Reason for Optimism?

Seven days ago, I quit taking TRS after my system began to completely reject it.  The first 3 days went according to form.  I showed the usual incremental improvements from day to day.

Day 1- 2@9:50. Would have been over 30 minutes for 3 miles.
Day 2- 3@8:19- All out effort to get under 25.
Day 3- 6.5@8:30- This one was encouraging.  My pace was not significantly slower over more than double the distance.  I dialed back the effort as well to ensure a comfortable finish.  After all, this was my longest run in 10 weeks since the race in New Hampshire.  I had more in the tank and managed a 7:50 pace over the last half mile.  I'm sure that I would have faded in the last 5K but this pace would bring me home in 1:51 for a half mary.

I took off the next 4 days over the Christmas holiday but I kinda wish that I had done 1 junk run to keep the legs moving.  At any rate, I did not notice any demand for the TRS even after a full week off the stuff.  Also, I came off caffeine and did NOT NOTICE any real withdrawal symptoms or adrenal spike.  Excellent news there.

The moment of truth would come on the afternoon of Christmas Day after 7 days off the TRS.  I REALLY did not want to see a strong negative reaction to it.  There's no reason why a single spray should trigger such a reaction.  Add to that, without the TRS, the sensitivity to the other pills will most probably kick in with a vengeance after several weeks off it.  Though I did not run, I felt no difference after the first spray.  Emboldened, I tried 2 more.  Once again, NO NEGATIVE REACTION.  If anything, I may have felt slightly better. 

Going forward:
I'm going back off the TRS until the end of the week.  At least one day will be completely free of pills.  I don't expect to set the world on fire in my workouts.  I just want to avoid a relapse.  Early next week, I will try going back to the TRS with the dreaded better with or without test.  What I hope to see is slightly better WITH the TRS but not enough to be considered significant.

The best sign that a health plan is working well is when you do NOT notice any real differences from day to day but over the course of several weeks, improvement becomes evident.  Think of it like an hour hand on a clock.  You can't even tell that it's moving unless you look closely for several minutes but if you come back to the room 6 hours later, its position completely reverses. 

I've been burned too many times by false hopes so this is just the first step.  I won't get my hopes up unless I can make it through January without a major relapse.  Next race is Utah on President's Day weekend for state #45.