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.