tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952746236749910922024-03-18T17:13:15.429-07:00They call me Crazy Justin for a reasonCrazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.comBlogger1301125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-55971795394239037262024-03-18T06:31:00.000-07:002024-03-18T17:12:43.730-07:00Training 3/18-3/24<p> 3/18- Took no Zinc or Vitamin C today and I was a lot better. Opened with a 200 at Vestavia at Mile effort in 72 seconds (9:36 pace). Popped just ONE CBS/NOS pill and I was down to 61 (8:08 pace) on the same effort. I figured that pace was sustainable for a Mile and I was correct. I actually did better.</p><p>Finished in 7:52 (1:54-2:01-2:01-1:56). Best time of the year and I'm now within 12 of my reset PR. I am pleased with the improvement but I HATE BEING SO DEPENDENT ON JUST ONE PILL! I predict that I will need it again this afternoon. May be back out in the evening.</p><p>PM- 1.5 miles in 14:11 (9:07 pace). Looks like a run of the mill workout but if you dig deeper, it's an interesting outcome. Splits were 7:32-6:09. It was a steady 10 minute pace until the turnaround then I popped the pill. No additional effort but my pace improved to 8:12 on the back half. Figure that if I was going all out, I could have matched the 7:52 give or take a few ticks. </p><p>As expected, I DID need the pill again. Strangely, if I take multiple pills, I won't see a significant improvement versus just 1 pill. It must be taken in divided doses. I predict that this extreme need will eventually fade and it will happen suddenly.</p><p>Distance=3.0</p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-2871773731931790992024-03-14T17:59:00.000-07:002024-03-14T17:59:27.663-07:00Nor-Cal Road Trip Plan<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The 2024 road trip picture is starting to come into focus.</span><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I strongly considered Arizona in April, but it doesn’t fit my schedule.</span><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The Diamondbacks are on the road almost every weekend and work will be busy at the end of this month.</span><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Wait until next year on that one.</span><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">April is definitely the best month to go to Arizona.</span><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The only definite is Turks and Caicos in mid-June.</span><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">My parents are celebrating their 50</span><sup style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; outline: none !important;">th</sup><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">anniversary this year and I will certainly not say no to that even though it wasn’t on my bucket list.</span><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"> </span></p><p class="yiv4013640997ydpea336a03MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">Leaning towards Toronto/Newfoundland, which will be done either Memorial Day or Independence Day.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>It’s a little close to the T&C trip either way but it’s probably the best fit.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>I cannot do this and Alaska in the same year but really want at least one of those.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>I’m just one state away from 50 times 2 and one province away from all 10 in Canada.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>I’ll likely use the other free weekend to go to the North Carolina coast.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>I wanted to go there last Fall but the weather turned cold, and I opted for Florida.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span></p><p class="yiv4013640997ydpea336a03MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">I have several options for Labor Day weekend, but I am leaning towards Nor-Cal.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>Here’s the plan:</p><p class="yiv4013640997ydpea336a03MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">Day 1- The best airport is probably Reno, Nevada with a connection in either Dallas or Denver.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>I’ll arrive in mid-afternoon.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>I should have some time to explore Lake Tahoe on the California side and I’ll spend the night in South Tahoe.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span></p><p class="yiv4013640997ydpea336a03MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">Day 2- I will spend a couple more hours at Lake Tahoe then head west to Oakland (3 hours).<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>Sacramento could be a good lunch stop.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>Hopefully, I arrive after check-in so I can put my bag in the hotel room.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>I worry about car break-ins, but I should be okay if I stay in a decent area.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>I will NOT take my car to San Francisco.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>My hotel must be within walking distance of a BART station.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>I’ll spend a few hours in SF then go back to Oakland for the night. Hopefully, the Giants play in the evening. </p><p class="yiv4013640997ydpea336a03MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">Day 3-Full day in San Francisco.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>On my list are a Giants game, Coit Tower, Lombard Street, Union Square plus the Golden Gate bridge up close and possibly Sausalito.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>A sunset cruise could be really nice.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>At any rate, I’ll be back to my hotel in Oakland for another night.</p><p class="yiv4013640997ydpea336a03MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">Day 4- Leave Oakland and head back east to Yosemite NP.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>I will either spend the night there or in Mammoth Lake.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span></p><p class="yiv4013640997ydpea336a03MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">Day 5- Finish touring Yosemite then head back to Tahoe via Tioga Pass.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>This road is only open from May-October because the elevation and snowfall.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>Drive up the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe then back to Reno for the night.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span></p><p class="yiv4013640997ydpea336a03MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">Day 6- Fly home.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>Reno is in the Pacific time zone so that means I lose 2 hours going home.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>I’ll shoot for an early departure so I get back to B’ham at a decent hour.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="outline: none !important;"> </span></p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-56623085643671209702024-03-12T13:13:00.000-07:002024-03-17T08:45:33.246-07:00Training 3/11-3/17<p> 3/11- Adrenal spike hit hard yesterday afternoon. All I could do was junk intervals. Best showing was 1 lap at Montreat in 3:27 (10:21 pace). Curious finding. I was slightly better on both the NAC and the Moly. Not sure what to do about that going forward. NAC alone won't work. Not sure about Moly alone. Maybe neither. I didn't see a significant improvement until I took mega Thym Adren.</p><p>Distance-1.0</p><p>3/12-AM. Adrenal spike appears to be over. 1 mile in 11:40 but I was slightly worse after the extra Thym-Adren today. Splits were 5:43-5:57.</p><p>PM- 2 miles on Lakeshore in 20:36 (10:18 pace) with splits of 10:22-10:14. It was UGLY but I am encouraged by the improvement over the morning. I doubled the distance and increased the pace by 1:22 per mile while laying off the Thym-Adren. I expect continued improvement tomorrow.</p><p>Distance=3.0</p><p>3/13- Junk intervals. Insatiable need for Moly has kicked in just as I feared. I improved from 1:46 to 1:10 at Montreat but just a few hours later, I needed more pills. This probably won't last long. </p><p>Distance-1.0</p><p>3/14- AM. 1 mile at Montreat in 9:42. Nothing special. Slight negative split. Need for Moly appears to be fading already.</p><p>PM- 2 miles in 19:08 (9:34 pace). Splits were 9:40-9:28. Improvement over the morning. I'll take it. The need for Moly is fading but it's still there. Hopefully it will be gone by tomorrow. I hope to squeeze in a morning session but it may be rained out </p><p>Distance-3.0</p><p>3/15- Rain did hold off but I didn't press my luck on Lakeshore. Vestavia Mile in 8:12 (4:10-4:02) with a 1:57 last go round. Best time of the year by 14 seconds. Can I fairly compare a track run to the Montreat loop? I think so. I'm nearly certain that Montreat is 20-30 yards short of 1 Mile but that's offset by the hills so I call it even. I'm still 32 seconds short of my reset PR. That's it for today. It will get nasty this afternoon.</p><p>Distance-1.0</p><p>3/16- COLLAPSE. Hoped to run at least 4 miles but had to settle for 1 in a pitiful 10:40. Felt decent early but it got worse and worse as it progressed. Splits were 4:50-5:50. Culprit was too much CBS/NOS (same effect as moly). Where to go from here? I don't know. I did re-order the Moly but I hope that I can stabilize on just 1 CBS/NOS pill. Either that or I quit the CBS/NOS and just rely on the Moly. </p><p>Distance=1.0</p><p>3/17- Found out yesterday that Zinc is BAD. I cannot take it with CBS/NOS, probably because of the copper depletion. Today, I started on CBS/NOS and got noticeably better on 1 pill. Opened with a 3:38 lap at Montreat (10:54 pace). Popped another and improved to 3:33 (10:39 pace). At these pace, I don't consider this to be a significant improvement. At least it didn't hurt me. The only thing that helped was extra Thym-Adren. I don't think it's an adrenal spike. It's probably a Zn.Cu imbalance. I felt better because it contains more Cu relative to Zn. Improved to 3:02 (9:06 pace), which is most definitely a significant improvement. </p><p>Going forward:</p><p>CBS/NOS plus Zinc is a DEFINITE NO. Zinc alone as well as Moly+ Zinc is probably a NO. </p><p>It will either be Moly alone, CBS/NOS alone or both. Zinc may be added back at a later date but at a lower dose or on an occasional basis.</p><p>Distance=2.0</p><p>-12 miles on the week.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-16633859972923466762024-03-04T07:45:00.000-08:002024-03-10T09:18:16.011-07:00Training 3/4-3/10<p> 3/4- 2 miles on Lakeshore in 20:56 (10:28 pace) with splits of 10:14-10:42. UGLY! It took a push at the end to shore up the sub-21. Still a significant improvement over yesterday. Vitamin E likely triggered an adrenal reaction not an autoimmune issue. That makes me feel a little better. If I'm not better by the end of the month, I must go back to the doctor.</p><p>Distance-2.0</p><p>3/5- 3 miles on South Lakeshore in 28:18 (9:26 pace). Excellent pacing (14:08-14:10) with no real effort to kick at the end. Solid improvement over yesterday. Just 11 seconds per mile slower than my recent 5k. For the millionth time, if I can do this regularly, the times will continue to improve.</p><p>Distance-3.0</p><p>3/6- Woke up at 1AM with severe abdominal cramps. Unable to get back to sleep. Didn't even make it to work today. Napped off and on through the day. Extremely weak but no fever. Probably candida related but I have NOT abstained from sugar in recent days.</p><p>3/7-Opened with a pitiful 4:22 lap at Montreat. Improved to 3:49 on Thym Adren but only did a 3:47 on autoimmune support. Not a significant improvement. I may be back in the evening.</p><p>PM- 1 mile in 13:22. No comment.</p><p>Distance-2.0</p><p>3/8- Montreat Mile in 10:54. Improvement over yesterday. I credit the NAC. It was the very thing that I couldn't tolerate just last month. This will pass but it will be followed by an adrenal spike.</p><p>Distance-1.0</p><p>3/9- Step backwards. 1.5 miles in 17:40 (11:47 pace) with splits of 8:06-9:34. I tried taking Moly but it reduces the effects of NAC. When this passes, I must stop the NAC and hope I don't develop an insatiable need for Moly.</p><p>PM- Half mile junk run at Montreat. Naked</p><p>Distance-2.0</p><p>3/10- UGLY 3 miles but at least I finished. Time was 31:51 (10:37 pace). Splits were 15:25-16:26. Ouch! I predict that the need for NAC will pass by the end of next week. Adrenal spike is next.</p><p>Distance-3.0</p><p>13 miles on the week. Pathetic but I believe that is my highest total of the year.</p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-66061485251933270582024-02-25T10:04:00.000-08:002024-03-04T07:40:17.009-08:00Training 2/19-3/3<p> 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.</p><p>Distance=1.5</p><p>2/20-2/23- </p><p>Unplanned rest days. Not surprisingly, I fell off the wagon on the diet in Colorado. Back on track now.</p><p>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.</p><p>PM- Full mile in 11:15. OUCH! Did manage a slight negative split (5:40-5:35). </p><p>Distance=1.5</p><p>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.</p><p>Distance=3.0 </p><p>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.</p><p>Distance=3.1</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Distance= 1.4</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Distance=2.5</p><p>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.</p><p>Distance= 1.0</p><p>3/1- Planned rest day. Rained most of the day.</p><p>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. </p><p>Distance -1.0</p><p>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.</p><p>Distance-1.0</p><p>16 miles in 2 weeks. That just won't do.</p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-58892040230891038952024-02-20T18:29:00.000-08:002024-02-20T18:29:14.154-08:00Colorado Road Trip Report<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">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 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. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8omEAvBNIOUgNCdm_11rVWpxwrl5RE7o8QLBS2YmGrj9uWQs6W6JFmWi2lN_gLbsVW8ASTafVMe6Y9tbHah994kRhl8d78duDlMeY8GBgRE-MMqaUFBc3i1SGCt8o3hq4EXexVy8MSyajyJw1PBjy54RZWtbJT-CVo8BYcaDD4WN4qW2OM7N0h6ix7EY/s1921/Breckenridge%20%601.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1921" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8omEAvBNIOUgNCdm_11rVWpxwrl5RE7o8QLBS2YmGrj9uWQs6W6JFmWi2lN_gLbsVW8ASTafVMe6Y9tbHah994kRhl8d78duDlMeY8GBgRE-MMqaUFBc3i1SGCt8o3hq4EXexVy8MSyajyJw1PBjy54RZWtbJT-CVo8BYcaDD4WN4qW2OM7N0h6ix7EY/w360-h640/Breckenridge%20%601.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC8Ovh60LltMQZpzjbYhyP4_z5qvjlVcfE2kD_2Qt_4EySwNZLtJJ7uoImAwaZ1qtYRx0fmW5vJEEFbn0dvLPP4-18EfHsRIjogO3Bj9FLoHX00FNWNaOUi7DSEEDW1juPWwSVAniXqFg1UCQV0hRblJTMbjviM9em0CEWlG3ZiPoShW7B2j_RBxbOLzU/s1080/Breckenridge%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="1080" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC8Ovh60LltMQZpzjbYhyP4_z5qvjlVcfE2kD_2Qt_4EySwNZLtJJ7uoImAwaZ1qtYRx0fmW5vJEEFbn0dvLPP4-18EfHsRIjogO3Bj9FLoHX00FNWNaOUi7DSEEDW1juPWwSVAniXqFg1UCQV0hRblJTMbjviM9em0CEWlG3ZiPoShW7B2j_RBxbOLzU/w400-h225/Breckenridge%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="yiv3244746604ydp25286c28MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">2/15-</p><p class="yiv3244746604ydp25286c28MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">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. </p><p class="yiv3244746604ydp25286c28MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"><br /></p><p class="yiv3244746604ydp25286c28MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidATsRWvhChbdDzhzaIkyaEsaJwPussSEAr1S9DgAxK29IoAltbaVtr0yMcTsscXOP3hv5AcAy_zx22ml3rFQr6ZzKeAyCR1YWOMofRQZRERrh4q8RJjy3VTfTNnZJdCN_0dTqlL-soMRPifxY7dGSp4Rx6nCLFQUxg2WilE9C6ALYW-Hc8WfmCiFJZSs/s1920/Breckenridge%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidATsRWvhChbdDzhzaIkyaEsaJwPussSEAr1S9DgAxK29IoAltbaVtr0yMcTsscXOP3hv5AcAy_zx22ml3rFQr6ZzKeAyCR1YWOMofRQZRERrh4q8RJjy3VTfTNnZJdCN_0dTqlL-soMRPifxY7dGSp4Rx6nCLFQUxg2WilE9C6ALYW-Hc8WfmCiFJZSs/w225-h400/Breckenridge%203.jpg" width="225" /></a></div> <p></p><p class="yiv3244746604ydp25286c28MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">2/16-</p><p class="yiv3244746604ydp25286c28MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">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.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_8S1yzlbE0iEV8-JlCSsWYP5WQsLEoPbH7RpgOFAXwqKFUl4iPpnTnZr3ppWPdh94NKF2bTVXB09k-k5K8g6vU0KNPdKDAxXcBXif_avC0Cj6wOpVw76YmfBmOCRYEAiNMrX89dZmG7F2L42E3mA1bTS1mj_3lQUZT2CzZLGIglTLkTezdi2LlX6D8pk/s1921/Breckenridge%204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1921" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_8S1yzlbE0iEV8-JlCSsWYP5WQsLEoPbH7RpgOFAXwqKFUl4iPpnTnZr3ppWPdh94NKF2bTVXB09k-k5K8g6vU0KNPdKDAxXcBXif_avC0Cj6wOpVw76YmfBmOCRYEAiNMrX89dZmG7F2L42E3mA1bTS1mj_3lQUZT2CzZLGIglTLkTezdi2LlX6D8pk/w360-h640/Breckenridge%204.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br /><p class="yiv3244746604ydp25286c28MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqYef9cYgvtakLqwvshmEyT3MaEBNxj6i4S_4Chc1b8T_7xYIaT8x8aAhJjtPq80AabcWWCEamPcLpYhRUXUvtqmIRbzbVHtk3znlvDhMVHQukwJc3QOY2FC2EGQTzRxIpTMpGIzLpdI_uYMkwAsJhnNkU455CexiFkA8NUTueiXjKCHmlvp-g6PoIldg/s1921/Breckenridge%205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1921" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqYef9cYgvtakLqwvshmEyT3MaEBNxj6i4S_4Chc1b8T_7xYIaT8x8aAhJjtPq80AabcWWCEamPcLpYhRUXUvtqmIRbzbVHtk3znlvDhMVHQukwJc3QOY2FC2EGQTzRxIpTMpGIzLpdI_uYMkwAsJhnNkU455CexiFkA8NUTueiXjKCHmlvp-g6PoIldg/w360-h640/Breckenridge%205.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br /><p class="yiv3244746604ydp25286c28MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"><br /></p><p class="yiv3244746604ydp25286c28MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">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! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhasdW5PIqzNBEfiuPKJsK7UXB0hpnR2wb0vIBtAFKJ8hyphenhyphenMzkSiYWhJPnkhHEj1RwaBh0toOGZ8oL-pp5ZI9SU77p5OcLmPuxWhnxHSCTsW_d2PLVcBuhoUzlyh7eHIc_YLWkFPPkKs6-xefMIg_OeY5LhpmKQhCxDloLD1jTWSQwuKJ0I1UG6t_yn6lUs/s1921/Sand%20Dunes%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1921" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhasdW5PIqzNBEfiuPKJsK7UXB0hpnR2wb0vIBtAFKJ8hyphenhyphenMzkSiYWhJPnkhHEj1RwaBh0toOGZ8oL-pp5ZI9SU77p5OcLmPuxWhnxHSCTsW_d2PLVcBuhoUzlyh7eHIc_YLWkFPPkKs6-xefMIg_OeY5LhpmKQhCxDloLD1jTWSQwuKJ0I1UG6t_yn6lUs/w360-h640/Sand%20Dunes%201.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2JH_PTeGtVX5t9OiG_bhHYeYq44S0C2ez1Cw_fmS3yCQT3hwposcC5xo2k7vPC5ehGvajBOobrwbjZDfHxeoszfVzv8jwtH8honQCOXqIKyqoTP96VV9X8lrrKLTIKQfGAFo1EL73b54bXL7g5-QaL621HM5ZFyP1wj8NjTRD3FHLG2M-vnkVeYFPkQ/s1921/Sand%20Dunes%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1921" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2JH_PTeGtVX5t9OiG_bhHYeYq44S0C2ez1Cw_fmS3yCQT3hwposcC5xo2k7vPC5ehGvajBOobrwbjZDfHxeoszfVzv8jwtH8honQCOXqIKyqoTP96VV9X8lrrKLTIKQfGAFo1EL73b54bXL7g5-QaL621HM5ZFyP1wj8NjTRD3FHLG2M-vnkVeYFPkQ/w360-h640/Sand%20Dunes%202.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihB_WaMK0xdl2HEgMs-_FVCu6Fr3YMWjN7VYjnzFt1OZQlO-dYxLHZRYs8YAfcwRLwwoOnBsOM3UxgngpHrJYsE3D044vCguA7o7RYjeQJfLdf3cnmYjtJC4klVNrNAu4vtiVGs3mvkba8trsNLqBteXH_cvOnuVXFY6OhZKlraPVm559KB8z8zQK2FTQ/s1080/Sand%20Dunes%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="1080" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihB_WaMK0xdl2HEgMs-_FVCu6Fr3YMWjN7VYjnzFt1OZQlO-dYxLHZRYs8YAfcwRLwwoOnBsOM3UxgngpHrJYsE3D044vCguA7o7RYjeQJfLdf3cnmYjtJC4klVNrNAu4vtiVGs3mvkba8trsNLqBteXH_cvOnuVXFY6OhZKlraPVm559KB8z8zQK2FTQ/w400-h225/Sand%20Dunes%203.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4pxufJpjoTTdxan4KxDoCkppENja_peje1A1oOJu_4VDsUscwwNi551DKderxtY1YNXAL1D947l3V8vTFifKfo9EUx6D0WACVB_J7nnoDyfrs7LtAdyvh-4qeaNdZf68bFXsA995-qxkg2FKwAKY70aAGDpYUajgZHw1j-HSrgAztJ_is8EhLPfaTxU/s1080/Sand%20Dunes%204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="608" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4pxufJpjoTTdxan4KxDoCkppENja_peje1A1oOJu_4VDsUscwwNi551DKderxtY1YNXAL1D947l3V8vTFifKfo9EUx6D0WACVB_J7nnoDyfrs7LtAdyvh-4qeaNdZf68bFXsA995-qxkg2FKwAKY70aAGDpYUajgZHw1j-HSrgAztJ_is8EhLPfaTxU/w225-h400/Sand%20Dunes%204.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjib4lxWGnebeMXsWUSnsHu5HOhz-XzUX7I0MkRCP-vk-i6LB35iUUXiwPhu1nMP59Malw5pOg7-K9T1n4Uo3zM5JpmtCM9ua1KFWqlJus4MAd17QPspDpoZHBNl32XgjmPQMden6a-zfbLMyEMmaYP5oabiK6-VYKoyoDhtE9Q49I-_GYwVCu1esQ5aso/s1080/Sand%20Dunes%205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="1080" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjib4lxWGnebeMXsWUSnsHu5HOhz-XzUX7I0MkRCP-vk-i6LB35iUUXiwPhu1nMP59Malw5pOg7-K9T1n4Uo3zM5JpmtCM9ua1KFWqlJus4MAd17QPspDpoZHBNl32XgjmPQMden6a-zfbLMyEMmaYP5oabiK6-VYKoyoDhtE9Q49I-_GYwVCu1esQ5aso/w400-h225/Sand%20Dunes%205.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3P-yB9ipmBGJTZAwwI-Z1Kzr15VCwtxpWeZMUuBdHabojM5vvkTHSU1q8JlBreXXyW_X58DfRjJqRLuxSgSXSmmY6Kjj1lYln0f-O6VPEIZSdmLu6IkU-mKB3wm1L_OwOloZPUD9lLEB4RRQSUzFFCvOzni9_0F7z8xaY6wm06puWPJFo5jfjqBT3PAk/s1080/Sand%20Dunes%206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="1080" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3P-yB9ipmBGJTZAwwI-Z1Kzr15VCwtxpWeZMUuBdHabojM5vvkTHSU1q8JlBreXXyW_X58DfRjJqRLuxSgSXSmmY6Kjj1lYln0f-O6VPEIZSdmLu6IkU-mKB3wm1L_OwOloZPUD9lLEB4RRQSUzFFCvOzni9_0F7z8xaY6wm06puWPJFo5jfjqBT3PAk/w400-h225/Sand%20Dunes%206.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p class="yiv3244746604ydp25286c28MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"><br /></p><p class="yiv3244746604ydp25286c28MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">2/17-</p><p class="yiv3244746604ydp25286c28MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">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.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8WKV0BIZhKXEnmaA_nFWRoBDLe3e_JGKz3tXEOZMy4xIyPFBnDCvoBwPz4_b2Q-wrECIeBaoVigH58qGLODTVOHQUHWCS8F3YlfZEV-d3_8X4ALCnC4gF0woOIVpgzDCfZ9Hme_xLQ9hXASIhey6T-g5gYIltZaf9abdkIAT-4brd0coK0huSDZiKtuw/s1921/Garden%20of%20Gods%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1921" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8WKV0BIZhKXEnmaA_nFWRoBDLe3e_JGKz3tXEOZMy4xIyPFBnDCvoBwPz4_b2Q-wrECIeBaoVigH58qGLODTVOHQUHWCS8F3YlfZEV-d3_8X4ALCnC4gF0woOIVpgzDCfZ9Hme_xLQ9hXASIhey6T-g5gYIltZaf9abdkIAT-4brd0coK0huSDZiKtuw/w360-h640/Garden%20of%20Gods%201.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAnO0Xs3GIeBMmyXmqri5TFnM6RVAmgbgX7kCtHprIO0g-Q016D7Dx3VEmE5TEoO_oa8sZ0hyphenhyphengPJeC4NCtYQUspynqhdv-sDZs0eK7aNa_mwmkiJ3HzKX37_KZFkKjDT3JRwWk-zIo0Ph_cjFhOer1sGd8qD84o9psHqgy9N3BG0I-8EByPUmMIQnWqOg/s1080/Garden%20of%20Gods%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="608" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAnO0Xs3GIeBMmyXmqri5TFnM6RVAmgbgX7kCtHprIO0g-Q016D7Dx3VEmE5TEoO_oa8sZ0hyphenhyphengPJeC4NCtYQUspynqhdv-sDZs0eK7aNa_mwmkiJ3HzKX37_KZFkKjDT3JRwWk-zIo0Ph_cjFhOer1sGd8qD84o9psHqgy9N3BG0I-8EByPUmMIQnWqOg/w225-h400/Garden%20of%20Gods%202.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYTF_IRjahoAWRYEtr8jm1U-7aXy-YjxchNXoXkXLHgYhqD5Df7u3wlyW8hmJgRxQvQpaPD7iKVSaQYtkOLecRlGSRrdglceiPudqUHCy0FCw4m3U8GRRTUF1pSN5vuu3erbStF4cJ76vKp-F1QWcg_MlWmRikr8nRQCncPh6ryG5Y9u4UYdl4eLRu__w/s2489/Garden%20of%20Gods%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2489" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYTF_IRjahoAWRYEtr8jm1U-7aXy-YjxchNXoXkXLHgYhqD5Df7u3wlyW8hmJgRxQvQpaPD7iKVSaQYtkOLecRlGSRrdglceiPudqUHCy0FCw4m3U8GRRTUF1pSN5vuu3erbStF4cJ76vKp-F1QWcg_MlWmRikr8nRQCncPh6ryG5Y9u4UYdl4eLRu__w/w278-h640/Garden%20of%20Gods%203.jpg" width="278" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1921" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPku_2VKmASvj8miCzbxqbq7IreHeTJesfGyCSkVToFSpQtZ843zEVf_UsOwuO6YFZiXl9JSmmag8h9APMlpD0LOzHj3fn0edfsN59zjvTGWS_att5sLeb4_Pv0Nn-srCVu_WXMKGOdYhrHKyJRQT4up69-Rf6sOW5vr5FkX9uXcrC5KIz2C9zNbuR17I/w360-h640/Garden%20of%20Gods%208.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><p class="yiv3244746604ydp25286c28MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"><br /></p><p class="yiv3244746604ydp25286c28MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">2/18-</p><p class="yiv3244746604ydp25286c28MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">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. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_RegSeGoSWKGQ39YSW9Sb7q6ntsBYhRas1OCC0uhbfB1K3ajGj6KkalLRriIu7fzGuNr2aC999uY-xuPgRhsN3Zf8RqoHr_txUvrDDUENqTwmhw5w01GIt_0wRNZkGPQvS7UyV3SbE2qtS3KMsH_9LLe0UdFGk8gflkDwTl68v_HIT7UQdLs12nOsdWQ/s1921/Pikes%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1921" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_RegSeGoSWKGQ39YSW9Sb7q6ntsBYhRas1OCC0uhbfB1K3ajGj6KkalLRriIu7fzGuNr2aC999uY-xuPgRhsN3Zf8RqoHr_txUvrDDUENqTwmhw5w01GIt_0wRNZkGPQvS7UyV3SbE2qtS3KMsH_9LLe0UdFGk8gflkDwTl68v_HIT7UQdLs12nOsdWQ/w360-h640/Pikes%201.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlD38Yq71OepvrUXfSo3B5PWwuyor8CHV12ZXMM9OQ4Gq3l-AE90lJJaCIn-3yD8bYMixB4rNpUTZDykvuyTw03kt0ot7eouCc3ykvqW3MnHBdIIccwfVNeh-87EAybYdz17w7X5rd_rIarVmaxzAfAl3P72a3UA_waLEK2ZeC0UjVIb6Uy4CdRr_A9s8/s1080/Pikes%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="1080" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlD38Yq71OepvrUXfSo3B5PWwuyor8CHV12ZXMM9OQ4Gq3l-AE90lJJaCIn-3yD8bYMixB4rNpUTZDykvuyTw03kt0ot7eouCc3ykvqW3MnHBdIIccwfVNeh-87EAybYdz17w7X5rd_rIarVmaxzAfAl3P72a3UA_waLEK2ZeC0UjVIb6Uy4CdRr_A9s8/w400-h225/Pikes%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqSfH_Ih11pTBuChrMkvW9dTveLyW6nc0dEkWJbV0HI-ygL6Uq-zFSzYYV1T2QrjRFvQ0ccMe_RdZdj92hIPk5icq8tfcBE3r6ESRpsKmT5QoXTF4juUeM5WQexRyzdHlOo6AUGUWg4N6oY0nLnkFHSj19oPPazPOs6EQu0BqhFxLrUEP3D0mvrH2Ftc4/s1080/Pikes%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="1080" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqSfH_Ih11pTBuChrMkvW9dTveLyW6nc0dEkWJbV0HI-ygL6Uq-zFSzYYV1T2QrjRFvQ0ccMe_RdZdj92hIPk5icq8tfcBE3r6ESRpsKmT5QoXTF4juUeM5WQexRyzdHlOo6AUGUWg4N6oY0nLnkFHSj19oPPazPOs6EQu0BqhFxLrUEP3D0mvrH2Ftc4/w400-h225/Pikes%203.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="1080" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpe0sg5vSbbtk0MEcQzUG8Gst0Bwhjq5dDzTq5ZBZFvBqc7yUBTMZDy_727kWnU2e6vbtoaephwGqvvuGvAu2GFcriakDV8rly2g8GjBj8z-7DB0kNQ6Nbdy0oEbkV_LqcbZSwi-VZdYbRXb0HfLq_oC2VJcZMOCBq8hmhc3xF8PGNJy3W4WPO1oDXue0/w400-h225/Pikes%205.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY5adsC2wEBgbWGyEb7VkA1FY7aYkKD3d2l7SxRD-eHS88AFp32_6oMekzUGxibNz2zSVYViuOXDiSHgQyDxfjC_37acx-GgPxu_fgkB9HoEoUmMp5NM1EuAWV-lNslO8f_ihc24119vdUq9mjiRvLoqcVPi5hCgGIWRsC1gSnfFpJuVDscH-iqwwGNzU/s1080/Pikes%206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="1080" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY5adsC2wEBgbWGyEb7VkA1FY7aYkKD3d2l7SxRD-eHS88AFp32_6oMekzUGxibNz2zSVYViuOXDiSHgQyDxfjC_37acx-GgPxu_fgkB9HoEoUmMp5NM1EuAWV-lNslO8f_ihc24119vdUq9mjiRvLoqcVPi5hCgGIWRsC1gSnfFpJuVDscH-iqwwGNzU/w400-h225/Pikes%206.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p class="yiv3244746604ydp25286c28MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"><br /></p><p class="yiv3244746604ydp25286c28MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">2/19-</p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; outline: none !important;">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. </span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; outline: none !important;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Ny3PZ4S5jB_PdCfimkG3sehyphenhyphent8XIRNJTafjh9ebMVMB8bp5TIQouqeA7c-WXHQOpIq9WnZR_opK5OQRmnCWDKdhrCXnw3WaUdFxXShB5hJXt6eceGqsW0WXzbFqMTMSiYSwAvSSOAw8ynBxRVaww83Lj4lwoWxJ9fiGmXq4Bz6hxNIr7gAj3m3UphYY/s1080/DEN%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="1080" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Ny3PZ4S5jB_PdCfimkG3sehyphenhyphent8XIRNJTafjh9ebMVMB8bp5TIQouqeA7c-WXHQOpIq9WnZR_opK5OQRmnCWDKdhrCXnw3WaUdFxXShB5hJXt6eceGqsW0WXzbFqMTMSiYSwAvSSOAw8ynBxRVaww83Lj4lwoWxJ9fiGmXq4Bz6hxNIr7gAj3m3UphYY/w400-h225/DEN%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; outline: none !important;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxLLfynNAVkbz5SZtPA5N9d0TM7nwTZay4GUzUJaWAj2_RHU8Y-I7d-YofWnDrRtdFx8UJli7q6Q4s7NIDeTIkJicBr4tDa5oNSlQKxjlfZpuLinXjDqMx_YndMtEyFeSWPu8dXv80OPUE79ICTenQSts-Die1E0f9t7zcASf8BkzsNHKHBX2s9Bow4Bc/s1921/DEN%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1921" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxLLfynNAVkbz5SZtPA5N9d0TM7nwTZay4GUzUJaWAj2_RHU8Y-I7d-YofWnDrRtdFx8UJli7q6Q4s7NIDeTIkJicBr4tDa5oNSlQKxjlfZpuLinXjDqMx_YndMtEyFeSWPu8dXv80OPUE79ICTenQSts-Die1E0f9t7zcASf8BkzsNHKHBX2s9Bow4Bc/w225-h400/DEN%202.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy95B9uQV5tKgSk38s3etM8q50fRmGFOPm-uIpYGjq3lWqfokWH0jacZwKb5TFH98JiRg75-tqNwWpSI91XZJPa2TwCXFGXjjkbot421dtoLIQ9v-q-QaVqDxN2ulzMNJeQo3qXtj-xKfMgZwYBDE3i9WfmpPzvSGfRYLIFO61W4hnMazxav6VwAAo20s/s1080/DEN%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="608" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy95B9uQV5tKgSk38s3etM8q50fRmGFOPm-uIpYGjq3lWqfokWH0jacZwKb5TFH98JiRg75-tqNwWpSI91XZJPa2TwCXFGXjjkbot421dtoLIQ9v-q-QaVqDxN2ulzMNJeQo3qXtj-xKfMgZwYBDE3i9WfmpPzvSGfRYLIFO61W4hnMazxav6VwAAo20s/w225-h400/DEN%203.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; outline: none !important;"><br /></span></div>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-72577278107703792992024-02-12T16:47:00.000-08:002024-02-20T17:19:44.905-08:00Training 2/12-2/18<p> 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.</p><p>Distance=2.0</p><p>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.</p><p>PM- Molybdenum will also do the trick. Improved from 95 to 77 on just 2 of those pills.</p><p>Distance-1.0</p><p>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!!!</p><p>Splits were 5:47-5:18-5:11-5:59.</p><p>Distance-2.0</p><p>2/15- Planned rest day. Denver flight. Drive to Breckenridge.</p><p>2/16- Junk run at Breckenridge. Surprisingly, I felt okay but sure the altitude would have affected me if I had gone longer.</p><p>Distance= 0.5</p><p>2/17- Half mile at Garden of the Gods. Could not hack it on the climbs.</p><p>Distance= 0.5</p><p>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.</p><p>Distance= 1.0</p><p>-7 miles. </p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-70851489316147794902024-02-08T14:37:00.000-08:002024-02-08T18:09:27.641-08:00Newfoundland and Toronto Trip Plan <p> 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. </p><p>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.</p><p>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. </p><p>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. </p><p>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. </p><p>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.</p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-82029716287403898222024-02-05T16:46:00.000-08:002024-02-12T12:19:42.436-08:00Training 2/5-2/11<p> 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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Distance=3.0</p><p>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! </p><p>Distance-1.5</p><p>2/7- Unplanned rest day. Too much NAC! </p><p>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. </p><p>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. </p><p>Distance=1.0</p><p>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.</p><p>Distance-0.5</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Distance-3.0</p><p>2/11- Half mile junk run in between rounds of storms. Adrenals have spiked again. </p><p>Ugly Mile at Montreat in 10:38 with splits of 5:22-5:16. No further comment.</p><p>Distance= 1.5</p><p>-11 miles on the week. YTD-62</p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-4984751203772263552024-02-05T05:18:00.000-08:002024-02-08T17:10:27.953-08:00Possible Colorado Road Trip<p> 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. </p><p>Cons:</p><p>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. </p><p>Plan:</p><p>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. </p><p>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. </p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Day 5- Flight back. Direct. </p><p>UPDATE:</p><p>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. </p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-10433821791034685332024-01-29T17:41:00.000-08:002024-02-04T06:59:53.541-08:00Training 1/29-2/4<p> 1/29- HATED interval session. </p><p>Opener- 2:06</p><p>Vitamin C- 1:58</p><p>B-Complex- 1:46</p><p>Stand Alone B-12- 1:12</p><p>Added a lap cool down. Adding back the B-12 into my formula was YUGE! I will stick with it and try to take just a little Glycine. It is my hope that Glycine will be a non-factor.</p><p>Distance=1.0</p><p>1/30- In what should be no surprise, I now have an insatiable need for B12. That should fade by the end of the week. Opened with a 1:57 half lap and had nothing. Could not go any faster. Improved to a 1:32 on 1 pill despite backing off on the effort. On 2 pills, I went all out and clocked a 58 (5:48 pace). That's right. I doubled the speed just because of 2 pills. Unfortunately, an hour later, I needed more. Again, this will fade soon. And something else will pop up.</p><p>PM- Took several B12 pills throughout the day but it wasn't enough. Really struggled out there. 1.5 miles in 17:12 (11:28 pace) with splits of 8:20-8:52. BEST NEWS of the day: I took BOTH the Malate and the Glycinate today. NO OBVIOUS trouble. Maybe I was slightly weakened but nothing serious happened. Perhaps B12 deficiency was the cause of the recent issues. That makes me feel a little better. The need for it will diminish and I should improve tomorrow.</p><p>Distance=2.0</p><p>1/31- AM. 2 miles on Lakeshore in 20:16 (10:08 pace). BIG improvement over yesterday. 80 seconds faster on the pace over a longer distance. Splits were 10:06-10:10 but it took a late rally to even up. May be back this evening.</p><p>PM- Repeated the morning workout. 2 miles in 17:36 (8:48 pace). Best time of the year by a wide margin. I figure this projects to a low-28 5K. The difference was extra B12 but I don't feel as horrible without it. Very soon, the gaps in performance will be gone.</p><p>Distance=4.0</p><p>2/1- 5K FAIL! Struggled to hold a low-9 pace and passed 0.5 at 4:35. I still believed I could break 30 or at least 30:48 but the power cut off at 0.6 and I wisely turned around. Quit after 1 mile. I think the GPS turned to 1.00 just before the watch hit 10:00 but who cares? This feels like an adrenal spike. Not a surprise. This one should not last too long. That's it for today.</p><p>PM- No running but found out it was not an adrenal spike after all. It was a lack of Intrinsic Factor. I cannot tolerate B12 without it. That makes me feel a little better. All that crap that I went through before the Cytokine treatment was not all in vain. Felt much better after taking Intrinsic Factor. I may try again at the 5K distance tomorrow.</p><p>Distance=1.0</p><p>2/2- Unplanned rest day. Did not even attempt a workout and barely made it through the day at work. I thought Intrinsic Factor would reduce my demand for B-12. Nope. It has temporarily INCREASED it. I got a little better after taking a LOT when I got home but still I'm in no condition to run.</p><p>2/3- 1 mile in 11:41. OUCH! Only good thing was a strong negative split (6:03-5:38). I'll be back out there this afternoon. Felt better after a nap.</p><p>PM- Time is down to 10:21 but that doesn't tell the whole story. I believe the adrenal spike has already hit. Hopefully, it won't last too long this time. 1st half- 5:36 and fading. 2nd half- 4:45 after taking 2 extra Thym-Adren. Tomorrow will likely be rained out but how I feel will be interesting.</p><p>Distance=2.0</p><p>2/4- 1 mile in light rain at Montreat. Finished in 11:35 with relatively even splits. Culprit is the adrenal spike. I will improve steadily then collapse again when the spike goes down. I don't think it will last 3 weeks this time.</p><p>Distance=1.0</p><p>-11 miles on the week. YTD= 51</p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-68645672410454740632024-01-29T17:32:00.000-08:002024-01-29T17:32:32.798-08:00RANT: Malic Acid and Glycine Interaction<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">As stated earlier, my only goal for 2024 is to do better than 2023, which is not asking for much.</span><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So far, it is NOT happening.</span><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I rang in the New Year recovering from the flu.</span><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Then, 2 days later, an adrenal spike hit, which forced me to take mega doses of Thym-Adren.</span><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">That’s to be expected after solving a major problem (Candida) and it died down after 20 days just as quickly as it sprang up.</span><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Nevertheless, improvement was strong and steady for the first 3 weeks of the year.</span><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Every 1 Mile time trial was faster than the previous attempt, by a wide margin.</span><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Same with the 2 mile and the 5K.</span><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"> </span></p><p class="yiv5183490491ydpd3863d96MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">In spite of minimal training and moderate drinking in Punta Cana, I still showed improvement.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>My 2.5 mile pace was slightly faster than my previous 2-miler and though it wasn’t pretty, I finished a 5-miler without a total meltdown.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>Hopes were beginning to rise, and I had aspirations of being ready for a couple of local races by early Spring.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>I didn’t expect to set the world on fire but a time around 26-27 minutes for the 5K would have been nice. <span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>I even looked into international races and was pleased to see that 3 bucket list races (Rio, Santiago, Cape Town) have companion 10Ks in addition to the full and half marathon distances.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="outline: none !important;"> </span></p><p class="yiv5183490491ydpd3863d96MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">That’s my history in recent years.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>Just as hopes begin to rise, I get slammed down when I least expect it.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>A relapse because the adrenal spike went down?<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>Fine.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>That’s totally understandable and it’s good news in the long run because I’m less dependent on one pill.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>Taking adrenal suppressants when your function has slowed will leave any person very sluggish.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>It’s the same as taking thyroid meds when you are already hyper.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>A 1–2-day blip after I realize what’s happening followed by a quick rebound?<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>Nope!<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>Glycine intolerance flared up out of nowhere.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span></p><p class="yiv5183490491ydpd3863d96MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">After a week of trial and mostly error, I finally realized that I am getting a negative interaction between Malic acid and Glycine.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>I found no evidence that this is normal.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>Upping my Cytokine suppressants (Autoimmune) did nothing to help.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>Neither did Probiotics or detox spray.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>The form of Magnesium that I had been taking is Magnesium Malate, but I had only been taking it occasionally.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>I discovered this weekend that if I don’t take the Malate, I NEED the Glycine.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>If I do take the Malate, I CANNOT TOLERATE the Glycine.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>WHAT THE _____________________!!!!!!!<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>Nothing new for me but I’ve never heard of anything like this from others!<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>It’s not just the pills either.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>I cannot even eat strawberries because they are rich in malic acid.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span></p><p class="yiv5183490491ydpd3863d96MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">Lots of people take Magnesium Glycinate.<span style="outline: none !important;"> Yes, indeed I have read that it's NORMALLY FINE to take Malate and Glycinate together</span> but it’s obviously NOT an option for me.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>It must be one or the other.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>I will opt for the Malate.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>If I take the Glycinate instead, I could end up intolerant to certain fruits with Malic acid such as apples and strawberries.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>Again, WHAT THE __________________!!<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>What could be causing this if it’s not Cytokine dysregulation?<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>Possible malabsorption is the only thing that I suspect.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span></p><p class="yiv5183490491ydpd3863d96MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;">I will try again to get my diet back on track then see if the intolerance and interactions have improved.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>If that fails, I don’t see how I can manage this on my own.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>Can’t I just avoid the Glycine especially if I may not even need it?<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>No.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>Inexplicable negative reactions to minerals or amino acids will not be tolerated.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>In the future, I will most probably develop a sudden intolerance to something that I really do need as a key part of my treatment.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="outline: none !important;"> </span>I must harass the Rheumatologist until I get an appointment but I’m not very confident in their treatment plan either.<span style="outline: none !important;"> </span></p><p class="yiv5183490491ydpd3863d96MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"><span style="outline: none !important;">UPDATE:</span></p><p class="yiv5183490491ydpd3863d96MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none !important;"><span style="outline: none !important;">I saw a big improvement after taking B12. Perhaps, it really is malabsorption due to a severe vitamin deficiency. </span></p><div><span style="outline: none !important;"><br /></span></div>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-33502522102534722642024-01-24T16:31:00.000-08:002024-01-24T16:31:49.051-08:00Rant or Rave: Airport Logistics<p> I've looked into several Mexican and South American destinations, and some are a lot more desirable than others just based on the logistics. I'll start out with Mexico. </p><p>Acapulco and Puerto Escondido- Both look beautiful and are plenty warm enough. Even in January, the water temperature is consistently 82-85 degrees with almost no chance of rain. Acapulco has a bad reputation for crime, but tourist areas are considered to be safe. Puerto Escondido can have epic surf conditions. Unfortunately, in both locations, it's a pain in the ass to get there. I'm not aware of any US airport with a direct flight to either location. Both would require an overnight layover in Mexico City. </p><p> Now, I've heard some nice things about Mexico City and maybe it's worth it to spend a few days there. However, as it stands with the ticket, I'd have to go through immigration and then either spend the night at the airport or take a cab into town for a hotel. I don't know if the MEX airport has a connected hotel but if I went that route, I'd have to go through security again and may have little time to sleep. Not fun.</p><p>Two better options on the Mexican Pacific coast are Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. I think that November is the ideal month because the water temperature is a lot warmer. Granted, it is near the end of hurricane season but both locations are rarely struck and are virtually rain free. In both cases, I can either go direct from Atlanta or stay in Birmingham and connect in Dallas or Houston to break up the trip. </p><p>In the case of Puerto Vallarta, there is minimal surf there, but I can take a bus to a well-known surf town called Sayulita, which is where I'd spend just about all of my time. Cabo would be a road trip in which I'd spend time in Cerritos and La Paz as well. I'm a little apprehensive about renting a car in Mexico but I've heard that it's pretty easy. Still, I'd opt for Sayulita before Cabo unless I have someone to join me. </p><p>South America:</p><p>I have 2 races on my bucket list. One is in Santiago, Chile. I'd do a few days of touring, then race. The next morning would be a bus ride over the Andes Mountains to Mendoza, Argentina. From there, I'd fly to Lima, Peru to spend a couple days to break up the trip. </p><p>The second is Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. In this case, I'd stick to Rio. Marathon Tours and Travel offers a package deal with a hotel near the border of Copacabana and Ipanema. American citizens will need a VISA to enter Brazil beginning in April of this year. AFF! </p><p>The biggest gripe that I have about the logistics here is that almost all flights are overnight and land at 6 or 7 AM. Figure that I clear customs in 1 hour and arrive in town around 9AM. That leaves about 5-6 hours of dead time until I can check into my hotel. Yes, they should allow me to drop off my luggage, but I'll need a plan to keep busy. Add to that, I've never been able to sleep on the plane so I'll be hurting, and it will take me a couple of days to bounce back. Though I may be done with the half marathon distance, I am optimistic about my ability to run 10Ks for the foreseeable future. Both races have a companion half as well as a 10K. </p><p>Overnight layovers:</p><p>On my first trip to Hawaii, I tried to drive from Atlanta to Birmingham after a sleepless night on a red-eye and severe jet lag. I didn't make it and wisely stopped at a hotel not far from the airport. Lesson learned. Next time, I broke up the trip with a 24-hour layover in San Francisco. That was a good call, and I liked the city more than I expected to. </p><p>Ideally, I'd like an airport to be within 5-10 minutes of downtown or have easy access via public transportation. If I get stranded overnight because of a cancellation, I'd want to make the best of it. Here are some cities that fit that criteria. I'm sure there are several others as well.</p><p>Reagan National in Washington, DC. Metro is connected to the airport.</p><p>Newark- It will require a few rides and transfers, but you can get into NYC without a car. </p><p>Atlanta- MARTA is connected to the airport.</p><p>Dallas- I believe DART is connected to the airport as well. </p><p>San Francisco- BART is connected</p><p>Not connected but accessible with ease </p><p>LAX- a fair distance from downtown but Manhattan Beach is just a few minutes away</p><p>Phoenix- downtown is literally next to the airport.</p><p>Salt Lake City- same as Phoenix but I'd rent a car and explore the area a bit. </p><p>Of course, when breaking up a Hawaii trip, I'd want my overnight layover to be on the West coast.</p><p> </p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-45974768449746522072024-01-22T09:04:00.000-08:002024-01-28T10:14:48.252-08:00Training 1/22-1/28<p> 1/22- The streak has come to an end. I saw it coming yesterday but this still hurts especially the way it happened. I had hoped that I would narrowly miss my best time of the year at a specific distance. Instead, I collapsed. </p><p>Got off to a decent start but the power cut off at just 0.2 miles and I just mailed it in from there. Called it quits after just 1 mile in a time of 11:10, my worst showing since 1/2. </p><p> The culprit is my diet. Not surprisingly, I was bad at the resort. What was surprising is that I seemed to get away with it. For that reason, I didn't get back on track right away after I got home. Now, I must get back on track. I can expect rough days ahead but hopefully not as bad as the recent candida die off, which was as bad as the flu.</p><p>PM- Half mile at Montreat in 4:46 (9:32 pace). Better already. If I had slipped from an 8:30 to an 8:45 because of one too many forbidden drinks, that's understandable. A complete collapse like this morning should not happen. Hopefully, I start a new streak tomorrow but the next 2 days may be hard.</p><p>Distance=1.5 </p><p>1/23- Montreat Mile in 10:24. Improvement of 46 seconds over yesterday. Negative split too (5:17-5:07) but I am still very discouraged. Hopefully, I stay on track and am back to where I was 2 days ago by the end of the week. Weather this week will be warm but rainy. </p><p>PM- MAJOR update: The last 2 days, I've noticed that I felt better in the afternoon. Today, I began to suspect that the adrenal spike has gone down after 3 weeks and I need to reduce the Thym-Adren. That makes me feel a LOT better. Taking way too many glandulars DOES explain a collapse. The spike goes down just as suddenly as it went up. I still need to get the diet back on track but perhaps that was not the problem after all. I did the hated interval test after work. </p><p>Half lap at Montreat in 1:28.5 (8:51 pace). This was Mile effort, not an all out sprint. I don't think I could have held it for a sub-9, but I certainly would have come in well under 10, which is a significant gain over the morning. I cheated on the diet and it didn't hurt me. Popped 2 more Thym-Adren and was immediately poorer. With the same effort, I managed only a 1:41.5 (10:09 pace) PLUS 78. Added another half lap naked as a cool down.</p><p>Going forward:</p><p>I will cut the Thym-Adren from 6 pills to 3. When I do get back on track, the adrenals could spike again. I'll worry about that later. </p><p>Distance=1.5</p><p>1/24- Repeated the Montreat Mile plus a cool on the lower dose and my time was all the way down to 8:22. Best time of the year. Excellent pacing (4:12-4:10) without an all out kick at the end. Never expected this much improvement so quickly. I should see a sub-8 very soon. Weather looks very iffy for the remainder of the week. Hopefully, there will be some breaks. Sunday looks okay and I will try the 10K if I feel up to it.</p><p>Distance=1.5 </p><p>1/25- Planned rest day due to rain. Made an important discovery. I forgot to take the Glycine and I felt the difference. It was not good. This time, a forbidden drink DID hurt me. The collapse on Monday was due to excess Thym-Adren AND a lack of Glycine. The latter factor was worsened by my diet. I was half right after all. Back on track starting today.</p><p>1/26- Woke up feeling pretty good and was optimistic about breaking 30 for 5K. As soon as I started, it was obvious that something was off. Never had a good pace and it got worse as it progressed. Settled for 1 mile in a pathetic time of 11:48. The culprit this time? Too much Glycine!!! Words cannot express how much I HATE THIS!! A bad reaction because I took too many glandulars? I don't like it but that's understandable. Too much of an amino acid, especially one that I need? NOT OKAY!!!! The Cytokine suppressants were SUPPOSED to stop this from happening. All I can do is go back to the low dose and hope that staying clean with the diet will reduce the need for Glycine.</p><p>Distance= 1.0</p><p>1/27-AM Montreat Mile in the dark to beat the rain. Improved to 10:51 on low dose Glycine. MINUS 57. Same pattern as Tuesday. Negative splits (5:32-5:19). Hope to see big improvement tomorrow but caffeine withdrawal could set in. I could have done better if I didn't take any but if I did that, I'd see a meltdown because I did NOT take it. ARGH! Felt better after taking a nap.</p><p>PM- Repeated the Montreat Mile and improved to 9:40 with pretty even splits (4:48-4:52). It wasn't pretty but this is over 2 minutes better than where I was just 36 hours ago. Started in a drizzle that became a more steady rain towards the end. I will not attempt the 10K tomorrow. I will shoot for 4 miles.</p><p>Distance=2.0</p><p>1/28- FAIL. I knew it before I started. Quit after just a half mile in 5:52 and would have been well over 12 for a full mile. Made an important discovery later in the day. I've been slacking on my Magnesium Malate lately but did take it last night. It made the reaction to the Glycine MUCH WORSE. I DO NOT GET THIS AT ALL! Magnesium Glycinate is a very popular form and I don't see how Magnesium can cause a Glycine intolerance nor do I see how not taking it can cause a need for it. WHAT THE ______________! Cytokine suppressants have NOT stopped the sensitivity! ARGH!!! </p><p>Important update:</p><p>I ate a couple of strawberries with my lunch and felt noticeably WORSE afterwards. Strawberries contain malic acid. There is got to be some sort of negative interaction between Glycine and malic acid. I do NOT think that this is normal. However, in theory, as long as I take the Mag malate consistently, I should not need the Glycine.</p><p>Distance= 0.5</p><p>- only 8 miles this week. YTD= 40.</p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-74326303422895880602024-01-19T05:36:00.000-08:002024-01-21T11:20:09.512-08:00Training 1/15-1/21<p> 1/15- Planned rest day. Excursion to Saona Island.</p><p>1/16- 1 mile jog on the treadmill at the resort. That's about all I can stand to do on that machine. It counts as a workout but does not affect the streak. Speed was set to 6.2 but I jacked it up to 8.0 on the last tenth of a mile. Not a serious effort but enough to prevent loss of fitness. </p><p>Distance=1.0</p><p>1/17- Planned rest day. Trip home</p><p>1/18- Unplanned rest day. The predicted rain held off but I just wasn't feeling up to it, which is understandable after the trip.</p><p>1/19- 2.5 miles on South Lakeshore in 22:56 (9:10 pace) with splits of 11:32-11:24. Very pleased with this one. The streak remains intact. I only needed to beat the pace of my last 5K, and I was actually slightly faster than my last 2 miler. Obviously, the days off and the drinking at the resort didn't do me any good as it relates to my fitness, but I still showed improvement. </p><p>Two important markers: Even if I slipped to a 10 minute pace for the next 0.6 miles, I'm still below 29 for 5K. Last week, I only managed a 30:48. Next weekend, I think I have a realistic chance of a sub-60 10K. I just missed the sub-2 half marathon pace. As recently as 1/8, I could barely hold this pace for 1 mile. If this was 2.6 miles, I am almost 20 % of the way to a sub-2 half. Long way to go but great strides have been made.</p><p>Distance=2.5 </p><p>1/20- Trak Shak 5 mile loop in 50:25 (10:05 pace). I hoped for a sub-50, but all is still well. On the first attempt at a new distance, the only official goal is to finish. I went aggressive by skipping the 4 mile so that a 10K will seem do-able.</p><p> Splits were 24:35-25:50. Significant fade but I wouldn't call it brutal. Pace fell off sharply in Mile 3, but it never got much worse. Figure, I'd be around 63-flat for 10K but I'm going for it next weekend. 5 miles is 62% longer than a 5K. By comparison, 12 miles is only 20% longer than 10 miles. Perhaps, it will be easier to extend the distances when the mileage increases. Temps were sub-freezing but with sunny skies and relatively light winds, it wasn't too bad out there. Better than a treadmill run. </p><p>Distance=5.0</p><p>1/21- 1.5 miles at Montreat (4.5 laps) in 12:54 (8:36 pace). That's good enough to keep the streak alive but it won't last much longer. The rate of improvement has definitely slowed. Fast start then faded early. Passed 1 mile in 8:30 for a 4 second improvement over my last time trial. YES! Coasted the next lap but did finish pretty strong. </p><p>Distance=1.5</p><p>-10 miles on the week. YTD= 32. That just won't do going forward. I need a minimum of 20, probably 25 to have a chance to get below 2:00 in the half.</p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-90373629559750039312024-01-18T18:54:00.000-08:002024-01-20T08:09:13.224-08:00Punta Cana Trip Report<p> 1/13- 9:15 AM scheduled flight out of Atlanta. I drove there the previous night. There was a bit of a SNAFU that morning. I went to the International terminal only to find that I was supposed to check in at the Domestic terminal for a Frontier Airlines flight. Fortunately, I allowed myself extra time and I made the flight. In the end, it didn't matter because the flight was delayed by an hour. Can't say that I recommend this airline. Though the price looked like a bargain, it really wasn't with the bag fees. It was $104 each way just for a carry-on bag. At any rate, we landed after 3 hours, and it was on to Immigration. No hassle there. My passport was checked and stamped. The only question was where I was going. I didn't even have to show proof of a hotel reservation or a return flight as I did in Costa Rica. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZtwhIrb6H8Q98NVJWizMniDjm4nYL2hyphenhyphenleH4JBjHGvVjmnKyGc43e9lPBYGjlP4OAT2k6UNOaRP9pyv2serGVo24Xtrwjc9N5zrqjNTTFmVaHZ3OxHhvqXA4sn2JjhYcdbf6t6wncfopf_9dUYyxpxmwZW6obTdyhiBXTvmyvVqOkct5vHTpKRqD9elQ/s1080/DR%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="1080" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZtwhIrb6H8Q98NVJWizMniDjm4nYL2hyphenhyphenleH4JBjHGvVjmnKyGc43e9lPBYGjlP4OAT2k6UNOaRP9pyv2serGVo24Xtrwjc9N5zrqjNTTFmVaHZ3OxHhvqXA4sn2JjhYcdbf6t6wncfopf_9dUYyxpxmwZW6obTdyhiBXTvmyvVqOkct5vHTpKRqD9elQ/w400-h225/DR%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Another nice touch was a free shuttle from the airport to my resort. Yes, I used my Spanish. Several people were impressed and asked me where I learned. The answer is mostly Duolingo, but I was not a raw beginner because I took Spanish in high school. Still with the delay, I didn't have much time. I only took a brief dip and walk on the beach. I did have a drink at the swim up bar just before it closed. That was where most of the action took place at the resort. I really don't understand that with the beautiful beach. Sure, the swim up bar was nice but nothing otherworldly. There was one at my hotel in Wildwood, New Jersey and aside from the palm trees, this one wasn't much different. Dinner was a rather mediocre hot dog and hamburger at a sports bar in the resort. I met a couple drunk guys from Indiana and Wisconsin and a nice woman from Germany while I watched some football. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN9Y7azsom98q7QMLwneU_HRAS57JKc6DRVYAV4TZB1FoGjwB3AScniagolq-KqoGr-KOn2_OpgXIEb5FZCkFIqTFNy_oKeRLV41OzSkDQngyMqw0UWtpkE7TVHx-i0oAFhSdO18Xm3I6wFLyQsLnp719dqlCcYsXJiAo-DnHXHfofeT5XKIxdh9qkJwk/s1080/DR%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="608" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN9Y7azsom98q7QMLwneU_HRAS57JKc6DRVYAV4TZB1FoGjwB3AScniagolq-KqoGr-KOn2_OpgXIEb5FZCkFIqTFNy_oKeRLV41OzSkDQngyMqw0UWtpkE7TVHx-i0oAFhSdO18Xm3I6wFLyQsLnp719dqlCcYsXJiAo-DnHXHfofeT5XKIxdh9qkJwk/w360-h640/DR%202.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJC504PcELCNw-5yUO1b7fnA6QRcGfu-nlRjPVg1YLzDyxx3nPSO3i9Q-QSOAY3NvJtTXhe_y0W7URRhKQAM6rUOc41iinr6P0jzYUQVZEpc_fQxGuVWn3uvbmzrSG1WFd3VUR8gdsUes_0LwNn0bZLsE33CsUlqnN49K2v_8urMBLCwwFjsHxbaSZotM/s1080/DR%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="608" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJC504PcELCNw-5yUO1b7fnA6QRcGfu-nlRjPVg1YLzDyxx3nPSO3i9Q-QSOAY3NvJtTXhe_y0W7URRhKQAM6rUOc41iinr6P0jzYUQVZEpc_fQxGuVWn3uvbmzrSG1WFd3VUR8gdsUes_0LwNn0bZLsE33CsUlqnN49K2v_8urMBLCwwFjsHxbaSZotM/w225-h400/DR%203.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>1/14- This was an all-inclusive resort with the expected pros and cons. It's got convenience but lacks authenticity. I could have gone to Jamaica and had a similar experience at the same resort. Not surprisingly, the food was mediocre. It was better than what you will find at a college campus but a notch below Shoney's or Golden Corral. I suspect that the drinks were a bit watered down, but I had no interest in getting stupid drunk, so I didn't really care. There were a couple of restaurants that appeared to have some dishes that looked pretty good, but they required reservations. I stuck to the buffet and had no real complaints. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-kSnz_I7c8709kJgMeVb70onjmSwqcfuzA3Bx40HSRCpz927zjs2qN2FwWf6cbicL_uaB16-WW8PAJZb0gBPpryY79IoPrbmLU7wge05V_bTQW4DMw_mDSVU7Zi19tMhRrRrUQxOuks9iqhIG8ycwTdVpwaP_3nbv-gPHEDkby7j5RsfAiv7AVcP6zgA/s1080/DR%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="608" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-kSnz_I7c8709kJgMeVb70onjmSwqcfuzA3Bx40HSRCpz927zjs2qN2FwWf6cbicL_uaB16-WW8PAJZb0gBPpryY79IoPrbmLU7wge05V_bTQW4DMw_mDSVU7Zi19tMhRrRrUQxOuks9iqhIG8ycwTdVpwaP_3nbv-gPHEDkby7j5RsfAiv7AVcP6zgA/w360-h640/DR%204.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih0wY7LQO9pwNfiU_chVn7ewNmcizSc8ykNnEm5LKgwhHRClwWjfFPP5PbBXU0LBnTi_hSOlYJBedcC_8Sz7Ujl1hvOqxn2ovyaLM_gxBm1djePxL1D-YmSpZFDrBNWL_58ny8DOALSLGX8nc5TVWhpc5DyQXG0P9zb6pooKEmlRiAowggAb4TvQ5KaCI/s1080/DR5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="1080" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih0wY7LQO9pwNfiU_chVn7ewNmcizSc8ykNnEm5LKgwhHRClwWjfFPP5PbBXU0LBnTi_hSOlYJBedcC_8Sz7Ujl1hvOqxn2ovyaLM_gxBm1djePxL1D-YmSpZFDrBNWL_58ny8DOALSLGX8nc5TVWhpc5DyQXG0P9zb6pooKEmlRiAowggAb4TvQ5KaCI/w400-h225/DR5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>My room did not have a view of the ocean. It was about a quarter mile walk on a tile path lined with tall tropical palm trees. Today was a full day on the beach. Every day was sunny to partly cloudy with an air temperature of 85 and a water temperature of 81. It was on a beach called Arena Gorda. That proved to be a good call. The surf wasn't as strong as Macao, a bit further north and the water wasn't as blue as Bavaro, which has calm waters. However, it did provide the best of both worlds with beautiful blue water and some pretty good surf. Macao may have actually been too strong. Here, the waves were close to perfect. I got plenty of great rides on the board and though it was never dangerous, I did go down a couple times on wipeouts. Again, I was there for the beach and the surf, not the high-class accommodations or the food. I must say that the Dominican Republic shines in this regard. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht7_Po3e8l1j4qUWnvBNlYun6OaKpX97J8QKf8hhInHbQ_Hr543xDlGCKEcd-aUPmNV5vHSwmRDZIcJTum-arLvztLlX06PPWQDvmJJBLJjZWqor6VPz4agTHbWdPbllhRHPhWghG7WFSuMBw1AnGcWDuDl7D5ABgu5vB3NfaKA_uXC4JCVAA_pEO8Ly0/s2068/DR17.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2068" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht7_Po3e8l1j4qUWnvBNlYun6OaKpX97J8QKf8hhInHbQ_Hr543xDlGCKEcd-aUPmNV5vHSwmRDZIcJTum-arLvztLlX06PPWQDvmJJBLJjZWqor6VPz4agTHbWdPbllhRHPhWghG7WFSuMBw1AnGcWDuDl7D5ABgu5vB3NfaKA_uXC4JCVAA_pEO8Ly0/w209-h400/DR17.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQocgXaWfBHB0IjDXy3cx21QU1PzLPYOPiN6z8kNl7v2rxqdBQ-hbj5JqTFpbk_4TbVjBRHSQcG6SlqzOPoKQ7SyF5YgObbUHok02-wQoJVstcxRoggKifYkd1AeT9MIeMpyemX2YcZnff-Q8VeKWrsjveWrGD1YjeqVqu_ST3aw8K9-bcNQIZtj7kBg4/s1080/DR6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="1080" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQocgXaWfBHB0IjDXy3cx21QU1PzLPYOPiN6z8kNl7v2rxqdBQ-hbj5JqTFpbk_4TbVjBRHSQcG6SlqzOPoKQ7SyF5YgObbUHok02-wQoJVstcxRoggKifYkd1AeT9MIeMpyemX2YcZnff-Q8VeKWrsjveWrGD1YjeqVqu_ST3aw8K9-bcNQIZtj7kBg4/w400-h225/DR6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-JeMzBkvN9nkl_wGDt4k26Pnl0NRsPBcwzSqZuHrDSoNrvErlt1ACBW3KY9Nle4kDMj8hPwN3k5f-I7l6a6lVf6p9zERymnilh-Ln_Ng9DxrgydczxmdP6iEjD_KpYppcv7PtPUczPQ8Rdc8zes-3NDzX8ii5LE20StYfBlkWh0jww9L1TGOJuTojxZ0/s1080/DR7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="608" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-JeMzBkvN9nkl_wGDt4k26Pnl0NRsPBcwzSqZuHrDSoNrvErlt1ACBW3KY9Nle4kDMj8hPwN3k5f-I7l6a6lVf6p9zERymnilh-Ln_Ng9DxrgydczxmdP6iEjD_KpYppcv7PtPUczPQ8Rdc8zes-3NDzX8ii5LE20StYfBlkWh0jww9L1TGOJuTojxZ0/w225-h400/DR7.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>1/15- Excursion. I can't truly say that I experienced the country if I didn't leave the resort. I considered Santo Domingo and even simply a visit to a shopping mall in downtown Punta Cana but opted for Saona Island in the Carribean. I'm glad that I did it but wish it didn't take so long to get there. We did make a couple of stops but with the bus and the boat ride, it took 5 hours to arrive. Thanks to the speed boat, the return trip was only 3 hours. I enjoyed talking to a couple from Texas and another from Scotland. Cool. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdIhyphenhyphenD3orkO7ZYkzI3XvOHA16cjbQkVNBColmFC1mWvVHYWmYeS5idYBs2FedTnUob1yJMxvZQy78Jwn4hEoDvOGER1oSml8-oaBw9DCG-3aMFR0kxlJ8TOzLOtE57bNnk-V-Fz9Hkqo-9GDdmgtS5qLkOdNiLwmMDz2DhvPKfDdSGSXwVgdVtvv5PrPc/s1080/DR8.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="608" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdIhyphenhyphenD3orkO7ZYkzI3XvOHA16cjbQkVNBColmFC1mWvVHYWmYeS5idYBs2FedTnUob1yJMxvZQy78Jwn4hEoDvOGER1oSml8-oaBw9DCG-3aMFR0kxlJ8TOzLOtE57bNnk-V-Fz9Hkqo-9GDdmgtS5qLkOdNiLwmMDz2DhvPKfDdSGSXwVgdVtvv5PrPc/w360-h640/DR8.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>After lunch, we only had about 2-2.5 hours at the beach itself. That's just not enough time. Here, the water was an even lighter shade of blue that I had never seen before. I expected it to be dead flat, but it was surprisingly wavy today. Nothing threatened to take me down but yes, I caught a few good rides even without the board. It was almost 6 PM when we got back to the resort. On the final leg back, I enjoyed a Spanish conversation with a girl from San Diego who said that my southern accent is "beautiful" and I should not lose it when speaking another language. I had about 30 minutes until darkness and yes, I did squeeze in a quick surf session back at the resort.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV6YbcGFM78u3BadbgJBCqg9EbJL0edE8H72PwGT6FJiPFwTnvndO14gkYLqeShJJMhVtvp5_fQw-0HN473TUIzuoG6PJRNVE4Smed7-VPk8wzt1dVVj6VJMZf0vDO8EF2DZp24k7_J7bRlyshrgMhPrNlFFZFSk5zKzHF2Nlp7ga4_CGueoYPoFXzwa4/s1080/DR9.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="1080" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV6YbcGFM78u3BadbgJBCqg9EbJL0edE8H72PwGT6FJiPFwTnvndO14gkYLqeShJJMhVtvp5_fQw-0HN473TUIzuoG6PJRNVE4Smed7-VPk8wzt1dVVj6VJMZf0vDO8EF2DZp24k7_J7bRlyshrgMhPrNlFFZFSk5zKzHF2Nlp7ga4_CGueoYPoFXzwa4/w400-h225/DR9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5bpMY3Cp8TIDTeSBsibz2s3Eud8oNFwPlo13SNGEuyjqMwBj20Nv2xn8blVytKRHFoZ8AayOQN6Tej8akIDPh4flwHZlOKigDhINsknL8mveweRs7UiHPTfW9v_CEpgNZtFCgpm20Xch-N9w6WQa0wXkJWKFISODuDWAa0qdWEVhrDxsRE6FDqyVV09c/s1080/DR10.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="608" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5bpMY3Cp8TIDTeSBsibz2s3Eud8oNFwPlo13SNGEuyjqMwBj20Nv2xn8blVytKRHFoZ8AayOQN6Tej8akIDPh4flwHZlOKigDhINsknL8mveweRs7UiHPTfW9v_CEpgNZtFCgpm20Xch-N9w6WQa0wXkJWKFISODuDWAa0qdWEVhrDxsRE6FDqyVV09c/w360-h640/DR10.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>1/16- Another full day at the beach. Pretty much a carbon copy of 1/14. Today, the surf kicked up a notch and it was really awesome. Again, Macao probably would have been too strong. I did get some pretty good jerk chicken just outside the beach, which I was allowed to bring into the swim up bar. Once again, dinner was just okay at the buffet. I met a guy from Poland at the swim up bar and another from Colombia over an after-dinner drink. Pretty cool to meet people from all over the world. Though I am a bit on the introverted side, I find it fairly easy to talk to people on road trips. Chances are, I have either been where you are from or have looked into a trip there. </p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpyA4y-QZA_rxVVNYcuXYiYF7-Prl4Ryqm6vbWPdDpJ3TbJlhQ91jqQgU7Fuu4xrrZrPvwfpCH-JBuINDBKDydEXzk_jnAKgHAhR-VIXF97etYifGBqhIvkCxo9nnD_W9VcI0qj574Xv6ywk0Y6FhQ5NA2Y2GfeeW1n-XZ8xYj0wuzHLczw598xTx5lDk/s1080/DR12.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="1080" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpyA4y-QZA_rxVVNYcuXYiYF7-Prl4Ryqm6vbWPdDpJ3TbJlhQ91jqQgU7Fuu4xrrZrPvwfpCH-JBuINDBKDydEXzk_jnAKgHAhR-VIXF97etYifGBqhIvkCxo9nnD_W9VcI0qj574Xv6ywk0Y6FhQ5NA2Y2GfeeW1n-XZ8xYj0wuzHLczw598xTx5lDk/w400-h225/DR12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOJ5iLYQrXW__a2XM4h2u5LM6Mr3-9bzseycfIzg-BURsnxKghmP-vjYQX6YohLfTLydEuYqMXE_TxnTyPs8iAzYHZ9lQmtB7hkLplkYopJGfrILqeHSE907z9mSEFGL6NP-5olD7PK20yY-B-S9cuaNJWdiCXdONIcibGF_Gcl8FYtkE1yxbzVOK0TEs/s1080/DR13.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="1080" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOJ5iLYQrXW__a2XM4h2u5LM6Mr3-9bzseycfIzg-BURsnxKghmP-vjYQX6YohLfTLydEuYqMXE_TxnTyPs8iAzYHZ9lQmtB7hkLplkYopJGfrILqeHSE907z9mSEFGL6NP-5olD7PK20yY-B-S9cuaNJWdiCXdONIcibGF_Gcl8FYtkE1yxbzVOK0TEs/w400-h225/DR13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>1/17- After breakfast, I had almost 2 hours to take a dip before I would have to get ready to leave. Yes, I took advantage of it. Again, I had a free shuttle to the airport. This time, it was a little nerve racking. The bus was 15 minutes late and the lines at the airport were pretty long. My flight began the boarding process just as I arrived at the gate. Another 20-25 minutes and I would have missed the flight. No harm, no foul but that's a little too close for comfort. We were actually a little early with the arrival in Atlanta. It was a long 15-minute walk to Customs but once I got there, it was painless. The drive back to Birmingham also went without a hitch. Yes, I did meet a woman from Alabama at the airport. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRdKGgXYlyf1vHJKx9Pa6WUjWSwcl-U1ZXAQDF-wlmRBBmB-l2atbhBNKH_Qc8xCFmkuBa72tkN-oFhBPXbSl96VTaG9JirN3Q41MDGWFeP5y2PmZKI-3mPHNDBJNZsAj12VfMuc_Ccssqtx4eFaXUbQdV8paySDHsbqiMOdc3bqZRpgOb-WJH-JoxxQM/s1080/DR14.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="608" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRdKGgXYlyf1vHJKx9Pa6WUjWSwcl-U1ZXAQDF-wlmRBBmB-l2atbhBNKH_Qc8xCFmkuBa72tkN-oFhBPXbSl96VTaG9JirN3Q41MDGWFeP5y2PmZKI-3mPHNDBJNZsAj12VfMuc_Ccssqtx4eFaXUbQdV8paySDHsbqiMOdc3bqZRpgOb-WJH-JoxxQM/w225-h400/DR14.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpPsf94_VrhPKx5p7lm8xODWrmBxfRfVx2T8QDo4SS75ZcsIVBeUby_ubM9McPgjdgp98DHhFkD64dx33chKsOHKlkMeIPuhEaPGllQ-tlVsYQjPoGLWGT3OfJGVLpQnqEBiUtjP2Jrm7J3qy38hyfPjbqYl93R731zxyk1gi4FVMasXAZ166-KHvvHPg/s1080/DR15.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="608" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpPsf94_VrhPKx5p7lm8xODWrmBxfRfVx2T8QDo4SS75ZcsIVBeUby_ubM9McPgjdgp98DHhFkD64dx33chKsOHKlkMeIPuhEaPGllQ-tlVsYQjPoGLWGT3OfJGVLpQnqEBiUtjP2Jrm7J3qy38hyfPjbqYl93R731zxyk1gi4FVMasXAZ166-KHvvHPg/w360-h640/DR15.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Final thought:</p><p>Yes, I'd rank this as an all-time great trip. I'd go back in a few years and take the excursion to Santo Domingo. Not sure where I am going next, but my next international trip will probably be Canada as Newfoundland is the only province that I have yet to visit.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMiujL1XcFjkW2dgtnnHhQhKh8tDLAhDScjiqa2FKGwcly7ku0GZBqUtfSSDkcM8iWXdTGscAAi9RTSAhdcOOf0ZoGKE99uXu-ViX__JXmLI3NrJPKipu4zPHaf8F1aeYQWTzzqdrrwjMV1S1wNiBdttPBWKy6khrZwRGXzwzyP-zBSO1ZN4QVgZQnMqY/s1080/DR16.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="810" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMiujL1XcFjkW2dgtnnHhQhKh8tDLAhDScjiqa2FKGwcly7ku0GZBqUtfSSDkcM8iWXdTGscAAi9RTSAhdcOOf0ZoGKE99uXu-ViX__JXmLI3NrJPKipu4zPHaf8F1aeYQWTzzqdrrwjMV1S1wNiBdttPBWKy6khrZwRGXzwzyP-zBSO1ZN4QVgZQnMqY/w300-h400/DR16.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-86602660764494201502024-01-08T05:17:00.000-08:002024-01-17T20:09:24.696-08:00Training 1/8-1/14 <p> 1/8- Montreat Mile in 9:07 plus a half mile cool. The rate of improvement is slower, but the streak remains intact. This was 31 seconds faster than I did 3 days ago and I expect to be under 9 next time. I am still a distressing 87 seconds away from my reset PR. Splits were 2:58-3:04-3:05. Really struggled in the back half but did finish pretty strong in the last half lap. Legs are loose and limber but the cardio tires easily, which is characteristic of an adrenal spike. One minor milestone that I realized that I accomplished shortly after: This is sub-2 pace for a half marathon. Another 12.1 miles at this pace seems insurmountable, however. That's it for today. Wind and rain are in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow morning.</p><p>Distance= 1.5</p><p>1/9- 2 miles on Lakeshore in 20:32 (10:16 pace). Not bad. Despite the slow pace, I can take away several positives from this one. First, this was an evening session after no pills for several hours. I couldn't hack it at all last week. This wasn't pretty but I was able to do it. Although my 2 mile split during the 5K was comparable to this, I was NOT completely spent when I finished tonight. I certainly would have improved my 5K time by a significant margin. Splits were 9:58-10:34 but the back half was into a stiff headwind, so the fade wasn't that bad. This is a new distance for 2024 so it does not affect the streak. I will need to improve the next time I run this route.</p><p>Distance=2.0</p><p>1/10- The streak continues. Montreat Mile in 8:34 with splits of 2:44-2:56-2:54. Cut off another 33 seconds in just 2 days. This is unsustainable. I know that I will level off soon, but I am going to enjoy it while it lasts. I could have broken 8:30 if I didn't go out so fast. 1st half lap was 1:18 but I was pretty even after that. I am now within 54 of my reset PR. I'll do more track time trials from now on. </p><p>Distance=1.0</p><p>1/11- North Lakeshore 5K in 30:48 (9:54 pace). MASSIVE improvement over last weekend (34:30). Very well paced (15:19-15:29) with the back half being slightly uphill. This is not a certified route, but my GPS read 3.11, so figure it's accurate give or take about 30 yards. My bare ass minimum standard for race shape is a sub-60 10K and I am almost halfway there. Can't say I'm pleased with where I am but I've shown the greatest improvement I've ever seen over the last 10 days.</p><p>PM- Easy 1.4 miles with no watch (naked). 4 laps at Montreat plus 100 meters. Not much more than a junk run to pad the mileage. Could not pass up a 60 degree evening. Felt okay. No real soreness from the morning 5k. The Punta Cana trip is a GO! Mileage will be hard to come by for the next 6 days and I may not even have access to the Internet. May not post until next week.</p><p>Distance=4.5</p><p>1/12- Rain held off long enough for 2 miles at South Lakeshore. The streak remains very much alive. Finished in 18:34 (9:17 pace) with even splits (9:15-9:19). If I didn't slack on the last hill, this would have been a FULL MINUTE faster per mile than just 3 days ago. Granted, it helped that it was a morning session after I just took the pills. Smooth and relaxed effort despite a bit of soreness in the hip and groin area. No real concern about that. I only needed another mile in about 10:15 to break 30 for 5K and I think I had a shot. Off to Atlanta this evening to catch a morning flight tomorrow.</p><p>Distance-2.0</p><p>1/13- Planned rest day. Arrived in the Dominican Republic.</p><p>1/14- 1 mile stop and go. No time. Just farting around to get the distance in but one observation is clear. I'm still very much dependent on the Thym-Adren. I was about 45 seconds faster per mile with the same effort after taking just 2 pills (current dose is 6). That's good and bad. I HATE being so dependent on the pills but it also reveals room for improvement. I expect to level off when I am less dependent on the pills.</p><p>Distance= 1.0</p><p>=12 miles on the week. YTD= 22.</p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-48609824537601013232024-01-02T17:41:00.000-08:002024-01-06T11:05:21.822-08:00Training 1/1-1/7<p> 1/1- Recovering from the flu. Tried a new supplement called Glycine to assist with the Candida detox. As usual, it's an insatiable need and things will get worse before they get better. Did 1 mile at Montreat in 13:45, or exactly 3 hour pace for a half marathon. OUCH!</p><p>Distance= 1.0</p><p>1/2- Same workout as yesterday. Hardly a cause for celebration but I knew that I was better from the first steps. Improved to 11:35 with even splits. 1st half- 5:45, 2nd half- 5:50. I'll take it. As of now, I can only tolerate one Thym-Adren. Soon, I will see if I can handle 2. Did 1 more lap in the evening in 3:48. That pace (11:24) is only slightly faster than the morning session. Hopefully, I see further gains overnight.</p><p>Distance=1.5</p><p>1/3- Montreat Mile in 10:59. I met the minimum standard with a 36 second improvement but I really struggled in the homestretch and it didn't feel normal. Splits were 3:26-3:41-3:52. It took a push in the last 40 yards to get under 11. I feared that the culprit was either NAC or Glycine but found to my relief that I NEEDED extra Thym-Adren. The adrenals have spiked as expected. Just 2 days ago, more than 1 of those pills would have triggered a bad reaction. NOW, I NEED MORE! Nothing changes on New Years Day. Is this a blip or a long lasting spike? Probably the latter. EVENTUALLY, it will calm down and something else will probably flare up. </p><p>Distance=1.0</p><p>1/4- Repeated the workout. It was clear that the adrenal spike is NOT a blip. Hopefully, it goes down gradually. Started out comparable to yesterday but held it together in lap 2 then actually finished pretty strong. Time was 10:13 (3:24-3:30-3:19). 3rd straight day that I have improved. Keep it up. Shooting for a sub-10 tomorrow.</p><p>Distance=1.5</p><p>1/5- The streak continues. Improved to 9:38. Splits were 3:07-3:16-3:15. Didn't have a real strong finish but the pace was almost dead even after the first half lap. Realized later that this is sub-30 pace for a 5K. A very small milestone but a necessary step. I may be back out this evening weather permitting.</p><p>PM- Could not hack it in the evening session. Pace was well over 10 so I called it early. I knew it was going to happen like this. I did not take any Thym-Adren since the morning whereas yesterday, I took it in divided doses. After 2 pills when I got home, I was better. No panic.</p><p>Distance=1.5</p><p>1/6- 5K is in the books. 12.5 laps at Mountain Brook track in 34:30. The only goal was to finish but I did expect to be better than this. I passed the Mile in 9:56 and the halfway point in 15:52 but faded to 18:38 on the back half. Considered bailing after 2 miles but I stuck it out and the last 4 laps were over 3:00. Being unbalanced hurts worse over longer distances. I may need to temporarily increase the dose. On the bright side, it should be pretty easy to improve upon this next time out. </p><p>Distance=3.5</p><p>1/7 Planned rest day. I deserve it.</p><p>=10 miles on the week. I hope that come Spring, I will look back on this week and see how far I have come.</p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-15391459007184165232024-01-02T17:26:00.000-08:002024-01-08T18:54:01.263-08:00Goals for 2024<p> The goal is very modest. I just want to do better than I did the previous year. Let's revisit a specific date: November 13, 2022. After 15 years, I completed my goal of finishing a half marathon in every US state at the Val Nolasco half marathon in Honolulu, Hawaii. Crossing the finish line that day was anti-climactic as I felt very little joy or happiness in that moment. I didn't feel much sense of achievement at the time either. It was 90 percent sadness.</p><p> After doing more walking than jogging for the previous 3 miles, I summoned all my strength to trudge across the finish line with a very slow jog. I was totally spent when I crossed the line. I had no more spurts of jogging left in me and even the quarter mile walk back to my hotel was quite a voyage. I don't even remember my time, but it was somewhere between 2:46-2:49, easily my worst ever. Especially now, I do NOT want this to be my last race. That is not the way that I want to go out! I'd much prefer to go out with a local 5K in which a final sprint shores up a sub-30 minute finish and I pass a couple of people in the last tenth of a mile. That's hardly a triumph, but it's better than what I described above. </p><p>After the disaster in Hawaii, I took 6 weeks of complete inactivity as a last ditch effort to reset my system. It didn't work. The sensitivity and extreme need for pills still remained. Nevertheless, from New Years 2023 up through President's Day, I showed some pretty steady improvement. I never got much below 28 minutes for 5K but I started out closer to 35 minutes. Things took a turn for the worse when I made a serious effort to tackle the Candida. I started with Apple Cider Vinegar and Probiotics then later tried anti-fungals, most notably Curcumin, NAC and then Zinc. I kept hoping that I could get healthy enough to try a local 5K at some point later in the year but it never happened.</p><p>Again, let's just do better than last year. That's not asking for much! </p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-90577222920985525832023-12-26T17:22:00.000-08:002023-12-26T19:10:59.414-08:002023 Travel Stats<p> Set a new personal record for number of states seen in one year. I see more states in a given year than most people see in a lifetime. Under the lenient standard, I hit 28 states plus 2 Canadian provinces and one other country. That's 31 points, or 5 more than my previous record. That said, under the strict standard, the numbers are not quite as impressive. Here is the breakdown.</p><p>Drove or walked across the border and that was it (4):</p><p>Nevada</p><p>Illinois</p><p>South Carolina</p><p>Indiana</p><p>Drive Through Only but did stop for gas and/or food (6)</p><p>Louisiana</p><p>Mississippi</p><p>Iowa</p><p>Montana</p><p>West Virginia</p><p>Virginia</p><p>Strict Standards (18) plus 3 bonus-</p><p>Alabama- Lived</p><p>Florida- Gulf and Atlantic Coast</p><p>North Carolina- Skiing at Cataloochee</p><p>California (2)- Palm Springs and Crescent City</p><p>Idaho- Boise, Stanley and Ponderosa Pine</p><p>Ohio- Cincy Reds game</p><p>Tennessee- Walking tours of Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville</p><p>Arkansas- Mammoth Falls State Park</p><p>Missouri- Kansas City and St. Louis</p><p>Kansas- Topeka, Eisenhower Library</p><p>Nebraska- Omaha</p><p>Texas- Houston and Galveston. Astros game</p><p>Oregon- US-101. Pacific Coast</p><p>Washington- Long Beach, Cape Disappointment</p><p>Pennsylvania- Pittsburgh Pirates game</p><p>North Dakota- Bismarck, TR National Park</p><p>Georgia- Black Mountain, Toccoa Falls</p><p>Kentucky- Louisville.</p><p>Bonus:</p><p>Costa Rica- Jaco Beach</p><p>Manitoba- Lake, Winnipeg</p><p>Saskatchewan- Regina, CFL football game.</p><p>Looking ahead:</p><p>I have booked my Dominican Republic trip for next month.</p><p>Top priorities are Alaska and Newfoundland.</p><p>If I can do that, I will complete Round 2 of Visit All 50 States and Round 1 of Visit All 10 Canadian Provinces.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-21407316915596794692023-12-10T08:42:00.000-08:002023-12-10T13:41:21.993-08:00False Hope<p> WHY AM I NOT SURPRISED??</p><p>I get a little better for a few days then just as hopes begin to rise, I'm hit with something like this. </p><p>The drama with the pills is NOT OVER!</p><p>I hoped to run 3 miles easy on Lakeshore this morning. I didn't really care about the pace. I just wanted to feel comfortable and finish strong. A storm came through last night, which apparently was worse in Homewood. I had to stop several times to go around downed tree branches but that shouldn't affect me. </p><p> I could tell something was a little bit off from the get go. After a slow start, I seemed to find a decent rhythm after the first quarter mile and my pace was around 9:15-9:20. I told myself to just maintain that pace and I'll take it. Just before the 3/4 mile mark, I suddenly began feeling MUCH worse and also was holding in a diarrhea dump. I had no choice but to stop and complete the walk of shame back to the start. I did do a couple of spurts of running to get the total distance up to 1 mile but my pace slowed considerably and my moving time was 9:39. Slightly WORSE than 2 days ago. </p><p>You can expect some variation in performances on a daily basis. If this one had been 8:39 instead? No big deal. An 8:20 vs 8:39 is within the margin of error and not enough to be considered significant especially with the tree branches. A 9:39 with nothing left at the end? NO! That clearly indicates that something is wrong. The next step was to go home and find the culprit. I figured that it was either the Zinc or the Thym-Adren but hoped that it was the latter. A bad reaction to an adrenal supplement is understandable. A bad reaction to a mineral? That's likely an autoimmune issue. Just one pill confirmed that indeed it was the Thym-Adren.</p><p>I was very pleased yesterday when I saw a BIG improvement seemingly in spite of not taking any pills. I know now that I did better BECAUSE I did not take the pills. Obviously, the candida detox has had an effect of my adrenals. I'm likely still a fast oxidizer and thus, I will need the Thym-Adren over the long haul at least at low doses. That said, I cannot be like this. If I remain on this path, I will likely continue to get worse. I have 3 options for the near future. </p><p>1-Lower the dose to just one pill and take it the night before. </p><p>That's probably the least likely to be effective as I'm growing more and more intolerant.</p><p>2. Quit the pills temporarily.</p><p>Could be an option but it may not be strong enough.</p><p>3. Temporarily take an adrenal stimulant.</p><p>I had to do that when detoxing heavy metals in the past and it worked well for a while. Eventually, I became over-stimulated and was forced back on the Thym-Adren. That's likely the outcome this time as well. </p><p>In the past, I've had a VERY HIGH tendency to cheat when something like this happens. I MUST stay strong this time. Committed to 21 days no matter what.</p><p>As far as the running is concerned, I don't have to be ultra-competitive to be happy. I DO expect to be well enough and BE CONSISTENT ENOUGH to enjoy the social aspect. Should not be too much to ask, but right now, that's impossible. </p><p>UPDATE:</p><p>I tried the adrenal stimulants and got MUCH better for a short time. A fourth option has come up, which is NAC. It too produced a strong positive, albeit short-lived reaction. I'm going with a combination of #3 and #4.</p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-11499294763514242912023-12-09T07:14:00.000-08:002023-12-09T16:26:58.605-08:00Improving: Day 10 Clean<p> Today is Day 10. Assuming that I make it through the weekend, I'll be more than halfway to my goal of 21 days of drinking water only. </p><p>Concerns:</p><p>I still do have a bit of residual crud. It's mostly just a stuffy nose with very little phlegm. Over the long haul, that is of no concern. It may hang on for another week or so but it will be gone. The abdominal pain is almost completely gone. The big concern is that I still do have the candida rash on my armpits and above my ass. It still itches from time to time. How long will that last? It's really more of a nuisance than anything else. I figure that if need be, I can use a cream to control the itch if it gets really bad. </p><p>I am concerned about this because it's a sign that the candida is not completely dead yet. What if it mutates and learns to survive or grow without the regular supply of sugar? Seems unlikely but I don't know what I can do if that does happen.</p><p>My energy is improving (more on that later) but I did need a nap on Friday evening. I was in bed from 6:30-8:00 and was out cold for about an hour. Not surprisingly, I could not get to sleep when it was time for bed. Of course I must listen to my body and give it the rest that it needs but this sort of thing cannot happen with any regularity. I've noticed that I've been sleeping deeper and had a couple of vivid dream the last 2 nights. One involved urinating on a chair because I honestly thought it was a toilet. </p><p>Improvement:</p><p>The biggest positive is that my energy is starting to come around. I feel noticeably better EVERY DAY and yes, it translates to the track. On Tuesday, I struggled through a 4:00 lap at Montreat (12:00 pace) and had stabbing pains in the belly with every foot strike. By Thursday, I was down to 3:30 (10:30 pace). On Friday, I went to the track to try a full Mile at Vestavia. I simply hoped for a sub-10 but finished in 9:35. 1st half: 4:53, 2nd half: 4:42 and each lap was slightly faster than the previous one. </p><p>Today (Saturday), my time was all the way down to 8:20 and I managed a 1:59 last go round. Normally, I'd never celebrate something like that but considering where I was just a few days ago, it's pretty impressive. I'm now within 40 seconds of my reset PR. Still too soon to get my hopes up. If I can avoid a relapse and get my time down to around 7:15, I may begin to believe. </p><p>Perhaps the best news of all is that I am seeing VERY LITTLE impact from the pills. I took 2 Probiotic pills, which were completely INTOLERABLE on a previous attempt. This time, NOTHING. It didn't seem to matter one iota whether I took them or not. Same with the Curcumin. I'll still take both occasionally for preventative maintenance. I've also gone 48 hours without Zinc or Thym-Adren with no problem. In fact, the big improvement from Friday-Saturday came after having NOT taken any pills. I know that I still need them and won't be surprised to see an adrenal spike in the near-future but being freed from extreme dependence could be YUGE! </p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-60975390745942200822023-12-06T17:27:00.000-08:002023-12-07T05:21:34.443-08:00Candida Flu<p> Since the last update, I tried Zinc and the results were not surprising. An initial negative response followed by an insatiable need with a couple of adrenal spikes that eventually stabilized. Still, I faced the harsh reality that the Candida is simply not going away unless I COMPLETELY ELIMINATE SUGAR, ALCOHOL AND CAFFEINE. All of the supplements that were so necessary (Probiotics, ACV, Curcumin) in the past don't seem to help much nowadays. </p><p> Not surprisingly, I was BAD over Thanksgiving but got back on track the next week. I found that in the past, dealing with all the drama with the insatiable needs for pills and the moving targets PLUS the sugar withdrawals was just too hard. With relatively stable chemistry, I gave it another shot and vowed to go at least 21 days no matter what happened. As of today, I've completed 7 days clean with NO cheat days. Today was the first day that I had any real temptation but so far so good. </p><p>In the past, I've usually gotten caffeine withdrawal that peaks within 24-48 hours of stopping. I get the energy crash, headache and sleepiness. That's usually followed by an adrenal spike and I may get a little better after 4-5 days but I've always fallen off the wagon because of the drama with the pills. There were some days that I kinda had to use or I could not even function at work. In the past, quitting sugar actually made the sensitivity WORSE. On one attempt, I developed a complete intolerance to the very same Probiotics that I needed just a few days earlier and also developed new food sensitivities. I've since read that this was likely Cytokine related. </p><p>This time around, I had symptoms that I've never experienced before. The withdrawal came sooner than I expected. I put down my last forbidden beverage (Margarita) around 10PM last Wednesday but I was already beginning to feel it by the end of the workday on Thursday. I figured that I'd have to endure a couple of rough days on Friday and Saturday, then I'd start feeling better by Sunday. </p><p>It got so bad that I actually had to leave work early on Friday. I crashed in bed at 2:30 PM and stayed there until the next morning. By Saturday, I had a massive sinus headache and was sneezing uncontrollably at times. On top of that, I had several diarrhea attacks. Sunday evening was the worst. My temperature shot up to 101.4 degrees with TERRIBLE abdominal pains. I kept hoping to get that shit out my system, but I couldn't defecate or fall asleep. Finally, I took some Tylenol that temporarily reduced my fever, and I did wake up several times to urinate, which did seem to make it a little better. </p><p>Needless to say, no work on Monday. Fever was down to 99.8 degrees and I was able to sleep normally. Still, awfully weak and with no appetite, I managed to get through half a day of work on Tuesday to avoid having to get a doctor's note. I am slightly better today (Wednesday).</p><p>Wasn't this just a standard case of the flu virus? Was it really Candida related? </p><p>I am nearly CERTAIN that it is TOTALLY Candida related and it was not influenza at all. Based on my research, everything that happened in my body is what is SUPPOSED to happen when Candida is going away. It will go out kicking and screaming! The severe abdominal pain is actually a sign that the liver is working overtime to flush out those toxins! I have one big question: Why didn't any of this happen when I tried to quit sugar before? I've lasted this long several times before. I had yet to try any anti-candida supplements besides the Probiotics and this was before I addressed the Cytokines. I don't think recovery was even possible until I did that. Maybe all the drama with the pills was necessary as well.</p><p>Prognosis:</p><p>Too soon to get my hopes up but I see a glimmer of light. Odds are that it's not going to be a switch where one day I wake up feeling well. It will be a gradual process. I will have to strictly limit forbidden drinks after the 21 days are up. NO energy drinks EVER AGAIN. I might have an odd Coke or alcoholic beverage but those must be RARE. I'll have to be careful over Christmas and I'll have to be careful in Punta Cana as well. </p><p>Any running:</p><p>All I've done is 1 lap at Montreat the last 3 days.</p><p>Mon AM- 4:28</p><p>Mon PM- 4:10</p><p>Tue- 4:00</p><p>Wed- 3:47. </p><p>Wednesday's pace was 11:21 so that no cause for celebration but it's a lot better than the 13:24 pace that I managed just 2 days earlier. </p><p>UPDATE - Today (Thursday) I managed a 3:30 (10:30 pace). Clearly improving. Keep it up.</p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-28438214698842989282023-12-03T10:04:00.000-08:002023-12-03T10:04:09.884-08:00Punta Cana Trip Plan<p> This is the sixth time that I have gone to a tropical climate during the dead of winter. Someday, I'll make it to Colorado for a ski trip. Here's my history:</p><p>2019- Miami and the Florida Keys</p><p>2020- San Juan, Puerto Rico (pre-Covid)</p><p>Christmas 20- Cancun, Mexico</p><p>2021- Big Island, Hawaii</p><p>2023- Jaco. Costa Rica</p><p>MLK weekend is my best bet. I scored a smokin' deal on a round trip flight out of Atlanta for under $300. It lands on Saturday the 13th and returns on Wednesday the 17th. I actually tried to extend it another day but none of the flights would have allowed me to drive back to Birmingham the same day and I don't want to be out all week. Plus, the fares would have been much higher. </p><p>Including the US, the Dominican Republic will be my 9th country visited. I had some fun pranking co-workers by talking about checking out the beaches on the west side of the island. I said that it might be a little bit dangerous. They wondered why until I told them that those beautiful beaches are in Haiti. LOL. </p><p>I prefer NOT to stay at an all-inclusive resort but in Punta Cana, you really don't have much of a choice. Over 90 percent of the hotels are all-inclusive and the ones that are not are located a fair distance from the beach itself. It may not even be possible to walk to the public beaches and I really don't feel comfortable renting a car. To me, that means a much less authentic experience. The same resort also has a property in Jamaica, so I could go there instead and probably have a very similar experience. You can't truly say that you "loved the country" if you didn't experience it outside of the resort. </p><p>I don't really care about high class accommodations or fine dining. I'm there for the beach and specifically the surf. I ended up choosing the cheapest all-inclusive resort that I could find, Riu Republica in Arena Gorda. I would have preferred Macao Beach but the prices were outrageous. Dreams Macao was over $700/night while Riu Republica was under $300. Therefore, I save over $1,200 over a 4 night stay. </p><p>I think it will actually work out for the best. Bavaro Beach has brilliant white sand and crystal clear electric blue water but usually minimal surf. Macao has consistently good surf, but the water is not as clear and the sand is more golden than white. I figure that since Arena Gorda is located in between, it should offer the best of both worlds. Beautiful beach with rideable waves. Food will be mediocre but as long as it's edible, I'm good. My only real concern is that it attracts a young crowd that likes to party. I won't get stupid drunk but sure, I'm up for some fun in the evening. </p><p>1/13- My fight lands at 2:00 and I figure that by the time I get through Customs and take a taxi to the resort, it will be almost sunset when I check in so I don't expect to squeeze in a quick dip. This will leave me with only 3 full days on the beach plus a morning session on 1/17. I may change my mind, but I am currently leaning AGAINST an excursion to Santo Domingo. It's a 4 hour bus ride each way, which leaves me with only 4 hours to tour. Plus, I'm not sure that I'd be interested in all of the activities on the organized tour. I certainly will NOT strike off on my own in a strange city. </p><p>Instead of that, I will likely spend an afternoon in the shopping district of downtown Punta Cana, and hope to mingle a bit with the Dominicans. Word on the street is that it is safe enough, especially in the daytime. As for the weather, I can expect temps in the mid-80s and sunny skies with a water temperature around 80-82. Can't beat that in January. Unfortunately, rainfall is a possibility. Though it's unlikely to be a total washout, I can expect about a 30 percent chance of rain on any given day. I really don't want to take an excursion on a beautiful day then have 2 rainy days on the beach. </p><p><br /></p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2895274623674991092.post-5545569889833604852023-11-19T12:10:00.000-08:002023-11-19T13:22:43.654-08:00Rant/Rave: Singleness<p> The holiday season is always tough for me because I've long been the only adult at the party without a significant other and I am past the age in which I am being judged for being single. My parents are the only ones who are aware of the full extent of my medical issues. Even my sister didn't know how bad it was until very recently and I'm not even sure she believes it. Most of my aunts and cousins have no idea that I am sick and neither do my coworkers. </p><p> I feel compelled to post on this subject after a few prominent conservative commentators were critical of women who are single and childless by choice. I agree with over 90 percent of their commentaries but in this case, I found it somewhat offensive. The woman in the video was only 29 years old. That's hardly ancient and she could certainly change her mind in 5 years and still be young and healthy enough to have a child. For the record, yes I am a strong believer in the nuclear family as the building block for a successful society but not everyone is cut out for marriage and parenthood. If for whatever reason, they don't feel led to go down that path, they must not be shamed or pressured into it.</p><p>I can think of at least 4 good reasons to remain single and/or childless. All of these are true for me at least to a certain extent:</p><p>#1 You feel that you would be a burden because of chronic medical issues. Also, you may be suffering from neuro imbalances such as autism or ADHD. Insulting terms such as "incel" should NEVER be used to describe autistic adults. That REALLY bothers me! </p><p>For a man over 40 with chronic medical issues, I'm not half bad looking. While I certainly won't bring home a supermodel, I am confident that I would not have any trouble getting a date if I put myself out there. Sure, I wish things were different but I am a realist. When you have to take an exact cocktail of pills every day while shooting at a moving target and frequently crash out in bed after work or on the weekends, you're not going to be very appealing. In my experience, men tend to be more accepting than women of a chronic illness. Until I get this under control, I will not pursue a relationship though I must admit that the thought of dying young without anybody caring about me is a real prospect and it frightens me. I don't think my standards are too high. An average looking woman with good character and compatibility? Sure, I'd be open to it if healthy. </p><p>#2- Fear of divorce and/or a string of bad relationships.</p><p>It's not much of a secret that divorce laws are stacked against men and 70 percent are initiated by women. I won't go into great detail but my limited experiences with women have not been very good. I've heard stories from others as well as personal observations that have convinced me that unless it is truly a match made in heaven, marriage is not all that it is cracked up to be. Suppose that I have a relapse on the medical front and/or a stressful day at work then come home to a wife who is overly critical and argumentative. Then on top of that, I have a kid who is misbehaving and/or got in trouble at school. That would royally SUCK! </p><p>A common issue in the running community is objection to group runs with members of the opposite sex. I can see having a problem with a regular one on one workout partner but certainly not a weekly social run in a large group. Often, you can forget about opposite sex friendships even when it is clear that there is no chance of romantic interest. A young man was in town on business and asked a much older female friend to lunch. The age difference was 20 years but no, the husband objected. </p><p> #3- You value independence and the freedom to do what you want and go where you want.</p><p>The woman in the video gloated about being able to go out to concert, stay out late and sleep in the next morning without having to pay for a baby sitter. While that's not the type of woman that would appeal to me at this point in my life, she made a lot of valid points about the advantages of being single with no kids. The criticism of her was both mean-spirited and unwarranted especially when she is still under 30 years old. </p><p>Again, I wish my situation was different but I have made the best of it. Though the last few years were ugly, I completed my goal of finishing a half marathon in all 50 states. I did this by age 42 and if not for COVID, I could have done it just after turning 40. There is NO WAY that I could have done it at such a young age with a family. I have visited all 50 states plus DC and Puerto Rico plus 9 Canadian provinces, 5 Mexican states and 8 countries. If I make it to Alaska as planned next year, I will have been to all 50 at least twice. If you read my blog with any regularity, you know that my trips are AWESOME and I'm glad that I am able to do it. </p><p>A former co-worker from Montgomery had a wife who would not allow him to run the famous Azalea Trail race in Mobile because it was too far (less than 3 hours). Never mind that there is plenty to do in and around Mobile besides the race and New Orleans is just 2 hours further. He referred to his wife as "the ball and chain." I can check the surf forecast on the weekend and if I see good conditions with a low chance of rain, I will go if I want to. I'm not tied down at home because my son has a soccer game or my wife doesn't want to go. Just recently, I took a trip to Daytona Beach for Columbus Day and a trip to the north Georgia mountains for Veteran's Day with an overnight stop in Atlanta. If you value independence, it does NOT mean that you are selfish. Some of the most kind and generous people that I know are single by choice. On the other hand, I know some married people who don't much care about anyone outside of their inner circle and really look down on singles. Being married does NOT necessarily make you a better person especially if it is not a great match. The more time people spend together, the more alike they become. </p><p>#4- Genetic disease and the direction of the country</p><p>I know that there is a genetic basis to my illness and it would absolutely break my heart to see my own child suffer from the same illness knowing that it was my genes that caused it. If you are a carrier of a known genetic disease, that is certainly a good reason not to have kids and to embrace the DINK lifestyle. I see where the USA is headed and while I will probably be retired before it completely goes to hell, my child would live through it. Will the USA even exist as a 50 state constitutional republic in 50 years? I don't know. </p><p> </p>Crazy Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11357853581316149586noreply@blogger.com0