11/4-AM. I may have spoken too soon about the need for Thym Adren being manageable. I got hit with a SEVERE adrenal spike yesterday afternoon and evening. Cut the Melatonin dose down to 5 mg and it remains effective. It will probably be effective at 3 mg.
Opened with a 1:59 half lap (11:54 pace). In recent days, I was marginally better after taking formerly problematic pills. Today, I was still BAD but SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER on Taurine and Colostrum. Improved to 1:48 (10:48 pace). Not sure what to make of that but I suspect that Taurine is good for an adrenal spike.
Took the max dose of Thym Adren (8 pills) and tried again. Improved to 1:24 (8:24 pace). Much better but still a far cry from the 1:06 morning session that I managed before the adrenal spike.
Reaction:
Is the Melatonin tolerated at 5 mg? I really can't say yes or no with certainty but I'd wager that 90 percent of my slowdown can be explained by the adrenal spike. I still plan to gradually cut the dose and eventually see if I can manage a few days without it.
As for the adrenal spike, the news is not all bad. Even with the max dose, it still wasn't enough to get me back to form. The 24 second gap is 2:24 per mile, which is BIG but that's only 3 seconds per pill.
I'd only be marginally faster on 1 pill. I'd actually rather see only modest gains from a pill than a night and day difference. Why? That shows reduced dependence. I HATED having to hit a sweet spot every day while shooting at a moving target. The adrenal spike will eventually go down and I will get back to form. It won't require a mega dose to get there. In fact, I plan to gradually cut it starting today.
PM- Montreat Mile in 9:56. Ugly result but I got a BIG VICTORY. I took 5 mg of Melatonin after the first 2 laps. Splits were 3:20-3:19-3:17. Marginally FASTER AFTER MELATONIN! On both 10 mg and 8 mg, I got an immediate negative reaction.
There is a good chance that I have found a dosage that is both tolerated AND eliminates the inexplicable reactions!! When the adrenal spike goes down, I believe that I will see reduced need for Thym Adren. The stable chemistry will allow me to train consistently and meet the minimum standard for demand #3.
The degree of dependency on Melatonin still remains to be seen. Maybe I can get away with a lower dosage. Maybe I can get away with an occasional missed dose. Maybe not. Even still, if I have to take 5 mg every night, that's a price that I will gladly pay.
Distance-1.5
11/5- AM- No run. Went directly to my polling place this morning. Adrenal spike is still there but I cut the Thym Adren from 8 to 6. Hope to see a modest gain this evening. I will cut the Melatonin to 4 mg tonight.
PM- Repeated the Montreat Mile and my time is down to 9:05. Splits were 3:02-3:05-2:58. About what I expected if not a little better. It was obvious that this adrenal spike is not a 1-2 day blip. Rather, it will go down gradually. I sliced 51 seconds off yesterday's time and am within 95 of a PR. From that perspective, this looks pretty good. Tomorrow is perhaps more important. I want to see continued improvement on a reduced dose albeit at a slower rate. 4 pills tomorrow. Hoping to see an 8:30-8:45.
Distance-1.0
11/6- Slightly better than expected again. Vestavia Mile in 8:08. Splits were 1:59-2:06-2:04-1:59. Did this on lowered doses of Melatonin and Thym Adren. Did not try formerly problematic pills but I doubt it would have been a problem. MINUS 57 compared to yesterday and 38 away from a PR.
Montreat vs Vestavia route: A PR is only legal on a track even though Montreat is probably slightly tougher. I suspect that Montreat is 15-20 yards short but that's offset by the hills so the difference is negligible.
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