally at the end to do it.
Distance=7.0

8/10- COLLAPSE.  The culprit is ....  Wait for it.   CBS/NOS caps.  This is the 3rd consecutive week that I have relapse heading into a weekend.  What is extremely maddening is that in the last 2 cases with the Yucca and CBS/NOS, I actually got better initially after taking them.  If a pill is going to be a NO, I want a quick answer within 1-2 doses, NOT more false hopes.
As for the workout, I knew I was in trouble early when I was struggling for an 8 minute pace in the first quarter mile.  Called it quits after just 1 in 8:42 with a rapidly slowing pace.  Got home and confirmed that it was indeed the CBS/NOS caps.  I was considerable worse after just a trace more so scratch the whole weekend.  I have no choice but to go with the stable formula and accept the low energy.
Distance=1.0

8/11- AM- Vestavia Mile in 9:26.  No comment needed.

PM- Repeated the morning session and in a somewhat encouraging development, my time is down to 7:52.  I was 2:00 each of the first 3 laps give or take a fraction then finished with a 1:51.  Nothing to celebrate but a MINUS 94 is nothing to sneeze at.

I cheated yesterday and today but I may not have a detox reaction tomorrow.  2 days per week is usually okay.  Any more than that is asking for trouble.  3 straight days is definite trouble.  As for the CBS/NOS caps, there's a chance that they will be tolerated occasionally but I'm probably better off not messing with it.
Distance=2.0

8/12- AM- Gold's 3 in 23:30 (7:50 pace).  Did what I planned to do.  No significant detox reaction so I should be okay going forward in that regard.  Even pace but not a whole lot left at the end.  Something still does not feel right.

PM- 1 Mile on Wisteria after taking a pinch of CBS/NOS.  Finished in 7:15 with even splits despite an uphill back half.  The pinch of CBS/NOS did not seem to hurt me and may have even been slightly beneficial. 
Distance=4.0

I'm going with the stable/low energy formula to begin next week.  I predict that my times will hover right around the Mendoza line without the CBS/NOS.  Then, I will improve on it but there is a VERY FINE LINE with taking too much.  I'll have to start with a pinch and gradually build up.  Yasko did warn that this could happen so a glimmer of hope remains.