Training 10/25-10/31

 10/25- Perhaps a glimmer of hope.  2 miles in 19:17 (9:38 pace) with a nice negative split (9:47-9:30).  If I had time to go another half mile, I would have been in the 24s, which is 5 minutes better than yesterday.  This was done on just a lick of residue and no other pills.

PM- Wanted to assess my tolerance.  Did the first 2 laps at Montreat in 6:17 then took a 1/4 teaspoon and was significantly BETTER with a 2:46 lap.  Why the difference?  I hope it is because my system is finally tolerating this stuff.  It is possible but unlikely that caffeine impacts my tolerance.  I was caffeine free for 2 days but took some tonight.  We'll see how I respond to it.

Distance=3.0

10/26- Once again, I took 1/4 of a teaspoon after doing so last evening as well.  I continue to improve.  Time was down to 17:16 (8:38 pace),  Long way to go but this is real progress.  

Distance=2.0

10/27- AM- On no pills at all, I opened with a not horrible 2:33 at Montreat (7:39 pace).  Took another 1/4 teaspoon of the Fulvic Acid.  Hoped for a modest improvement down to the 2:25 range.  Finished with a 2:17 (6:51 pace).  I don't like that a single dose has this much impact but it does beat the alternative.  Added a cool.

PM- Another 2 miler on Lakeshore.  My time is down to 16-flat (8:00 pace).  This was my first time under 17 minutes since starting the Fulvic Acid and I nearly broke 16.  Splits were 7:56-8:04.  Things are starting to look up but my condition did begin to deteriorate shortly after getting home.  It appears that I can get by without all my other pills EXCEPT for Thym-Adren.  That's still acceptable.  I think I am very close to being able to make it through a long weekend without any treatments.  No adrenal spike please.

Distance=3.0

10/28- Planned rest day.  No signs of collapse.

10/29- AM- 1 lap opener after NO Fulvic Acid yesterday.  I was actually slightly BETTER on the opener with a 2:29.9 (7:29 pace).  Half lap cool.  Nasty weather this afternoon so I am questionable.

PM- Not a collapse but disappointing.  1.5 miles in 13:41 (9:07 pace).  Slight negative split.

Distance=2.0

10/30- Unplanned rest day.   Unable to run

10/31- 1 mile in 10:37.  OUCH!  More to come in a separate post

Distance=1.0

-11 miles

Training 10/18-10/24

Verdict on the Fulvic Acid:

It appears to have eliminated the sensitivity to B12 and Taurine BUT it has SPIKED the adrenals and caused severe intolerance to caffeine.  I also need to add that I NEED the Fulvic Acid.  I can go one day without it but ABSOLUTELY NO MORE! Split decision so far.   

10/18- 1 mile in 12:20.  OUCH!

Distance=1.0

10/19- AM 2 miles in 20:40 (10:20 pace) with splits of 10:47-9:53.  BIG improvement.

PM- 2 miles again in 17:20 (8:40 pace) with splits of 8:47-8:33.  Didn't feel anywhere close to normal but improvement has been rapid.  Soon, I will level off however.

Distance=4.0

10/20- Good news and bad news.  It appears that I have plateaued already.  Repeated the 2 mile distance and managed only a 17-flat (8:30 pace).  MINUS 10 is not enough to be considered significant and I was almost all out at the end in an attempt to break that barrier.  Felt essentially no different from yesterday.  I figured that my best chance to improve would be to tinker with the Fulvic Acid and Thym-Adren.  Did not run but felt no difference on extra Thym-Adren.  Extra Fulvic Acid made things WORSE.  Probably detox and I just need to cut the dose.  

PM- Opened with a 76 second half lap then fared no better on extra Thym-Adren.  In fact, I was slower but a fraction of a second.  If the adrenal spike is gone, that could be YUGE!  That leaves me with just 1 thing that there is a critical NEED, which is the Fulvic Acid.  Just don't get stupid with caffeine.  Tomorrow is BIG and I just hope I can get in 1 lap in the rain.  

Distance=2.5

10/21- Another split decision.  I opened with a Rocket 88 half lap at Montreat (8:48 pace) then improved only to 85 on Thym-Adren (8:30 pace).  Enough to be considered significant but just barely.  The adrenal spike may not be completely gone but it has diminished SO FAR!  

PM- 1 mile junk run at Veteran's Park for something different.  Finished in 9:17 then took another little bit of Fulvic Acid and was NOTICEABLY WORSE!  I'll be okay if I don't take it tomorrow but if I don't take it Saturday, I'm in trouble.  It may be that I only desperately need 1 treatment but 1 is enough to make me miserable.

Distance=1.5

10/22- I expected to wake up feeling rough tomorrow after a day off the Fulvic Acid.  Nope, it hit me this afternoon.  That's right.  I flipped from too much to not enough is LESS than 24 hours.  NOT ACCEPTABLE!  1 mile in 10:35.  1st half in 5:50 then after just a TRACE, I was down to 4:45.  MINUS 2:10 per mile!  WOW!

Distance=1.0

10/23- 1 mile in 12:27.  Just 3 hours later, I was much better with an 84 second half lap at Montreat BUT just licking the residue on the spoon took me down again.  Managed only a 97 after that.  Only good news is that caffeine appears to be tolerated.  Hope there is no withdrawal or spike tomorrow.

Distance=1.5

10/24- Only somewhat better on a lower dose.  2.5 miles in 29:40 (11:52 pace) with BAD splits.  Once again, I was better within a few hours but this time, I needed the stuff again by late afternoon.  

PM- Opened with a 1:45 split then improved to 1:30 after licking the residue.  Fared no better on the Thym-Adren so nearly 30 hours after my last serving of caffeine, no adrenal spike.  Added a short cool

Distance=3.5

-15 miles on the week

Blue Ridge Road Trip

 10/8- Drove from Birmingham to Augusta to see the Pfinsy Nature Preserve.  It would have been nice at sunrise but it was too overcast.  Lake and swamp scenery with lots of Spanish moss.

From Augusta, I took Hwy 28 across the border to South Carolina and saw some nice palm trees.  I stopped at Clemson and snapped a couple pictures on campus.  Lunch was at one of my old stomping grounds called the Walhalla Steakhouse Cafeteria.  

I continued north on Hwy 28 through a corner of Georgia into Highlands, North Carolina.  It's a nice mountain town and at over 4,000 feet elevation, foliage was not quite at peak but I still saw some reds and yellows.  Next stop was the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and the highest point in Tennessee at Clingman's Dome, which I saw just at sunset.  It was colorful at the top of the mountain but the trees down below were mostly green with a few red spots here and there.  After a sit down dinner, I had a bit of an adventure finding a hotel.  I got one just south of Asheville only because of a cancellation.  In the end, it worked out fine as I actually go to see more of the Blue Ridge Parkway. 

 

The Blue Ridge Parkway was EPIC.  There was some patchy fog on the way up but that meant clouds below the mountains.  AWESOME!  No other words.

Last pic stolen from internet.  This is how it looks at peak foliage.

The next night, I was back in South Carolina but did see Whitewater Falls, Caesar's Head and Devil's Fork State Park.  I headed back to Alabama on Monday and stopped at Brasstown Bald (GA's highest mountain) and Martin Luther King NP, where a nice view of the Atlanta skyline was nearby.

Training 10/11-10/17

 10/11- Forced rest day.  NASTY adrenal spike.

10/12- Intervals.  Opener in 1:42.  Closer in 1:28.  Rocket 88.  Added some junk

Distance-1.0

10/13- Adrenal spike is slowly going down.  Splits this time were 93-81.  Real workout was just as awful as expected.  1.5 miles in 16:23 (10:55 pace).  OUCH!  Should be better tomorrow but not by much.

Distance=2.0

10/14- Got about what I expected.  Felt noticeably better and it was reflected in my time but I still have a LONG way to go.  This adrenal spike has lasted longer than previous ones.  2 miles in 19:40 (9:50 pace) with a last mile under 9:40.

Distance=2.0

10/15- Repeated the 2 mile distance for consistency and my time is down to 17:52 (8:56 pace).

Distance=2.0

10/16- Increased the distance to 3 miles but took a step backward.  Really faded on the back half and finished with a time over 31 minutes.  I did consume one energy drink yesterday as a test and I failed it.  I don't like this.  Yes, I should have no problem quitting those suckers when my chemistry is level but one occasional slip up should not do this much damage.

Distance=3.5

10/17-  Half mile junk run was all that I could do.

Distance=0.5

-9 miles on the week

Fulvic Acid Revisited

 I seemed to be improving on the B12 plus Taurine and it may have actually knocked out the inexplicable negative reactions so why not leave well enough alone?  Simple, my reactions to just ONE pill were still too great.  Eventually, the adrenal spike would calm down as would the need for Taurine.  However, the extreme need for B12 was probably NOT going away.  Even after a full 6 weeks on it plus the Intrinsic Factor, a missed dose was still costing me over 60 seconds per mile.  Needless to say, if I ever had to go an entire weekend without it, I will be miserable.  

GREAT news was that the Fulvic Acid appears to have knocked out the extreme need for B12 as I fared NO better after taking it last week.  Bad news is that I had a detox reaction to the Fulvic Acid.  Surprised?  Not at all.    Any time a new pill is a factor, this is exactly what happens.  Eventually, my system does adjust to the new pill then the adrenals spike.  That's what happened once again.  

I initially planned to lay off the Fulvic Acid until this week but after just ONE day off it, I was AWFUL.  My time for a lap on the opener was a pitiful 3:04 (9:12 pace).  I took just a TRACE of Fulvic Acid and expected to see maybe 30-40 seconds better per mile.  NOPE!  It was a FULL 2 MINUTES BETTER with a 2:24 (7:12 pace).  The moment of truth came when I would take a MUCH larger dose.  I hoped to at least maintain the form but was fearful of a collapse.  MUCH to my relief, I showed continued improvement with a 2:08 (6:24 pace).  However, the good feeling was short-lived as the adrenals spiked again.

Today, I opened with a 1:42 half lap (10:12 pace).  I was actually slightly WORSE on the Fulvic Acid with a 1:44 but it was actually only 1.5 seconds worse so that's not significant.  With a stacked deck of B12 and Taurine, I would fare NO better.  I did get back down to 1:42 but no faster.  The only thing that did help was Thym-Adren but even that was no sudden miracle.  3 of those pills got me down to 1:24 (8:24 pace).  I expect that the adrenal spike will calm down by the end of the week.  IN THEORY, I AM IN THE CLEAR AFTER THAT!  I WILL NOT GET MY HOPES UP!

B12, Antioxidants and Fulvic Acid For Sensitivity

 Excellent news last week.  Since starting the Taurine, I have been able to tolerate the Lysine.  This is the same stuff that triggered a reaction just 7 days earlier.  I’m not sure if it was the Taurine or the B12 reserve because extra B12 afterwards did indeed mitigate much of the ill-effects.  At any rate last week, I opened with a 92 second half lap at Montreat then actually improved to 90 after taking 2 Lysine pills.  That’s not a significant improvement but all I wanted was no collapse. 

I have considered the possibility that free radicals and inflammation have played a role in the sensitivity.  Though it is possible, addressing that issue would not have been enough without the B12.  I ordered a couple new antioxidant and anti-inflammation supplements but they turned out to be non-factors.  In a 2 mile run, I was 2 seconds slower on the back half after taking the Cytokine Suppress.  Non-factor for sure.  I will keep it in my cabinet because it may be useful in fighting COVID.  You don't want a Cytokine Storm. 

The rest of the workout last week's workout was interesting as well.  I improved from 90 to 78 after taking the B12 and Intrinsic Factor.  That is BIG!  In terms of pace per mile, it’s a MINUS 72 so it remains a game changer and must be taken every day.  No need to test myself on additional doses because I knew it would not matter.  The biggest surprise was the lack of reaction to Thym-Adren.  I did the back half of the lap in 79, marginally WORSE but not enough to be significant.  I can’t quit that stuff but suppose I forget to pack it on a long weekend trip, I probably won’t notice.  In order to declare myself stable, I need that to be the case with ALL of my pills.  As expected, the reaction to Taurine remains significant.  I improved all the way to 62 seconds on 2,000 mg, which equates to a MINUS 96.  That gap will diminish in a few days. 

Taurine needs to be taken regardless of whether it helps with the sensitivity or not.  However, it alone or even the “master anti-oxidant” Glutathione did NOT resolve the sensitivity in the past AND I have reacted badly to both in the past as well.  The overall gap of 92/62 represented a full THREE MINUTES PER MILE!!  

In what was no surprise, once my body adjusted to the Taurine, the adrenals SPIKED something awful and though I didn't react as much to the Taurine, I needed Thym-Adren BIG!.  The Fulvic Acid did arrive on Monday and I had planned to  wait on it until the adrenal spike went down by the end of the week.  Ultimately, the curiosity got the best of me.  The reaction was immediately negative with the usual stiff muscles but my mood actually improved a bit and I had a funny dream too.  

Today's workout:

Opened with an 85.7 then fared NO BETTER on Intrinsic Factor and B12.  Even Taurine and Thym-Adren together brought me no lower than a 79.9.  That's a gap of just 35 seconds per mile so the adrenal spike has diminished already.  That gap is enough to be considered significant but not a night a day difference.  That's a LOT better than the 3 minute gap last week.  The "real workout" was but short due to rain but I did manage a 7:56 Mile.  

I do believe that the Fulvic Acid has reduced the sensitivity but I am slow because of a detox reaction.  I'll lay off it for a few days then try to increase it gradually.  

All I ever wanted out of this was a stable cocktail, no extreme dependence on any pill and at least adequate energy every day.  If the current trends continue, the only thing I lack is the adequate energy, which could return in time.  I MAY have a reason to hope but I will not even begin to believe until I am relapse-free for a month.  

If I am forced to take the vackseen, I feel better about my chances to come away unscathed now but I still choose not to take it.  Let's Go Brandon!