2025 Review

 Best way to put it: Challenging year.  

Let's start with the travel stats:

20 points, which is a bit lower than usual but I did make the strict standard in 16.  I would have picked up 5 more if I had driven from Alabama to Pennsylvania but that didn't happen this year.  I completed Round 2 of Visit All 50 States and made my first foray into South America.  Also added 5 new MLB parks, which takes me up to 23.

Lenient standard:

Jalisco- Bus ride from Puerto Vallarta to Sayulita

Utah- Photo op at Lake Powell

Maryland- Metro stop

Vermont- crossed the border from Massachusetts.

Strict standard:

Alabama-Lived

Colombia- Cartagena

Nayarit- Sayulita

Florida- Destin, Miami, Flagler, Amelia Island.

Arizona- Phoenix, Sedona, Grand Canyon 

Illinois- Chicago 

Alaska- Anchorage, Seward, Denali SP

California- San Francisco, Orange County, San Diego, Anaheim.

Washington DC- Mall, Smithsonian, game.

Virginia- Arlington 

Pennsylvania- Pittsburgh 

Connecticut- Hartford 

Massachusetts- Springfield, Pittsfield, Mohawk Trail 

New York- Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens

Georgia- Okefenokee Swamp Park 

Mississippi- Bonita Lake in Meridian 

Work:

 New building, new software and a new boss.  There will be an adjustment period but I'm not going into great detail here.

Family:

The big blow was the loss of my father in November.  I still have days in which I am fighting back tears.  The first Christmas without him was ROUGH!

Health- Still a MESS.  I began the year with a scare.  I had a lump in my groin area that sometimes oozed.  I feared Lymphoma but in all likelihood, it was a strong immune reaction.  That's gone now.  The Candida rash has diminished but it's still there.  In the middle of a parasite cleanse, a large cyst on my back that had been there for nearly a decade finally broke and has not come back.  

Malic Acid may have reduced my autoimmune reactions but the process was painful.  As of now, Zinc is my must take pill but it is not tolerated without Malic Acid.  Unless you count the 5K walk in San Diego, no races for the 3rd straight year.  I have not had a good race since 2017 or a decent race since 2019.  Will I ever come back?

Relationship:

After many Internet psychos, I finally have a good female companion in real life.  It remains to be seen if she will be a best friend or something more.  My fear is that she will be frightened when she finds out how sick I really am.  It's possible that she knows about the suspected Autism but she has no idea of the full extent of the autoimmune issues.  I do think that an older woman is more likely to be accepting.  This was the biggest bright spot of '25.

Training 12/22-12/31

 12/22- Slept in but still managed 1.5 on Lakeshore in 13:09 (8:46 pace).  Sore muscles but more energy than recent days.  I think the adrenal support should remain a no at least for the time being.

Distance-1.5

Just write the rest of the year off as a loss.  I became completely intolerant to sugar, even without caffeine.  Culprit was lack of Probiotics.  

Took Probiotics and immediately improved.  Tried a Rockstar and had a bad reaction.  High dose caffeine is still bad but I can handle an occasional Coke.

Did do a couple of junk runs over the holiday but nothing worth reporting.

Zinc and Autism

 More than a decade ago, I studied hair test patterns (Tissue Mineral Analysis) of autistic patients.  This was before I suspected that I was on the spectrum.  One common pattern that I observed was that almost everyone on the spectrum had a BADLY unbalanced Zinc/Copper ratio.  Usually, it was the Zinc that was low.  The Copper may have read high, but it was often bio unavailable.  

As for me, that pattern didn't show up until later, after I made a real effort to detox.  The Hulda Clark Liver cleanse that I did several times dumped toxic Copper out of my organs and into the tissues. Thus, my ratio fell way below normal.  I know that Malic Acid detoxifies Aluminum, which definitely played a role in my autoimmune reactions.  I wonder if it has any effect on Copper.  Does toxic Copper have any effect on autoimmune disease?  I suspect that the answer is yes.  I'll update this after more research.  

I tried to supplement with Zinc in the past, with unhappy results.  Usually, it triggered a need for another pill such as Chromium or Vitamin C.  I could not take one or the other.  It had to be both or neither and I chose the latter.  More recently, I was completely intolerant to Zinc UNLESS I had enough Malic Acid.

This really pisses me off!  It's a stretch to say that the solution was right in front of me but I couldn't tolerate it because of autoimmune reactions.  However, it is certain that a big piece of the puzzle was withheld from me until very recently.  At the age of 45, even if I ultimately do get healed, it's too late!  I'll never know how good I could have been if I had been fully healthy in my prime.  

As of now, I still have an insatiable need for Zinc.  Caffeine interferes with its absorption so the need may diminish if I ever can quit that stuff for good.  I have limited tolerance for adrenal support.  Taurine is not a game changer but I did see significant gains from it.  Stay tuned for updates.

Training 12/15-12/21

 12/15- Good news.  Getting better and better without the Zinc.  Opener today is down to 83 seconds (8:18 pace).  Popped just 1 Zinc and was all the way down to 68 (6:48 pace).  That's still WAY too much of a gap but at least that appears to be shrinking as well (18 vs 15).  I will try to gradually reduce the Zinc this week and re-introduce the adrenal support.  That's it for today.  Very cold weather outside.

Distance-0.5

12/16- Very poor.  1.5 miles in 17:42 (11:48 pace).  Back to the drawing board?

Distance-1.5

12/17- Interesting.  Opened with a poor 1:42 without Zinc but improved to 1:28 on 1 pill.  I expected continued improvement on a higher dose but actually went backwards (1:34) and got worse as the day progressed.  Initially, I thought I overshot with the Zinc.  Nope.  I have gone too many days without Malic Acid.  I can't tolerate the necessary pill without it 

PM- Immediately better after taking Malic Acid.  Workout wasn't good by any stretch but it was an improvement over yesterday.  1.5 miles in 15:28 (10:18 pace) with bad splits (7:27-8:01).

Distance-2.0

12/18-4x400 intervals

2 Zinc- 2:46

4 Zinc- 2:25

Not concerned with the pace.  Pleased to see improvement with more pills.  This is due to the Malic Acid

ADHS- 2:25- non-factor.  I would have gone backwards if I had taken more.

Taurine-2:17- Significant gain.  What to make of that?

Another interval session and again, I got a significant boost from Taurine

Distance-2.0

12/19- Junk 2 miles.  Don't even remember the time.

Distance-2.0

12/20- Planned rest day 

12/21- 2.5 miles in 24:16 (9:42 pace). Added a warm and cool.  Marginally better than last week 

Distance-3.0

11 miles 

Training 12/8-12/14

 12/8- 1 Mile in 11:56 on Lakeshore with splits of 5:38-6:18.  Going backwards.  Why?

Distance-1.0

12/9- Opener with a 1:50 (11:00 pace).  Then leaped to a 1:32 on Zinc (9:12 pace).  Popped 2 adrenal pills (ADHS) and slipped to 1:36 (9:36 pace).  Barely significant but I felt weakened and it likely turns ugly over a longer distance.  Thym Adren made it worse.  Must stay off adrenal support for now.  Those pills do contain Zinc antagonists.

PM- Tested methylation pills after work.  I was slightly better WITH but not enough to be significant (77.8 VS 76.2) in a sprint 

Distance-1.0

12/10- 4x half mile on Lakeshore with an overall time of 19:22 (9:41 pace).

0 Zinc- 5:47

1 Zinc- 4:54

2 Zinc- 4:32

3 Zinc- 4:09

Expected greater improvement from 1 pill to 2 but I did NOT level off from 2-3.  I will take nothing but Zinc going forward.

Distance-2.0

12/11-Half Mile at Vestavia without Zinc in 5:49.  Only slightly worse if I take just 1 ADHS. 

Distance-0.5

12/12- Opened with a 1:52 then improved less than usual to a 1:40 on Zinc.

PM- Took 4 pills during the day then added 2 more on the run.  Lakeshore 1.5 in 14:58 (9:59 pace). First half in 7:54, second half in 7:04 (9:25 pace).  The more Zinc I take, the better I feel but it's as if my system resets after a night's sleep 

Distance-2.0

12/13- Split decision.  Much better in my opener.  Down to 1:36 but had NOTHING in my real workout and quit after 2 minutes.  Culprit was Vitamin C.  It was a non-factor until recently.  Now, apparently, it is a Zinc antagonist.  Turned to caffeine to deplete it and may face withdrawal again.

Distance-0.5

12/14- 3 miles on Lakeshore in 29:51 (9:57 pace) on all Zinc.  Decent pacing (9:53-9:56-10:02).  I'm sticking with this formula and will try to gradually reduce the dose so I don't overshoot.  Don't be stupid with the caffeine.

Distance-3.0

10 miles.

Training 12/1-12/7

 12/1- 1 Mile on Lakeshore in 11:43 (5:41-6:02).  Worse than expected.  It seems like I get quick gains from Zinc but it fades fast and I need more and more to get through the day.

Distance-1.0

12/2- Repeated the 1 Mile distance this time at Montreat.  Improved to 10:24.  No cause for celebration but pleased with this improvement.  Splits were 3:33-3:25-3:26.

Distance-1.0

12/3- 1.5 miles on Lakeshore in 14:30 (9:40 pace).  Continued steady progress.  I'll take it.  Splits were 7:17-7:13.  Still loading on Zinc but the positive effects last longer.

PM- 3 half lappers in the dark at Montreat.  Opened with a 1:43 (10;18 pace).  Improved to 1:22 on Zinc (8:12 pace).  MINUS 2:06!  Followed it with a 1:23 on Vitamin C.  Only fractionally slower so that's a non-factor.  I did NOT expect such a big gap and don't know what to make of it.  I'll know more tomorrow 

Distance-2.0

12/4- Earliest sunset of the year.  Workout was in the AM.  Half lap in 1:48 (10:48 pace) and marginally slower on Probiotics.  I'll skip both that and Vitamin C.  This was without Zinc.  Not pleased that I fell this far after just 12 hours 

Real workout was a repeat of yesterday.  Improved to 14:04 (9:23 pace) with a slight fade at the end (6:58-7:06).  A gain is a gain but I was hoping for better.  I may need another small tweak.

Distance-2.0

12/5- Planned rest day.  Not feeling well at all.

12/6- AM- 1 Mile on Lakeshore in 11:21.  Passed halfway in 5:55 then popped a Zinc and improved only to a 5:26.  Significant but not a game changer.  Learned that caffeine interferes with Zinc absorption.  That explains it.

PM- 2 sprints.  64 without Zinc and 54 with it.  Greater effect after just a few hours off caffeine.  Perhaps I won't need it as much going forward.

Distance-1.5

12/7- 2.5 miles in 28:30 (11:24 pace).  OUCH!  At least I finished it 

Distance-2.5

-10 miles