Monday, November 2, 2020

Training 11/2-11/8 + A Discovery

 Discovery:

I can handle candy, alcohol and now Gatorade and fruit juice but anything with sugar AND carbonation is going to be a HELL NO!  Again, on a long drive, I kinda had to cheat on caffeine to make it home in one day. I made it 10 days clean so a small indiscretion should not hurt much, right?  Just don't make a habit of it.   I found that the ill-effects of lightly carbonated but highly caffeinated Red Bull and KickStart were noticeable but not severe.  On the other hand, just one big sip of non-caffeinated but highly carbonated Sprite was a BIG NO NO!  I must conclude that sugar is okay by itself, which is why Gatorade is tolerated.  Carbonation is also okay by itself.  I can handle alcoholic seltzers with no problem.  Sugar with carbonation with or without caffeine?  Poison.  

Another interesting development is less dependence of Probiotics.  Lately, 4 pills can give me a boost of about 30 seconds per mile give or take a few seconds.  Yes, that's still enough to be considered significant but it is not a night and day difference and I bet that I can handle 3-5 days off without a collapse, just like all the other pills.  That would be a big victory.  

11/2- Day 5 clean and that's usually the day of the secondary collapse.  It began yesterday afternoon when I required a long nap and never felt fully awake the rest of the day.  

AM- 2 miles on Lakeshore in 24:02 (12:01 pace).  1st mile with no Probiotics was a 12:17.  Normally, I expect big improvements after the key pill.  I thought I'd be at least in the 9s.  Not so this time.  I got a small boost to an 11:45 (MINUS 32).  Significant but hardly night and day.  

PM- 1 mile on Montreat at lunch.  Time is down to 10:38 on no additional treatment.  Tomorrow is a big day.  I expect to be a lot faster but if the gap remains small, the Probiotics have done the job.  Either I need a new treatment (ugh) or I will continue to improve by avoiding the forbidden drinks.  Let's hope so.  I want to see a gap of no more than 60 seconds per mile tomorrow.

Distance=3.0

11/3-AM- Montreat intervals.  Opened with a 3:07 and closed with a 2:55.  That's a gap of just 36 seconds per mile with BOTH TRS and Probiotics.  Very pleased to see that.  It's still enough to be significant but I won't face debilitating weakness if I forget to take it.  Added a cool.  Next week, I want to see if I can make it 3 days without treatments.

PM- Repeated the 2 miles on Lakeshore and my time is down to 17:34 (8:47 pace) plus a cool.  Just about where I expected to be at this stage (Day 6).  Another interesting note was my splits of 9:02-8:32 and I did NOT take any treatments during the run.  Perhaps the improvement in the morning has as much to do with getting warmed up as the treatments.

Distance=4.0

11/4- Head is kinda busy today but did surprisingly well.  Only had time for 2 on Lakeshore.  Hoped to do 3 or 4 but barely made it back in time as it was.  Time is down to 15:24 (7:42 pace) and I'd almost certainly be under the Mendoza line for 3.  Splits are evening up as well.  I was 7:46 at the turnaround then finished with a 7:38.  Day 7 clean and I did this without treatments.  I'll go ahead and skip until Friday afternoon and hope I don't collapse.  If I do, no big deal.  I'll bounce back quickly and will not cheat.

Distance=2.0

11/5- Again, planned to do 3-4 this morning and had to settle for 2 due to a crash.  Finished in 19:50 (9:55 pace) with splits of 8:55-10:55.  Clearly evident from the beginning that I had lost a step but still felt reasonably well through 0.75 miles. Collapsed after that.    No cause for alarm.  This was not unexpected.  I can make it 1 day without detox and probiotics but not 2.  I did not cheat and expect to bounce back quickly.  8 days clean.

Distance=2.0

11/6-AM- Finally managed to do 3 on Lakeshore in 24:27 (8:09 pace).  Nice bounce back from yesterday.  I was 12:30 at the half and finished with an 11:57.

PM- Nice sunset run at Veteran's Park.  2 miles in 15:54 (7:57 pace).  Probably translates to 15:34ish on Lakeshore.  Even pace and felt comfortable all the way.

Distance=5.0

11/7- Hoped to run 6 miles today but had to settle for 1 in a time over 10 minutes.  The culprit was alcohol.  Apparently, I cannot handle it after early evidence showed that I could.  I did drink 3 beers on Election night then 1 beer each of the next 3 days.  I was okay last night but it was immediately apparent early in the morning today.  Another What The ______!

Distance=1.0

11/8- Unplanned rest day.

-15 miles on the week




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