Friday, June 21, 2024

Training 6/21-6/30

 I only ran once in Turks and Caicos.  Plenty of walking but that doesn't count for distance.  It was a 5 minute junk run.  Call it a half mile give or take.  Dew point was consistent in the upper 70s so anything even remotely hard under normal conditions would have been damn near impossible here.  Actually the mornings and evenings weren't too bad just walking around but I knew better than to try anything strenuous.

6/21 AM- 1 lap at Montreat without pills plus a half lap cool and was encouraged by the result.  Last week, I only managed a 3:02 without pills.  Today, my time was down to 2:44.  I am progressing on schedule despite drinking too much at the resort.  Next week, I hope to be around 2:30 and may look into reducing the dosage.  That's it for today.  This evening, I want to re-assess my tolerance for Zinc.

Distance-1.0

6/22- Took the Zinc as planned last night and not surprisingly I got a strong negative response.  It didn't fully clear overnight so I woke up feeling pretty bad.  As I predicted, I actually got WORSE with extra Thym-Adren (1:47 vs 2:01).  Extra Liver did help (1:50) but not enough to attempt a real workout.  I was willing to accept a day like this to get some answers.

Distance-0.5

Reaction:

This is NOT an inexplicable reaction and likely not an autoimmune issue.  I most probably have a Zinc excess relative to bound Copper.  What is puzzling this:  If I take the Liver alone, I am slightly better than I am on no pills.  If I add the Zinc after just the Liver, I am slightly weakened but the ill-effects are NOT significant.  If I take Thym-Adren, the ill-effects from the Zinc are totally debilitating.  

Thym-Adren does contain a small amount of Copper but it also has both Zinc and Vitamin C, which are 2 Copper antagonists.  While the Thym Adren is effective in treating the adrenal spike, it worsens the Copper deficit.  Therefore, I will soon try to reduce that dose.  Tolerance for Zinc will improve if I cut the dose from 6 pills to 3.  Upping the Liver may help as well.

6/23- After 10 days without a real workout, I expected to take a bit of a step backwards.  Lakeshore 2.5 in 22:55 for an overall pace of 9:10. 

 It gets interesting if you break it down.  Attempted the workout on 5 pills and passed halfway in 11:44 (9:23 pace).  On 6/6, I did 2 miles @ 9:20 on 7 pills.  I bet I could have matched that time, give or take a few ticks.  After 2.5 weeks, I need only 5 pills to match what used to require 7.  I've got a long way to go but progress is progress.  

I popped a 6th pill at the turnaround and got a significant boost.  Did the back half in 11:11 (8:57 pace), which is within shouting distance of 5K race pace.  After 10 days almost completely off, I will take it.  I was hoping NOT to see a significant difference from 5 pills to 6 but this tells me that I've got to keep the dosage where it is for the time being.

Distance-2.5

6/24- FAIL!  I'll get confirmation tomorrow but I think caffeine is interfering with Ceruloplasmin production.

Distance-0.5

6/25- What I suspected was confirmed today.  Opened with a bad but not horrific 1:38 half lap on no pills .  Drank a Kickstart and was worse.   Slipped to 1:47.  Worser on 3 Thym Adren (1:57).  Just 2 days ago, I got a boost from taking a 6th pill midway through a workout.  Now, I can't even tolerate 3.  The forbidden drinks are clearly the culprit as they seem to be throwing the Zinc/Copper balance out of whack, which is worsened by Thym Adren.  If I abstain, the adrenal spike will kick back in within 2 days.  Liver will help but it won't be enough.

Distance-0.5

6/26- Adrenal spike kicked back in with a vengeance.  I was beyond awful this morning but much better in the evening.  Did a Montreat Mile in 9:52 with a negative split.  I'll be back to the new normal in another day or two.

Distance-2.0

6/27- 1.5 miles on Lakeshore in 16:23 (10:55 pace).  Significantly WORSE than yesterday because I cut the dosage back to 6 pills 

Distance-1.5

6/28- Noticeably better on the same dose.  2 miles in 20:38 (10:19 pace).  Still more than 2 minutes per mile slower than my peak.  A couple days of excess caffeine really shouldn't throw me for this much of a loop.  How long will it take to get back?  Probably at least a couple weeks.

Distance-2.0

6/29- Unplanned rest day.  Tried to run and didn't even make it for a tenth of a mile.  It seems like even if I avoid energy drinks, caffeine is still bad.  Alcohol appears to be tolerated and so does non-caffeinated Sprite.  Once again, Thym Adren is not tolerated.  Extra Liver helps but it's not enough.

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