Training 10/28-11/3

10/28- Back to Day 1.  AM- Sunrise 3 miler at Montreat in 26:28 (8:49 pace).  Even pace but no energy and not much left at the end.  I may take a step backwards over the next 2 days.

PM- Just a half mile cool.  A bit of withdrawal but nothing severe.
Distance=3.5

10/29- Day 2 is often the toughest but not so this time probably because I didn't binge on caffeine.
AM- Gained a good chunk of time.  Repeated the sunrise 3 miler and my time was down to 25:32 (8:31 pace).  MINUS 18.  I expect to be in the 24s by the evening and maybe under the Mendoza line by tomorrow.

PM- Gold's 3 and my time is down to 23:49 (7:56 pace).  Below the Mendoza line but I won't even begin to hope until I am below 23 with steady improvements.  Added a half mile cool.  I did celebrate with a Mike's Hard Lemonade this evening but was both caffeine and sugar free.  An occasional treat should not hurt me.  Just don't make a habit of it.
Distance=6.5

10/30- Took the morning off then repeated the Gold's 3 in the evening.  Improved only marginally to 23:22 (7:47 pace).  A gain is a gain and the sum of small gains is a big improvement over the long haul but I am not real pleased with this one.  Have I plateaued?  As recently as February of this year before the detox, I could go mid-22s.  We'll see what happens tomorrow.

2 things could have held me back.  It's possible that I was knicked a little bit by the alcohol last night but at least it didn't trigger a relapse.  Also, I took a low dose of TRS in the morning because I didn't run so I didn't have the full TRS in my system.  Tomorrow is critical.
Distance=3.0

10/31- AM Only had time for a quickie.  Did 1.5 miles in 11:37 (7:45 pace) plus a cool.  I figure that the full distance would have yielded a time similar to yesterday.  Not too pleased.

PM-  Felt noticeably better this session in spite of cheating a bit at lunch.  Gold's 3 again and my time is down to 22:36 (7:32 pace).  MINUS 15.   FINALLY, I am back to where I was before starting the TRS.  Sugars won't hurt me too much as long as I don't binge but it's still best to steer clear because it is addictive.  400 mcg methyl folate IS TOLERATED AS WELL.  That's good.  Just don't exceed that amount.  The difference today was clearly the extra TRS.  That's what I've got to do and DAMN the costs.    Hopefully, I will gradually become less dependent on this stuff.
Distance=5.0

11/1- Weather has turned cold but that's okay.  This will be my last evening run in the daylight until mid-late February due to the upcoming time change.  Did the full 5 on Lakeshore in 40:08 (8:02 pace).  Getting under 40 was not a goal today.  In fact, I deliberately cut back on the effort to make sure I finished the distance comfortably and I did.  Once again, I didn't feel very well in the morning but was a good deal better after the 2nd dose of TRS.  TRS is my last and best hope for sustained improvement.
Distance=5.0