My Outlook and Prognosis

 It has been 9 days since my most recent adrenal spike.  I showed steady improvement for the first 5 days but have since plateaued.  Running nearly all out, I managed only 26:30 for 3 miles.  My gut feeling is that with my present course of action, even with steady training at 30+ MPW, I can do no better than 25 minutes.  Add another minute to that for a full 5K and I’m 26-flat at best.  Most telling of all is the way that I feel.  I’m sluggish, lethargic, and really don’t enjoy it anymore.  It feels more like a chore. 

There is really only one piece of good news, but it is important.  When it comes to the must take pills of Thym-Adren, Intrinsic Factor and B12, the dosage does not seem to matter.  Regardless of whether I take 2 or 4 pills, my performances will be essentially the same.  In the past, there was a sweet spot in which I had to take X# of pills per day.  If I deviated from the sweet spot in either direction for just 1 day, my performances would suffer significantly.  Let’s hope that’s over for good.   

Bad news is that I am still extremely dependent on all 3.  Suppose that I went a weekend without any pills and tried to run on Monday morning.  I bet that I would be over 30 for 3 miles.  Worse than that, even with a reserve of B12 in my system, I still reacted VERY BADLY to an amino acid called Lysine.  I took it as a precaution for immune support ahead of a weekend trip.   Just 2 pills triggered the same old reactions.  Body tightened up immediately and the fatigue/malaise increased significantly.  Extra B12 did indeed mitigate some of the ill-effects but it was not enough. 

Where to go from here:

I have just 1 option on the alternative front.  That is fulvic acid.  Supposedly, it improves Intrinsic Factor.  I don’t have much hope, but I figure it’s worth a try.  Nothing to lose.  I do have some friends in the alternative medicine community who swear by it.     

Yes, I have decided to see a “real doctor” for several reasons.  First, I want to at least try to get a medical exemption for the vackseen.  When it comes to B-12, my dosage of pills does not matter but what about injections?  Are injections more effective than the pills?  I am not sure.  Perhaps most pressing is that I cannot stop the inexplicable reactions to benign supplements.  I want to know what is causing that and what can be done about it.  I don’t think it is an allergy, but I do suspect other autoimmune issues.  The prognosis for that does not look good.  Supposedly, the treatment can be as bad as the disease.  Suppressing the immune system during a pandemic is not a very attractive choice. 

My weight has been creeping up for years and now it is time to do something about it.  If you gain just 1 pound every 2 months, that adds up to 60 within 10 years.  Now that I am not running as much, I’m going to have to restrict my food portions like most everyone else.  My blood pressure has also been on the high side for the last couple of years.  I’m going to try a natural approach, but I may have to go on medication for that, especially if I am not running as much.  My cholesterol is still okay as is my blood sugar.    

Running:

Yes, I will still do occasional jogging but only to prevent myself from becoming more unhealthy.  However, when it comes to racing, I am retired for all intents and purposes.  The training log will be shut down effective January 2022.  Maybe I’ll jump into a couple of 5Ks and 10Ks, but I no longer have what it takes to run half marathons.  Sure, I knew that would happen eventually as Father Time is undefeated.  However, it was my expectation that it would not happen for another 20 years.  I know plenty of people who ran strong well into their 50s, but it seems unlikely that I am one of them.  I still do have one half marathon to go in Hawaii.  Who knows when or if I will be able to do it during COVID?   I will not take it seriously nor will I even attempt to run the whole way.  It will be a jog/walk ratio from the start, and I don’t care at all about my time.  Suppose that there is a miracle recovery, I still do have several USA races left on my bucket list plus several international options.  Here are a few of them:

Louisville, Kentucky

Fort Worth, Texas

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Savannah, Georgia

Charleston, South Carolina

San Diego, California

Miami, Florida

BHM 13.1

Would I travel to any of those cities on a vacation then squeeze in a 5K or 10K?  Maybe.  Some major events do have a fun run the day before the main event.  

Training 9/27-10-3

 9/27- AM- Hated interval workout. 4 half lappers at Montreat plus a lap cool.  I know from yesterday that I am about 50 seconds per mile faster on Intrinsic Factor plus B12 versus going without pills.  Extra B12 did nothing.  What about extra Intrinsic Factor?  Not a significant gain.  I did a 78 with 2 pills and a 76 on 4 pills.  Encouraged that I was under 80 without Thym-Adren.

The Thym-Adren trial went similarly.  I improved bigly to a 65 on 2 of those pills then repeated the 65 on 4 pills.  I was slower by 1/10 of a second so that did essentially nothing.  That's good and bad.  Running nearly all out, I managed only a 6:30 pace for 1/6 of a mile.  That's a VERY low ceiling and the total gap with the Intrinsic B12 + Thym-Adren amounts to about 2 minutes/mile.  On no pills, my pace would have been more like 8:30 per mile.  That's still quite a sizable gap that shows no signs of closing.  The good news is that although I am dependent on both pills every day, the dosage does NOT seem to matter.  I'll perform about the same on mega doses as the low doses and I like that stability.  The rate of improvement will be slower than last week but MAYBE I can slowly work my way back to respectability. 

PM- As expected, the rate of improvement has slowed.  Did 3 miles on Lakeshore again and my time is down to 26:30 (8:50 pace) with very even splits.  Taking a booster B12 pill during the run did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!  That's MINUS 35 per mile compared to last time but that was 4 days ago.  If I run it again tomorrow, I predict a similar time.  A plateau at this level is unacceptable.  I felt heavy and sluggish all day including during the run.  I can try Fulvic acid and see a real doctor.  I hope that he will prescribe B12 injections and rule out any other autoimmune disease.  The one that I am planning to see is a runner so he might have a modicum of understanding how I feel.

Distance=4.0 

9/28- Only had time for 2 miles this morning because I slept in a bit.  Finished in 17:08 (8:34 pace).  This confirms that I have plateaued.  If I had run 3 miles, my time probably would have been the same as yesterday, give or take a few seconds.  This is not good.

PM- Didn't plan to run this session but got the idea to try Taurine in an effort to reduce my blood pressure and improve my electrolyte balance.  Repeated the 2 mile and my time was down to 16:20 (8:10 pace).  MINUS 24.  Of note was that I was at 4:21 at the half mile mark then popped Taurine.  From that point on, I was doing sub-8 pace.  Perhaps, I finish under 16 if I took Taurine at the beginning.  That's not a miracle cure but clearly a significant step forward.  I may have a flicker of hope.

Distance=4.0

9/29- I've developed an insatiable need for Taurine.  Took 1000 mg in the morning and I knew before the workout that it wasn't nearly enough.  Clocked a pathetic 3:42 (11:06 pace) at Montreat.  I was less horrible on another 1000 and finished in 3:14 (9:42 pace).  Added a cool.  I know what is coming.  The need for Taurine will eventually diminish but an adrenal spike could hit when it does.

Distance=1.0

9/30- AM- Took extra Taurine and improved to 2:53 (8:39 pace) for 1 lap.  The real workout is going to be ugly.  

PM- 1.5 miles on Lakeshore in 15:10 (10:07 pace).  Two pieces of good news.  I tried some Lysine and the ill-effects were not as bad as last week.  Also, I had a pretty strong negative split with a last half mile @ 9:40 pace.  That usually means that I am improving.

Distance=2.0

As I predicted, my body adjusted to the Taurine and it was followed by an adrenal spike.  Able to do very little over the weekend.

Training 9/20-9/26

 NASTY ADRENAL SPIKE!  I upped the probiotics and have been drinking nothing but water.  This time, I have a different strategy to deal with the spike.  I will not attempt to knock it out by taking mega doses of Thym-Adren.  Rather, I will limit my dose to 2 pills and hope for gradual but steady improvement.  

9/20- Unplanned rest day.  Knocked out after work

9/21- AM Opener in 98.  2 pills brought me down only to an 88.  That's good and bad.  While 2 pills do yield significant improvement, it's not the night and day difference that I saw last week.  Again, that's good and bad.  I like the stability but I really should be better than THIS!  That's only an 8:48 pace for 1/6 of a mile.  I'd be well over 10 in a real workout.

PM- As expected, I was well over 10.  1.5 miles at Lakeshore in 16:14 (10:49 pace).  OUCH!  Still, I will resist the temptation to seek a quick fix.  Pace was pretty even.

Distance=2.0

9/22- AM- 3 miles on Lakeshore.  Finished in 30:15 (10:05 pace) with a slight negative split.  Again, I hoped for better than this but I'll take it.  MINUS 44 and I doubled the distance.  I'll shoot for the mid-9s tomorrow.  That's it for today.

Distance=3.0

9/23- Repeated the 3 mile distance and my time is down to 28:16 (9:25 pace).  Slightly better than expected.  Even pace.  Let's keep the momentum and don't get stupid this weekend.

Distance=3.0

9/24- Interesting.  Only 1 mile at Montreat.  Overall time of 9:28 was not important.  I did the first half without Thym-Adren and the 2nd half on the usual 2 pills.  Split were 4:53-4:35.  MINUS 36/mile.  While it is enough to be considered significant, that's not a night and day difference and I felt only slightly better on the back half.  Effort was on par with the standard issue 3 mile so figure on Lakeshore, this was worth a low-mid 27 for 3 miles.  The rate of improvement may be slowing already and that's not a good sign.  Again, stability is MOST important by FAR but I'd certainly like to be faster than this.

Distance=1.0

9/25- 1 mile junk run on a net downhill route.  Managed only an 8:20.  Not pleased.  I turned up the effort as well

Distance=1.0

9/26- Hated interval workout.  It seems as if I did get a significant benefit from B12 and Intrinsic Factor versus taking nothing  BUT additional doses did nothing.  I was actually slightly worse.  Also, upping the Thym-Adren from 2 pills to 4 yielded no significant benefit.  Good news is that I was no worse.

Distance=1.0

- 11 miles on the week

Rave: Professional Athletes Pushing 50 Years Old.

 Tom Brady is now in his age-44 NFL season and has said that he’d like to play until the age of 50.  I would not bet against him especially given today’s rules and style of play.  It’s easier now for quarterbacks to last with all the protections against late hits and the short passing West Coast offense that is now predominant throughout the league.  Nevertheless, I salute Brady for his longevity, and he has long surpassed Joe Montana as the GOAT.  To my knowledge, there is only one player in any of the 4 major sports that managed to stay on a team’s roster over the long haul up until age 50. 

Satchel Paige was still an effective relief pitcher when he retired at age 46.  He did make a cameo at age 58 and incredibly hurled 3 scoreless innings.  Minnie Minoso came up to bat 8 times as a publicity stunt at age 54 and managed 1 soft single.  I do believe that some of the all-time greats could have at least held their own over scattered appearances up until age 50.  However, when taking on the grind of an entire season, their bodies could not hold up.

Let’s take a look at the ones who came the closest to doing it:

George Blanda was a placekicker for the Oakland Raiders until his age 48 season and was also the 3^rd string quarterback.  A look at his stats revealed that he threw only 3 passes in his last season and had only been used sparingly as QB for the last several years.  He did see fairly significant action in his age 43 and 44 seasons.  His numbers were not bad for the era.  He completed over 50 percent of his passes and had as many touchdowns as interceptions.  Good enough to be a starter past 45?  Doubtful. 

Julio Franco was a solid platoon player through his mid-late 40s.  He hit .275 with an .800 OPS at the age of 46.  The latter was slightly better than the league average albeit in a part-time role.  He managed to last 2 more seasons but never again approached that level of production.  He did hit a home run at age 48, which is pretty impressive.  Rumor has it that he may actually have been older than his listed age because that was common among Latin players at the time.  They claimed to be 16 to give the appearance of being a better prospect but were actually 18.  If Franco was 2 years older than his claim, he made it to 50.    

Jamie Moyer could never be considered an all-time great starting pitcher, but he did last until his age 49 season and was actually effective until age 47-48.  Even in his last season, he managed a 2-5 record with an ERA of 5.70.  That’s well below league average but not terrible for Colorado and its thin air.  I was rooting for him to last 1 more season.  I do believe that he could have been a serviceable change of pace relief pitcher.  He had a great changeup and did well especially against young hitters who struggled against off speed stuff.  Unfortunately, because of the 3-batter minimum, specialist relief pitchers are becoming a dying breed.  I do believe Nolan Ryan could have remained effective if his workload was limited to 60-80 innings per year.  Then again, if you’ve had a Hall of Fame career, do you really want to go out like that?  More on that subject later.

The one player that made and stayed on a roster was hockey’s Gordie Howe at the age of 51.  Howe did play hockey as a professional throughout much of his 40s but most of that time was spent in a minor/independent league with his 2 sons.  This was before I was born, so I never got to see him play but according to the stat sheets, he was no pushover.  He appeared in all 80 games and scored 15 goals with 26 assists.  Not bad.  Could this have been done after playing in the NHL for several years prior to this season?  Not so sure.    

 

Of course, everyone wants to be like John Elway and go out on top with a Super Bowl, but those cases are extremely rare.  Most all-time great players who go on much beyond age 40 are below average at the end of their careers.  The most recent exception that I can think of is David Ortiz, who led the league in OPS at age 40.  He wisely went out like that.  I recall Charles Barkley saying something to this effect after signing with a new team late in his career: “I don’t think I am a great player anymore, but I do believe that I am a very good player who can help this team win some games.”  That’s how I would want to go out. 

IMO, Rickey Henderson is an example of what not to do.  He played until age 44 but did not bat above .250 after his age 40 season.  He still drew quite a few walks and remained a threat to steal.  Because of this, he was still a serviceable 4^th outfielder until the end.  Still, if it were me, once I am no longer an above-average starter, I would rather retire than hang on as a shadow of my former self.  I might play one more year beyond that but only if I am on the cusp of a major milestone.   To his credit, Albert Pujols has been decent since being signed by the Dodgers but was below average the last 3 years.  Miguel Cabrera will probably fall just short of 3,000 hits this season.  I hope he plays one more year then retires even though he has another 2 years on his contract.     

Training 9/13-9/19

 9/13- AM Adrenal spike has gone down.  6 Thym-Adren pills are now crippling.  Do I need to cut them out completely or just reduce the dosage?  Probably reduce the dosage.  1 mile in 13:15.

PM- Better.  Repeated the 1 mile distance this time at Montreat and the time is down to 10:30.

Distance=2.0

9/14-AM- Half lap intervals.  Opened with an abysmal 1:41 without any adrenal support.  Improved to 92 with ADHS then leaped to a 59 on 2 Thym-Adren.

PM-Took a 3rd Thym-Adren and was noticeably weaker.  Some of it cleared by the evening session.  Did 2.5 miles in 23:10 (9:16 pace) with a strong negative split (11:50-11:20).  Going forward, it should settle on either 2 or 3 but if a single dose makes THIS much difference, we've still got problems.

Distance=3.0

9/15- Stuck with 3 Thym-Adren and was actually slightly worse than yesterday.  2 miles in 19:22 (9:41 pace) but I felt a fade coming soon whereas yesterday I had more in the tank.  Not pleased at all.  Maybe I would have been better by the evening but I'm going with 2 from here.  I HAD BETTER stabilize there.  Coming off an adrenal spike, a significant reaction to 1 pill is understandable.  Neither yesterday morning's YUGE improvement nor today's sluggish response should happen at the end of the month.  I should NOT be awful on zero pills, decent on 2 then significantly worse on 3.  If that continues, it's a good bet that the Pernicious Anemia is NOT the last piece of the puzzle.

Distance=2.0

9/16- Hardly a miracle but I am showing progress.  I was down to a 76 without the Thym-Adren.  Took 2 of those pills and improved my 2 mile time to 17:06 (8:33 pace).  Added a cool

Distance=2.5

9/19- It was a rainy weekend and my adrenals have spiked again.  This time, the culprit is increased probiotics.  I had been showing signs of excess candida.  Glad I took care of it but it sucks for now.  Did 3 miles today in 27:42 (9:14 pace) at the Trak Shak.

Distance=3.5

-13 miles on the week

Update to Pernicious Anemia

 New week and new formula.  What else is new?  

The news is mostly good.  I am becoming less dependent on BOTH the B12 and Intrinsic Factor.  Today, I only took 1 Intrinsic Factor pill instead of my usual 3 and still improved my pace.  I'm betting that if I continue on this path and get re-tested for Pernicious Anemia in a few more weeks, I will edge into the normal range.  Maybe 0.9ish instead of 1.10, which is the upper limit of "normal" in this lab.  Perhaps other labs will flag 1.0 and above because lab "normals" do vary.  In this case, the midpoint is not the ideal value.  You want to be as close to ZERO as possible.  A value of 0.8 or 0.9 is far from ideal but will probably not trigger serious symptoms.  

About 3 weeks ago, I was COMPLETELY INTOLERANT to Lithium.  ADHS contains just a trace of it and the source is vegetable culture, not the Carbonate given to bipolar patients.  I could NOT tolerate even 1 of those pills the weekend before Maine.  Yesterday, I tested my reaction to it and was pleased with the results.  I ran an 85 second half lap on Montreat without it then popped a pill and managed an 87 with it.  That amounts to 12 seconds per mile and is not enough to be considered significant.  A mega dose?  I didn't try it but I predict that I would have been weakened but not totally worthless.  I don't need the Lithium or the ATP so I will pitch both of those bottles but keep the ADHS in case I need it instead of Thym-Adren down the road.  This is definitely a sign of improvement.   

Bad news is that my adrenals have spiked, which is a common occurrence after solving a major problem.  I tried to run on Friday afternoon and passed the half mile in an abysmal 5:57 (11:54 pace).  However, after popping 2 additional Thym-Adren pills (adrenal suppressant), I was down to a less horrific 5:07 (10:14 pace) for an overall time of 11:04.  Yesterday, I upped it to 2 miles in 19:44 (9:52 pace) and today's workout was 3 miles in 26:51 (8:57 pace).  Steady progress with increased distance and faster paces.  However, it required 6 Thym-Adren pills to do each workout.  Without any of those suckers, I would have been TOTAL CRAP!  It's way too soon to celebrate.  I need to get to the point in which I am able to get through a whole weekend without any pills AND a month without any major alterations to my formula.  Only then will I allow myself to believe that I'm beating this.  

Will I see a "real doctor"?  Leaning towards a YES on that.  I will at least TRY to get a medical exemption in the event of an employer vackseen mandate.  IMO, I certainly should be entitled to one.  I am borderline anemic, which was confirmed by a "legitimate" medical test.  That does indeed put me at increased risk of a blood clot.  Also, the Intrinsic Factor antibodies damage the lining of my stomach.  If there is a substance that my system cannot process because of that, the results could be DISASTROUS!  Still, the fact that my numbers are likely edging into the normal range gives me at least some confidence that I can get through unscathed.  However, I am NOT convinced that this is the only thing wrong with me and definitely want to rule out other auto-immune conditions. 

Vackseen mandates will inevitably lead to booster mandates.  If Big Pharma had their way, the unvacksinated would be virtually cut off from mainstream society.  Don't want to take a 3rd or 4th shot because of a scary reaction to your 1st or 2nd?  Too bad.  Personal stories about serious side effects are being censored by Big Tech and hospitals are banned from prescribing Ivermectin.  A Rutgers University student was banned from ONLINE classes because he is unvacksinated.  I never knew that a computer screen could transmit a virus.   How do you not see a hidden agenda here?  There is talk about a mandate to board DOMESTIC plane flights and I had to cancel a hotel reservation in Maine because of the vackseen or negative test requirement.  Vacation Races has announced a vackseen requirement to participate in their events.  The Pfizer shot is only 42 percent effective against the Delta variant and the original shot will likely be useless come next summer.  

I'm actually okay with more stringent testing requirements but the same set of rules should apply regardless of your vacksination status.  Under what circumstances would I take the shot given the current efficacy and survival rates?  If it is necessary to keep my job, it is really no choice.  I'm too young to retire and will never find another job that pays as well and has a pension program.  A mandate to board a flight?  I'll still try to hold off for at least a few years.  There are many good destinations reachable within a 2 day drive, including my parents.  A nationwide hotel mandate?  In that case, I have no choice.  Again, suppose at some future date there is a pandemic with a 5+ percent chance of death or permanent disability.  If that vaccine is safe and virtual guarantees that you won't get sick or spread the virus, I'll take the shot and I'm betting that there will be little hesitance on the part of others as well. 

UPDATE:

It was clear by the afternoon today that I need at least 2 Intrinsic Factor pills.  At this stage, I would never last a full weekend without them.  That could be good news for now though.  If I go to the doctor's office, I will show him how much of a reaction I get to just 1 pill.  Then, maybe he won't write me off as a nutjob and actually order the proper tests.  

   

Intrinsic Factor and Pernicious Anemia Test Results and Reaction

 

I said almost nothing about the race in Maine.  I wasn’t completely unprepared this time around.  I did have 2 10 milers under my belt including a strong finish after taking a booster pill at 7.5 miles.    I felt quite comfortable at 8:45 pace for the first 2.5 miles.  Things began to unravel near the end of Mile 3 but taking booster pills of Intrinsic Factor and Methyl B12 allowed me to hold it together for another 6 miles.  My strategy was very conservative.  I took short walk breaks on every big hill to guard against a late meltdown.  It didn’t work.   Just before the 9 mile mark, it felt like I was hit by a truck and the last 5K took nearly 45 minutes despite this section being mostly flat.  I won’t even say how bad my time was, but I don’t really care about that.  As I’ve said many times, all I EVER wanted out of this journey was a stable cocktail without an extreme need for any one pill.  If I had taken another round of booster pills in Mile 9, I almost certainly finish a lot more respectably.  That most definitely qualifies as an extreme need.  NOT acceptable. 

Things actually got worse after I got home.  I ran out of Adenosyl B-12 but thought I could get by on Methyl B12 alone.  Nope.  They must be taken together or else.  Also, I could not tolerate B12 without Intrinsic Factor.   One positive development is that my need for B12 seems to have diminished.  Yes, I still need 10K mcg but I got little to no benefit beyond that.  Mega mega doses up to 30K were also tolerated.  I was no better than 10K but no worse either.  Intrinsic Factor is another matter.  1 or 2 of those pills is NOT enough.  I need 3+. 

I found a test for Intrinsic Factor Antibodies online and I REALLY wish that I had found it just before I started supplementing with it.  The normal range is 0.0-1.10.  My results came in yesterday and guess what?  1.10!  Just 0.01 higher and it would have been flagged as abnormal.  Again, this test was done WITH treatment.  No doubt that it would have been flagged without it.  This is the standard test for Pernicious Anemia. 

How do I feel about this?  Mixed feelings.  Part of me was hoping for an off the scale bad result because it would have fully explained what has been going on for years.  Also, in the event of a vackseen mandate, I probably would have qualified for a medical exemption.  Now, I’m not so sure.  I can try.  I will explain that my case is borderline even WITH treatment and am still vulnerable to inexplicable reactions to benign substances.  The good news is that there is a high probability that I can control this with supplements rather than having to resort to B12 injections.  If I do have to take the vackseen to keep my job, I feel better about my chances to come away unscathed if my Intrinsic Factor is normalized. 

On the other hand, given my history and many other false hopes, I have little confidence that this is my last battle.  I do suspect that there could be other auto-immune issues in play.  In order to rule that out, I will have to see a “real doctor.”  Can I trust them to order the right tests?  Probably not.  If this Intrinsic Factor test was done 16 years ago, I could have been healed long ago.  Yes, I still would have had to go through treatment for Adrenal Fatigue, Iron Overload and Toxic Metal elimination but it would not have been NEARLY as difficult and complex.  I will NEVER know how good of a runner I could have been if fully healthy in my 30s. 

COVID cases are surging in Israel and the United Kingdom in spite of each country having among the highest vacksination rates in the world.  Vackseen mandates will inevitably lead to booster mandates every 8 months indefinitely until COVID is contained.  What is their definition of contained?  It will never be zero.  If you had a bad reaction to a previous dose, too bad.  You still have to take the booster.  Seriously, that’s exactly what Big Pharma wants.  99 percent of those hospitalized are unvacksinated?  That’s a lie.  It’s more like 75 percent.  Don’t get me started on Ivermectin. 

Maine and New Hampshire Road Trip Report

 8/26- Flew from Atlanta to Boston, which was probably the right call.  There are many daily flights to and from these cities.  If I had flown to Portland or out of Birmingham and there was a delay, my whole schedule would have been thrown off.  At any rate, the flight went off without a hitch but there was a bit of a delay at the rental car center.  I did not do anything in Massachusetts.  My first stop was Hampton Beach just across the border in New Hampshire and I arrived just before noon.  I did get a little lucky with the weather but I found the conditions to be VERY NICE.  Clear water with air temps just over 80 with a water temp of an even 70 degrees.  I found it quite comfortable.  As for the wave action, it was enough to be exciting but nothing with wipeout potential.  

After about 2 hours and mediocre pizza, I was back on the road heading north to Maine.  The beach that I chose here was not as well known but a very nice location called Ogunquit Beach just south of Portland.  Here, the water was even clearer and a bit calmer but yes, there were still a few rideable waves.  This completes a bucket list item for me.  I caught a wave in every state with a Gulf coastline last year.  I've now completed the Atlantic states from Florida to Maine.  The water temp in Maine was 67 degrees.  Yes, 3 degrees colder than New Hampshire was noticeable but I still found it tolerable without a wetsuit.  If the air temp is relatively warm, I can tolerate as low as 65 degrees.  My hotel was just up the road in Old Orchard Beach and I arrived just before sunset.  Dinner was a Haddock sandwich across from my hotel and I had a very nice server.      

8/27- Caught the sunrise at Old Orchard Beach then after a junk run, I took a dip in the ocean.  This beach wasn't as nice as Ogunquit but I still enjoyed it.  By mid-late morning, I was back on the road for a 3 hour drive north to Acadia National Park. I mostly stuck to Park Loop Road and made stops at Sand Beach, Thunder Hole and Bubble Rock.  My hotel was just a few miles away in Bar Harbor and I treated myself to a steak and lobster dinner.  YOLO!  

8/28- I got an even better sunrise from just across the street from my hotel.  No reservations for Cadillac Mountain unfortunately but I don't see how it could have been much better than Gorham Mountain, where I embarked on a challenging hike.  I got some Irish food for lunch then headed south on US HWY 1 back toward Portland and my race in Blueberry Cove in the small town of St. George.  I stopped at Marshall Lighthouse, which is where Forrest Gump turned around and kept on going after he got to another ocean.   

8/29- Race day and I was dreading it.  Once again, the formula shifted this week and I needed a massive dose of Intrinsic Factor with B12  It was worse than I expected.  I managed to hold it together for about 8.5 miles but after that, it was my 2nd worst death march on record.  I did employ a walk/jog strategy but I was so slow that I might as well have walked it all in.  At any rate, state #49 is in the books.  I only have Hawaii to go and I don't even care how I do there.  I did meet a nice woman named Robin who also plans to finish in Hawaii next year.  We called ourselves the 49ers.  We may meet up in Maui in April.  

From the race course, it was a 3 hour drive on rural roads back to New Hampshire.  Mount Washington and its 6300 foot summit was the destination.  It was cloudy all day so I didn't expect to see much but we did get a small break on the way up, which made for some epic views with scattered clouds above and below the mountain peaks.  Unfortunately, it was totally foggy at the top and it was clouding up again on the way down but I still got a few good shots.  

8/30- The rest of the trip was uneventful.  It was a scenic ride through the White Mountains.  I stopped in Concord the previous night and took short walking tours in both Concord and Manchester, New Hampshire.  Both were nice but did not leave a lasting impression.  I got back to the Boston airport in plenty of time and the flight back to Atlanta went off without a hitch.  I was worried about driving back to Birmingham in the remnants of a hurricane but it wasn't as bad as I feared.  I've driven in worse conditions and the rain was light up until the last 20-30 minutes.  I got in just after dark around 8:00 and was up for work the next day.