Training 2/19-3/3

 2/19- 1.5 miles in Denver mostly on Cherry Creek Trail plus downtown.  Pace was just a hair below 11:00 and did not feel well at all.  Pace was never much below 10 but it got worse as the run progressed.  Probably not enough molybdenum or I need the CBS/NOS.  Late flight back to B'ham.

Distance=1.5

2/20-2/23- 

Unplanned rest days.  Not surprisingly, I fell off the wagon on the diet in Colorado.  Back on track now.

2/24- AM-Naked half lap just to see how bad I would do without any pills. Clocked a 1:56.  Popped a pill and improved to 1:43 then managed a 1:31 on 2 Moly pills.

PM- Full mile in 11:15. OUCH!  Did manage a slight negative split (5:40-5:35).  

Distance=1.5

2/25- My opener was a 1:33, which is encouraging.  My floor today was not significantly slower than yesterday's ceiling.  Went straight out after taking the pills.  Real workout was 2.5 miles in 24:43 (9:53 pace).  Even pace (12:20-12:23) but not much left.  Figure a 5K would have been a hair below 31.  Maybe I will try again tomorrow.  Added a 1/3 mile cool so it goes in the books as an even 3.

Distance=3.0 

2/26- FINALLY a successful 5K time trial at North Lakeshore.  Finished in 28:48 (9:15 pace) with excellent pacing (14:27-14:21) despite the back half being slightly uphill.  Best time of the year and I've pulled to within 60 seconds of my reset PR.  The hard part is being able to do this consistently.

Distance=3.1

2/27-AM- I sense that my need for Molybdenum has diminished and today confirmed it.  Opened with a 95 and improved only to a 91 with pills.  That's barely enough to be considered significant, which is good news.  Still, I feel that this is NOT over.  Something is still missing.  I am stiff and sore and yesterday should not have taken this much out of me.  Maybe I will feel better in the evening.

PM- NOT better in the evening.  I slipped to a 1:43 and PABA was the culprit.  A new supp called Lactoferrin, which I have taken before got me all the way down to 1:16 but within a few hours, I needed more.  I will follow the usual script.

Distance= 1.4

2/28-AM- 1 mile in 13:08.  Lactoferrin did help but not as much as I had hoped.  Splits were 6:52-6:16.  Yes, it is enough to be considered significant.

PM- 1.5 miles on Lakeshore in 15:32 (10:21 pace).  MUCH better than this morning.  I will go with this formula for the next month.

Distance=2.5

2/29- Step backward.  1 mile in 11:06 (5:28-5:38).  There is ANOTHER ingredient in the B-complex that I cannot tolerate.  It is Inositol. Fortunately, the ill-effects were mitigated by extra Cytokine suppressants.  Cytokine does NOTHING against PABA.  Only Lactoferrin helps with that.  Lactoferrin does NOTHING against the Inositol.  Only Cytokine helps with that.  WHAT THE _______!  It's looking bleak.

Distance= 1.0

3/1- Planned rest day.  Rained most of the day.

3/2- 1 mile at Montreat.  Only planned on 1 lap because of an adrenal spike but did the full 3.  Finished in 10:47 with a slight negative split.  

Distance -1.0

3/3- Settled for just 1 mile on Lakeshore in 11:26 with splits of 5:10-6:16.  Vitamin E was the culprit this time.  If this is an autoimmune reaction, it's pretty much hopeless.  Fortunately, I did feel a little better after extra Thym-Adren.  That means, it likely triggered an adrenal reaction.  I can live with that.

Distance-1.0

16 miles in 2 weeks.  That just won't do.

Colorado Road Trip Report

 This was my fifth visit to Colorado, but the previous four were during the summer or early fall.  Winter has a totally different vibe with the snow-capped peaks.  The biggest concern was the weather and if I had known that it would turn out the way it did, I probably would not have booked the trip.  It turned out fine in the end, but I did have to drive on some snow at times.  It’s a crapshoot and you really can’t trust the long-range forecast.  It could be sunny and mild or it could be snowy.  Though the chances of a major winter storm are small, it’s a good bet that you will have a day or two per week with 1-3 inches of snow.  Up until a couple days before the trip, it was forecasted to be 50 degrees in Denver and 35 in Breckenridge with sunny skies.  At the last minute, snow entered the forecast both on my arrival date and the day I was to leave Breckenridge (9,600 feet elevation).  Fortunately, most of the snow was to come in the evening and at night.  I don’t have much experience driving in snow and ice. 

2/15-

Direct flight from Birmingham to Denver with no issues.  It was a little more than 2 hours from the Denver airport to my hotel in Breckenridge and I arrived a few hours before the snow began to fall.  I spent the rest of the day touring the town.  It was pretty cool with lots of souvenir shops, restaurants, and bars.  I ended up getting some tasty ribs and enjoyed a conversation with a local guy.   

  

2/16-

Woke up to find significant new snow with more to come later in the day.  Fortunately, there would be a break in the weather until early afternoon.  If I left Breckenridge early enough, I could beat the weather, but I would have to limit my time on the slopes.  As expected, the powder was MUCH better than anything I had experienced in North Carolina but in my opinion, it’s not worth the money.  Lift tickets plus rental equipment cost me over $300 and lodging is not cheap either.  In my only bad call, I left my base in Peak 8 and took the slopes to Peak 9 because I read that they were easier.  It was actually too easy, and I was up for a challenge.  For some reason, the chair lift back to Peak 8 did not allow unloading at the midpoint.  That meant I would have to negotiate an Intermediate trail on the way down.  Yes, I took a seat.  My shoulder took the brunt of it, but my knees are okay.  I was extra cautious the rest of the way down and my quads were killing me.  Regardless of the weather, it was a good call to end my session early.  In conclusion, skiing is a fun activity for me, but I will be content to do it just once or twice per year in North Carolina.  Some people take week-long trips to major resorts.  I can’t see myself as an avid skier and unfortunately, I doubt that I will be able to do it 10 years from now.  At least I can say that I went skiing in Colorado.

I left Breckenridge around 2:30 and the road out of town involved a mountain pass up to 11,500 feet.  Definitely, it was a good call to leave early rather than take on that road in the snow!  It was a scenic ride of a little over 2 hours to the town of Salida, at an elevation of 7,000 feet.  I had Mexican food at a restaurant right next to my hotel along with a well-deserved Margarita.  Not long after I finished eating, snow began to fall.  I imagine that Breckenridge got a lot more.  Again, it was a good call to get out of there early!    

2/17-

Clearing skies and no more snow.  It was an hour and a half to the Great Sand Dunes National Park.  I successfully navigated another mountain pass up to 9,500 feet but most of the route was flat and straight.  My only scare on the road involved making a turn from one highway to another.  I should have slowed down to a near stop before doing so.  I had a close call with a road sign, but no other cars were nearby when I began to slide.  Fortunately, regained control in time, and when the sun came out, road conditions were no longer an issue for the rest of the trip.  I predicted that I would skimp on the Great Sand Dunes to spend more time in Colorado Springs.  That’s exactly what I did, and it proved to be a good call.  The dunes were mostly snow covered and so were the hiking trails.  I only did a couple of short hikes, but it was beautiful, nonetheless.  By this time, skies were mostly blue with a few puffy clouds that dipped below the snow-capped peaks.  It doesn’t get much better than that!  I arrived in Colorado Springs around 3:00, so that left plenty of time to see the Garden of the Gods.  I stayed there until sunset and did a couple more short hikes, then had a steak dinner in the tourist section of town.

2/18-

Up for the sunrise at Balanced Rock in Garden of the Gods.  I got tickets for the 10:00 Cog Railway tram up to Pikes Peak (14,115 feet).  It turned out that the summit was closed due to weather hazards, and we only made it to 12,600 feet.  It was probably just as well.  The air temperature at the summit would have been below 10 degrees with a wind chill factor of sub-zero.  I still got plenty of good shots of the mountains below.  The shorter trip also enabled me to spend a bit more time in Denver.  First stop there was a science museum.  It had some cool exhibits but my real reason for going there was to get the best shot of the Denver skyline.  My hotel was right in the heart of town, so I enjoyed a walking tour of the city and another Margarita. 

2/19-

Junk run at Cherry Creek bike trail just after sunrise.  I got cleaned up and headed back outside to check out some museums.  Today was crystal clear with a high temp in the low 50s.  Unfortunately, the US Mint was closed for the President’s Day holiday, but the baseball museum was open.  It was small and only required about 30 minutes, but it did have some nice exhibits from old parks like Forbes Field, the Polo Grounds and Wrigley Field.  From there, it was back to the airport.  I had almost 4 hours until my flight home.  I tried to get on an earlier flight but since they required connections, it would not have saved me any time.  I stuck with the original flight and got home around 10 PM.  It was a memorable and enjoyable trip.  Not sure where I am going next. 

Training 2/12-2/18

 2/12- Rain finally stopped just before the workout.  Day 3 clean.  Headache and strong cravings but I made it through.  I wasn't expecting much out there today but did better than expected.  2 miles on Lakeshore in 18:19 (9:09 pace).  Right at sub-2 half marathon pace and this is my 2nd best time of the year.  Splits were 9:08-9:11.  MUCH better than yesterday.  Maybe I finally succeed at the 5K tomorrow.

Distance=2.0

2/13- FAILED AGAIN.  This time, the power cut off after just 200 meters and quit after a half mile in 5:18.  I knew that I needed either CBS NOS or NAC.  It was the former.  Cheated BADLY in my frustration.

PM- Molybdenum will also do the trick.  Improved from 95 to 77 on just 2 of those pills.

Distance-1.0

2/14- 4xhalf mile on Lakeshore with Molybdenum after each interval.  Significant improvement after 1 pill as expected.  The second pill made it slightly better but NOT enough to be considered significant.  Pill number 3 left me worse off than when I started.  However in just a few hours, I needed more pills.  NIGHTMARE!!!

Splits were 5:47-5:18-5:11-5:59.

Distance-2.0

2/15- Planned rest day.  Denver flight.  Drive to Breckenridge.

2/16- Junk run at Breckenridge.  Surprisingly, I felt okay but sure the altitude would have affected me if I had gone longer.

Distance= 0.5

2/17- Half mile at Garden of the Gods.  Could not hack it on the climbs.

Distance= 0.5

2/18- 1 mile in Denver at City Park.  Time was 8:54, which is probably the equivalent of 8:35 at sea level.  I'm afraid this is the new normal.

Distance= 1.0

-7 miles.  

Newfoundland and Toronto Trip Plan

 I'm not sure if I can swing this one in 2024 but it's still fun to make tentative plans.  I'll probably have to choose between this one and Alaska.  My parents have a family trip planned for mid-June and I certainly will not miss that even if the location is not on my radar.  Speaking of which, Newfoundland probably would not be on my bucket list if it was not the only Canadian province that I have yet to visit.  That said, the North Dakota/Manitoba/Saskatchewan trip last summer turned out better than expected.  I could be pleasantly surprised again.  There's really not enough there to make a single trip worthwhile so the plan is to combine it with another location.  I thought about an overnight layover to break up a trip to Europe and reduce the jet lag.  That's probably not a bad idea but logistically, Toronto works better.  

Day 1- Leave B'ham early to get to Atlanta in time for a mid-afternoon flight to Toronto.  Hopefully, I get in by early evening.  I almost have to take an overnight layover in Toronto.  Otherwise, I don't get into Newfoundland until 1:00AM.  Fortunately, Toronto does have a hotel inside its airport.

Day 2- Early morning flight to St. John's.  I should get in around noon.  If I had planned to stick to the downtown area, I would not even rent a car but as it is, yes I will need one.  I've driven in Canada many times without any problems but in this case, I will need a navigation system.  There are at least two sites away from town that I want to see.  One is the nearest beach.  The other is about a 15 minute drive to Cape Spear.  The latter is the easternmost point in North America.  If it's not totally overcast, a sunrise could be really cool.  The best time to go is definitely May-September.  Even then, the weather may not be so great.  High temps may not hit 70 and it's liable to be rainy and windy.  

Day 3- Fly back to Toronto after a fun night out on the town.  There are a ton of bars downtown in St. John's and I'm sure that I will attract attention with my southern accent.  Hopefully the flight won't be too early in case I missed a couple of spots the previous day.  Signal Hill looks AWESOME! At the same time, I want to get to Toronto at a decent hour too.  No need to rent a car here.  There is public transportation to downtown that is connected to the airport.  

Day 4- Full day in Toronto.  I went there with my parents way back in 1998 and I'm sure it's changed.  I want to see the CN Tower, Nathan Phillips Square, the Hockey HOF and a Blue Jays game.  Tough to cram all that in one day but I've done similar stuff before.  

Day 5 - Shoot for an early afternoon flight back to Atlanta.  If I can do that, I should have no trouble getting back to Birmingham that evening.

Training 2/5-2/11

 2/5- AM- Montreat Mile in 10:39.  MINUS 56 and I'll take that any day.  Strong negative split (5:30-5:09).  Feels like the adrenal spike is already going down.  It only lasted about 48 hours but it was an intense 2 days.  Didn't expect it to die down so quickly.

PM- A pill at lunch confirmed it.  The adrenal spike is over.  Recovery has already begun.  In THEORY, if I keep doing what I'm doing now, I'll be cured but I've been burned too many times.  Did 2 miles on Lakeshore in 19:50 with perfect splits (9:55-9:55).  Yes, it did take a rally in the last quarter mile to shore up the sub-20 but I did it nonetheless.  Nice improvement over the morning session.

Distance=3.0

2/6- Failed again.  Instead of 3 miles, I settled for half the distance in a time of 16-flat (10:40 pace).  Splits were 7:21-8:39.  Never felt good but the pace was below 10 for most of the first mile but it got worse as it progressed.  Felt better after taking NAC in the evening, which I forgot to take last night.  I should NOT do THIS bad because of one pill!  

Distance-1.5

2/7- Unplanned rest day.  Too much NAC! 

2/8- Hated interval session.  On no pills, I opened with a 2:03.  On B-12, I was down to 2:00.  Slightly better but that's not enough to be considered significant.  Glycine did absolutely nothing and neither did the detox spray.  I repeated the 2:00 on both.  Only on the CBS/NOS, which has the opposite effect as NAC did I improve.  Down to 1:42 on one of those pills.  Molybdenum brought me down to 1:31.  That's still a significant gain but not as effective.  Unfortunately, too much overshot the BP AGAIN.  IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION!   I've gone pretty much numb now.  

The only way forward is to either take a small amount of NAC every night or not take either the NAC or the CBS/NOS.  The latter may work only if I am clean on the diet.  

Distance=1.0

2/9- 1.5 laps at Montreat in 5:47.  That's a HALF mile!  I'm going to quit both the NAC and the CBS NOS.  If I do everything right and am still not better by the end of the month, I must go back to the doctor.

Distance-0.5

2/10- AM- Montreat Mile in 10:46 with splits of 5:25-5:21.  Pace improved by 48 seconds, which is enough to be considered significant and I doubled the distance.

PM- Ugly 2 miles on Lakeshore.  Finished in 20:26 (10:13 pace).  It's another improvement.  Cut off another 33 seconds and doubled the distance. I'll take it.  Tomorrow will likely be rained out but maybe there will be a break in the weather.

Distance-3.0

2/11- Half mile junk run in between rounds of storms.  Adrenals have spiked again.  

Ugly Mile at Montreat in 10:38 with splits of 5:22-5:16.  No further comment.

Distance= 1.5

-11 miles on the week.  YTD-62

Possible Colorado Road Trip

 I'm 50/50 on this one.  Maybe leaning slightly in favor of doing it.  If I am to go, it will be just before President's Day weekend.  This would be my fifth visit to Colorado but my first winter trip.  The scenery will be AMAZING!  The previous four visits were in the summer or early fall, so the snow was either gone or only at the highest elevations.  Despite the mile high altitude, I did surprisingly well at the Denver half marathon with a sub 1:40 finish.  That was in late September. 

Cons:

The biggest negative is the cost.  It will be an expensive trip with the last minute flight.  Hotels in Breckenridge are outrageous as well and the lift tickets are not cheap either.  I kinda have to wait and see because there is a risk of a major winter storm and I REALLY don't want to be caught in that mess.  As of now, nothing major is on the horizon but there are a couple of days with 1-3 inches of snow in the forecast.  Will I have enough energy for skiing?  I think so.  Within 10 days, the adrenal spike should go down or at least be more manageable.  Wait until March or even early April?  Prices will be a little lower but the weather is just as iffy.  Although the average temps are higher, the snowfall in Breckenridge is about the same in April as it is in January.  Denver actually receives its most snow in the month of March. 

Plan:

Day 1- Direct flight from Birmingham to Denver.  That's good.  No chance of a missed connection.  I'll probably get in before lunchtime.  From there, I will rent a car ($$$$) and drive just over 2 hours west to Breckenridge.  It's all interstate so barring any weather issues, it should be easy not to mention BEAUTIFUL!  Figure, it will be mid-afternoon by the time I get there.  I'll just chill in town and go out for a drink in the evening.  

Day 2- Skiing in Breckenridge.  This will be my second time skiing in the West.  The first didn't go so well in Big Bear, California.  I wiped out on my first run and was extra cautious after that.  My knee was a little sore but it didn't affect the rest of the trip.  Everyone agreed with me that the slope was much too steep to be classified as Beginner.  Good news is that Breckenridge is Beginner friendly.  I'll start off with the easy stuff but should be bold enough to try a couple Intermediate slopes in the afternoon.  Word on the street is that an Intermediate slope here is about the same difficulty as North Carolina but the runs will be a LOT longer.  YOLO!  After the ski session, I will drive maybe 30 miles south to the nearest town to save money on lodging.    

Day 3- I'll have a 2 hour or so drive to Great Sand Dunes NP.  Pictures look great with the tall sand dunes with snow capped peaks in the background.  I might even be able to take a few sled rides down to dunes.  From there, I'll drive to Pueblo for the night.

Day 4- Quick and easy drive to Colorado Springs.  I definitely want to see Garden of the Gods again but I will probably pass on Pikes Peak.  Too damn cold.  I would have to take the tram up to the top.  No way I'm driving that road in the winter.  It will probably be closed anyway.  I'll be back in Denver for the night.  I've already been to a Rockies game but a tour of the football stadium could be cool.  Not sure if I will have time.

Day 5- Flight back.  Direct.     

UPDATE:

It's a GO!  I may skimp a bit at Great Sand Dunes.  Supposedly, you can spend days there hiking but it will be awfully cold for that.  If I do leave there early, I may have time for both Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs.  I'll have a good amount of time in Denver as well because the flight home doesn't leave until 5:50.  Weather looks good too.  Temps in the 30s at higher elevations and around 45 in Denver.  That's not so bad as long as it's sunny with light winds.