5/12- Real workout was nothing special. 1.5 miles in 13:41 (9:07 pace). Caffeine withdrawal hasn't passed fully and this was done without Thym Adren. Splits were 6:45-6:56 but I wasn't spent at the end. I was more interested in my interval test afterwards.
Opener in 84. Slightly worse on the Thym Adren. Slipped to 86. That means I should be able to safely quit that stuff and switch to the modulator. Good news. Next up was the Malic Acid test. I was hoping that my time would be about the same but I improved to 79. That gap remains about the same. Roughly 45 seconds per mile give or take. I do hope that gap will diminish in time
Distance-2.0
Caffeine withdrawal hits between 24-48 hours of the last serving. Therefore, use every other day or every third day is the worst thing to do. It's either every day or never
5/13- Caffeine withdrawal usually peaks around 48 hours then goes down. Today is Day 3 and it was the worst. Tried to run in the morning and quit after less than 100 meters.
PM- Not much better. Lap and a half at Montreat in 5:28 (10:56 pace). Splits were 1:59-1:47-1:42 so that suggests that better days are ahead.
Distance-0.5
5/14-AM- Much better but not as good as I hoped. Full mile at Montreat in 9:40. Double the distance and 76 seconds faster on the pace. Negative split again (4:55-4:45) but this is still 2+ minutes away. Day 4 off caffeine and it should only get better from here. Plan to be back out this evening.
PM- Quit after a half mile in 5:28 and was getting worse with every step. Concern, panic or doom? I'm going to say Panic. I shouldn't be getting worse on Day 4. I did drink a bottle of green tea today (20 mg caffeine) but that should not affect me. I can handle at least 50 mg. I am beginning to suspect that it might be the pills. I sure hope that I am lacking in something rather than intolerant to something.
Distance-1.5
5/15- AM- Took a 2nd scoop of Malic Acid shortly after the first one. I was slightly better after the 2nd one but not enough to be considered significant. Still very stiff and sluggish today.
PM- Day 5 and I cheated. Kinda had to in order to make it through the day. Showed marked improvement after drinking a Rockstar but it was not the caffeine that helped. It was the Taurine, which is an ingredient in most energy drinks.
Took some Probiotics after I got home and was noticeably weaker. Makes sense because Probiotics deplete Taurine. For the last interval, I took 1500 mg of Taurine with no caffeine and clocked a 59 second half lap (5:54 pace). This is a game changer!
Distance-1.0
Reaction:
The sudden downturn after Day 3 without caffeine was NOT lingering withdrawal symptoms. It happened because my supply of Taurine was cut off. Why did that happen? I'm not sure. Malic Acid does not deplete Taurine but it's possible that the detox did. At any rate, Taurine must be added back to my formula but it must be used in combination with Probiotics or else Taurine will get too high and Probiotics will be depleted.
Is it extreme dependence? Probably not. Once I restock my supply of Taurine, nothing will happen if I miss a day. Also, I must NOT be forced to take an exact ratio of Taurine/Probiotics. That seems unlikely too. Back off caffeine tomorrow and hopefully a 1 day slip does not trigger another withdrawal.
5/16- Vestavia Mile in 8:21. Took 1000 mg Taurine before I started and passed halfway in 4:27 with splits of 2:11-2:16. Figure that I probably just barely sneak under 9 without any further intervention. Popped another 500 at the midpoint and my pace immediately quickened to the 8:00 range. Found another gear in the homestretch with a last 200 in 53 seconds. That's it for today.
Distance-1.0
Reaction:
I do NOT like this! I was more than 1 minute faster per mile because of 1 friggin pill! I can't even imagine how badly I would have done it I didn't take any beforehand. I'm probably over 10. Hopefully, it will just take time to rebuild my supply of Taurine. The amount in the energy drinks is probably enough to prevent a total collapse but not enough to get in decent form.
5/17- Cheated again but not because I craved sugar and caffeine but because of the Taurine deficit. Opened with a pathetic 1:54. Got down to 1:30 after 1000 mg of Taurine. Expected a 1:22-1:23 after a scoop of Malic Acid. In a REVOLTING development, I was much WORSE. Slipped to a 1:47.
Vitamin C made it worser then I was only slightly better on additional Taurine. Only good news is that I was better after going to the toilet. It's detox.
Distance-1.0
5/18- Opened with a poor 1:44 and was much better on Taurine (down to 1:27). The moment of truth came when I took just a pinch of Malic Acid. It was tolerated and I improved marginally to 1:25. On the full scoop with C, I managed a 79.9 but suffered a diarrhea attack. Added a cool down. The Malic Acid is doing what it's supposed to do once again. The gap was about 45 seconds per mile, just like usual. Can I prevent this from happening in the future if I take Taurine every day? Maybe it's not such a good idea to quit caffeine at this time. I'll try again after Alaska.
Distance-1.0
-8 miles
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