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.      

Training 8/23-8/29- Race week

 8/23- AM- 1 mile in a time over 11 minutes.  I blame the Intrinsic Factor.  It takes time to that stuff to fully kick in.  Let's just hope that I can tolerate it after the Lithium clears.  I am now certain that last week sucked so badly because of the interaction with those 2.

PM- MUCH better.  2 miles in 18:56 (9:28 pace) with splits of 9:45-9:11.  I expect continued improvement and I will stay off the Intrinsic Factor for at least another 2 days.

Distance=3.0

8/24-AM 2 miles in 18:44 (9:22 pace).  Looks like a marginal improvement over yesterday but not so fast.  Splits were 8:59-9:45.  Felt much worse by mid-morning.  Extra B12 made it WORSER!  But I improved after taking Intrinsic Factor.  I had feared intolerance to it but it looks like the opposite has occurred.  Without the Lithium, my demand for it has increased.

PM- Intervals- 90 opener.  87 with more B12 but improved significantly to a 79 on more Intrinsic Factor.

1.5 miles on Lakeshore in 13:11 (8:47 pace) with splits of 6:28-6:43.  I need to up the IF.  I don't like being this dependent on it but that may fade in time.

Distance=4.0

8/25- Total of 1 mile with intervals.  Got as low as 49 at Montreat.

Distance=1.0

8/26- Planned rest day.  Travel

8/27- Sunrise junk run on the beach

Distance=1.0

8/28- Another junk run at Bar Harbor

Distance=0.5

8/29- Blueberry Cove Half Marathon

Distance=13.5

-23 miles on the week.

Lithium, B12 and Intrinsic Factor

 After I discovered the Manganese deficiency, I switched from ADHS (adrenal modulator) to Thym-Adren (adrenal suppressant) because of an adrenal spike.  Actually, I don’t believe it caused the adrenals to spiral out of control.  Rather, it revealed long standing fast oxidation that ADHS was not strong enough to treat.  I consider it a success.  In a recent trial, I found that 5 Thym-Adren pills were no more effective than 3 and I believe that I no longer have an “extreme dependence” on those pills.  In other words, if I forget to pack them on a weekend trip, I will NOT completely fall apart.   Again, ALL I ever wanted out of this is the same reaction to the rest of my pills but it’s always just one that is enough to make my life miserable. 

When it comes to B12, I am getting better without those pills but still would not dare to even try going just 1 day without those.  Like I said in my last post, it’s not so simple as taking mega doses of B12 until the deficiency corrects itself.  The stomach protein called Intrinsic Factor is required for proper absorption.  Yes, I still do believe that lack of Intrinsic Factor was responsible for the bad reactions to the food-based veggie supplement called Texas Superfood.   Sufficient Lithium is required for B12 transport into the cells or else it will just pool in the blood.  ATP is required for Lithium transport or else it will be wasted in the urine. 

ADHS contains just a trace of Lithium.  After maybe a week or so of taking Thym-Adren instead of ADHS, I found myself intolerant to B12.  This was BEFORE I discovered Intrinsic Factor.  However, after adding back just ONE ADHS pill, I was immediately much better.  Good thing I did not pitch that bottle.  I surmised that I needed it ONLY because of its trace amount of Lithium.  Adding stand alone Lithium on top of the ADHS?  No effect either way.  Same with the ATP.  My times for 1 lap at Montreat were the same with or without them give or take maybe 1-2 seconds.   

I was running low on ADHS but still had an older bottle of stand-alone Lithium.  I figured that I would finish the ADHS bottle then switch temporarily to the stand-alone Lithium until I ran out of it.  BAD call there!  Even with the usual B12 dosage, I found myself worse off with Lithium that I was on no pills at all.  I know it was the Lithium because a confirmation dose made things noticeably worse immediately.  To clarify, the Lithium that I was taking was a food-based supplement from vegetable culture.  It is NOT nearly the same as the prescription to treat bipolar disorder.  A bad reaction to the prescription is understandable.  A reaction to low doses of a food based supplement?  NO!   That is reason #622 why I do not want the experimental COVID vackseen! 

This revolting development raises several questions.  First, I really thought the Intrinsic Factor plus B12 would protect against these unexplained bad reactions.  Maybe not.  I’m betting that I can still tolerate Texas Superfood though I have not actually tried it.  Too much of any mineral is NEVER a good thing.  Loading on Liver Beef will raise Copper but crash Zinc even in a healthy person.  That’s not a good thing and yes, it will cause symptoms.  Let’s say that a person takes 50K of B12, which is more than double my daily need.  There’s a good chance of a not so pleasant reaction.  Perhaps my Lithium levels are just too high, and this is NOT a case of unexplained ultra-sensitivity. 

Second, what to make of the need for ADHS?  Now, I’m not sure it was the Lithium that caused me to feel better.  Perhaps, there is another ingredient in there that I need, which is most probably an herb.  I have re-ordered it and it will arrive between 8/20-8/24.  That should be enough time to assess my need and tolerance before race day on 8/29.  I expect improvements once the Lithium clears but will I get back to the new norm without ADHS?  Will I tolerate the trace of Lithium in the ADHS?  Will I feel better as a result of the mystery herbal ingredient?  Perhaps the Intrinsic Factor has eliminated the need for Lithium.  That would be nice.  In that case, I can pitch the ATP, Lithium and ADHS.  It’s possible but highly unlikely that I need a course of ATP.  Again, a couple of trials with ATP had no effect on my times nor my tolerance for Lithium.  I’ll confirm that after I get back from Maine.  I’d like to re-assess my tolerance for Lithium after a couple weeks off it before I pitch that bottle. 

I took extra Intrinsic Factor last night and though I had no immediate reaction, I felt AWFUL just a couple hours later.  I had to lay down for about hour and tried to eat but could not.  Since Lithium is involved with B12 transport and Intrinsic Factor is involved in absorption, I suppose it is possible that the Intrinsic Factor revealed the excess Lithium, and it will just take time to clear.  

Training 8/16-8/22

 8/16- AM- Tried a 1 mile opener instead of the usual 1 lap at Montreat.  Finished in 9:22.  I was hoping for a little better than this but didn't expect to set the world on fire.  I don't think I could have matched the 2:11 for 1 lap from yesterday.  Perhaps, the soreness has kicked in a day late.  Pace was respectable early but fell off hard after the first quarter mile.  To my credit however, my pace was steady from about 400 meters on.  I don't know the exact numbers but I don't think the 4th quarter was any worse than the 2nd.  

PM- Clearly something is off.  I knew it all day at work.  It was intervals in order to find the culprit.  As I suspected, it was excess Lithium.  A trace of that stuff is needed to transport B12 but too much can be harmful.  This did raise another question:  Is the excess Lithium bad on its own or does it simply raise the demand for B12?  It appears that the former is true.  Loading on B12 helped to a point but once I exceeded a dosage of 30K, it made things worse.  Adding a trace of additional Lithium on top of that made things "worser."  If I sharply reduce the Lithium as planned, will my need and tolerance for B12 be reduced as well?  Probably not.  My optimal dose is probably around 20-25K of B12 regardless of the Lithium dose.  I will probably have to endure a rough day tomorrow as well but I am prepared to accept it.

Distance=2.5

8/17- Expected a rough day today but didn't expect this bad.  1.5 miles was all I could stand to do and finished in 15:36 (10:24 pace) with a slight negative split.  Worse than yesterday's opener without B12.  Took no Lithium but just 8000 B12 to level it out after yesterday's OD.  Got home and was noticeably better with an additional dose of B12.  Back to the standard dose tomorrow.

Distance=1.5

8/18- Took the standard B12 dose and bit off just a small piece of the Lithium.  The latter was a BAD call.  I had absolutely nothing today but forced myself to slow jog 1 mile at Montreat.  This development merits a separate post but it is a good bet that the Lithium needs to be cut out altogether.  Perhaps, the Intrinsic Factor eliminated the need for it.  

Tried extra Intrinsic Factor this evening and though I had no immediate effects, a couple hours later, I started feeling REALLY WEIRD.  Tired and no appetite at all.  Tried to force myself to eat some dinner but just could not. 

Distance=1.0

8/19- PATHETIC.  2 miles in 21:22 (10:41 pace).  Only slightly better than yesterday.  I had better see incremental improvement by tomorrow.  Perhaps it was not the Lithium in the ADHS that made me feel better.  Maybe it was something else.  More to come.

Distance=2.0

8/20- Got the expected incremental improvement.  Repeated the 2 miles on Lakeshore and my time is down to 19:24 (9:42 pace).  MINUS 59.  I'll take it and if I don't relapse next week, I might still have a slim chance of a non-disaster on race day.  ADHS should arrive any day now.

Distance=2.0

8/21- ADHS did come yesterday and I just wanted a conclusive reaction.  I didn't really care if it was positive or negative.  Did the same 2 mile distance again and my time was down to 18:24 (9:12 pace) so the rate of improvement was cut in half but it was still enough to be significant.  Took 2 ADHS pills and WHAM!  The reaction was swift and strongly negative.  Forced myself to go another half mile but the pace was over 12 minutes.  I am nearly certain that Lithium was the culprit and a course of ATP is highly unlikely to help.  I have 8 days to detox it before race day.

Distance=2.5

8/22- BEYOND AWFUL in the morning.  2.5 miles in 32-flat (12:48 pace).  No comments needed.

PM- I was MUCH better early.  Passed 1 mile in 10:11 then popped an Intrinsic Factor pill and slipped to a 10:44 on the back half for a 20:55 finish for 2 miles (10:27 pace).  This is strong evidence of a negative interaction between the Lithium and Intrinsic Factor.  That makes me feel better about this situation.  I will lay off the Intrinsic Factor for a few days.  Intrinsic Factor often takes a couple hours to fully kick in and I was "worser" when I got home.  7 days to detox it out.

Distance=4.5

-16 miles on the week

Pernicious Anemia and Gains With B12

 Pernicious Anemia refers to a deficiency of Vitamin B12, which prevents my red blood cells from forming and thus my oxygen capacity is diminished.  Needless to say, when this happens, your running will be crap!  This makes all the sense in the world to me.  Even on my good days, I have yet to complete a run below the Mendoza line in 2021 (3 miles @ sub-8 pace).  Granted, I am nearly 41 years old and cannot expect to do the same stuff I did a decade ago but I certainly did not expect THIS STEEP of a decline.  I am more concerned with the sensitivity to supplements and there is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON for a healthy person to react badly to a food based veggie supplement such as Texas Superfood.  Probably the biggest misconception about me is that I can't be happy unless I am running well.  THAT AIN'T TRUE!  All I want out of this is a stable cocktail of pills with no extreme dependence and at least adequate levels of energy every day.  That really should not be too much to ask.  

So if my B-12 levels are low, why not just take B-12 shots or mega doses of supplements?  It's not so easy.  I once had my blood levels tested and it was actually off the charts HIGH.  Yet, my hair test showed Cobalt (B-12 mineral) to be barely detectable.  The reason is simply.  The B-12 was pooling up in my blood but never reached my cells.  When that happens, supplementation actually does more harm than good.  

So what to do?  First, sufficient levels of ATP and Lithium are required for transport.  When this problem was corrected, I was able to tolerate SOME B-12 but NOT the mega doses that I absolutely needed.  Why not?  All signs point to a stomach protein called Intrinsic Factor.  Because I was deficient in this key factor, I never could properly absorb B-12.  I WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF THIS WAS THE REASON FOR THE SENSITIVITY TO OTHER STUFF ALL ALONG!!

Results:

When I increased the B-12, the inexplicable reactions to benign supplements STOPPED!  That's pretty strong evidence of the above claim.  Unfortunately, I increased the dosage too quickly.  Think of it this way:  When a person is severely dehydrated, gulping down water will make them feel nauseous but tiny sips will cause them to feel tremendous relief. However, after a few of those tiny sips, the body will demand big gulps.  That's where I am now.  I am taking 16,000 mcg of B-12 on a stand alone basis plus more when you account for the B-complex and CBS/NOS pill.  Even that may not be enough.  I may have to jack it up to 20K if I plateau soon.

Last Sunday, it took me 24:54 to run 2.5 miles and it took a late rally just to finish below 10:00 pace.  Just 4 days later, my time is down to 21:23 (8:33 pace).  Obviously, this rate of improvement is unsustainable and I will eventually level off.  When that happens, I may up the dose a bit.  Also, my times without the B-12 in the morning have improved even faster.  I've improved from 4+ minutes for 1/3 of a mile (12:00 pace) all the way down to 2:33 today (7:39 pace) within the same timeframe.  

Sadly, this type of thing is not unprecedented.  If you read this blog with any regularity, you know that I've seen similar gains before but they were short-lived and often followed by a crash just after my hopes were beginning to rise.  Why is this time different?  Simple, I never addressed the Intrinsic Factor before and I'm quite sure that the wrong benign supplement would have triggered a collapse.  That's not happening now!   

I'm feeling more consistent and stable levels of energy.  How do I know it?  It's a sort of thing that you just know but can't put into words.  Aside from the better times in my runs, I'm not feeling big changes from day to day but over the course of several days to weeks, it IS noticeable.  Monday's run didn't feel much different than Sunday's and Wednesday's didn't feel much better than Tuesday's.  Wednesday compared with Sunday?  Yes, the improvement is clearly evident.  Soon, improvement may not be evident from one week to the next but over the course of a month, I'll be able to tell.    In the past, I've traded 9 minute paces for 6s from one day to the next after adjusting my formula.  That's something that I DO NOT want to see.  Let's say that I'm in 26:xx shape for a 5K now, I don't want to go straight down to 21:xx.  I want to go through the 25s and 24s and so on. 

I'm seeing better tolerance to caffeine.  Of course, that stuff is not good for me but again, there are some days in which it is necessary to cheat to get through the day at work.  If I overdo it, I'll collapse when I get home.  That's not happening this time.  I may see an adrenal spike after I quit it but it will be a 1-2 day blip.  No big deal.    I used to do a lot of my running indoors before the pandemic and people wondered why.  It's simple.  I suffered from frequent diarrhea attacks and needed to be near a toilet.  It happens to every runner on occasion but in my case, it was a fairly regular event.  So far, I've had no such issues since taking the mega B12 even if I eat foods that triggered it in the past.  I've recently learned that diarrhea could be B-12 related.  Finally, I was often dizzy after standing up too quickly and usually saw stars.  That has not happened recently either.

What does anger me is that this should have been diagnosed much sooner.  I had problems with sensitivity to supplements as far back as 2005 and YES, I went to a "real doctor" about it.  The only thing that came up on my blood work as abnormal was an elevated homocysteine level.  I've only recently learned that this IS LINKED TO PERNICIOUS ANEMIA!  This should have been diagnosed 16 years ago.  My doctor never did any follow up testing.  Instead, he pushed anti-depressants on me, which actually worsened my fatigue and further strained my exhausted adrenal glands.  

I got the appearance of healing in 2012 when I was setting PRs almost every time out but that proved to be an illusion as well.  At that time, I DID have a stable cocktail but still had inexplicable reactions to benign supplements and minerals.  I just knew what to avoid.  Unfortunately, as I got older the buildup of toxic metals and worsening B-12 deficiency proved too much to overcome.  It is quite possible that I ran a sub-40 10K and sub-90 half marathon IN SPITE of being anemic!  How good could I have been if fully healthy?  Sadly, I will never know.  

 

Training 8/9-8/15

 8/9- Good news all around.  Time for the opener is down from a 3:39 to a 3:18 (9:54 pace).  As for the real workout, I repeated the 2.5 mile distance this time on Lakeshore.  Time for this one improved from 24:54 to 23:28 (9:23 pace).  This is EXACTLY what I want to see.  I may not feel much different from one day to the next but the gains will add up.  Every day should be slightly better than the previous one at least for the next week or so.  Tomorrow, I want to see a sub-3 opener and a longer distance at a similar pace.

Distance=3.0 

8/10-AM- The Opener is down to 2:54 (8:42 pace).  MINUS 72.  Obviously, the rate of improvement cannot continue.  There is no way that I will be under 2:00 by Friday.  I'll shoot for a sub-2:40 tomorrow.  The last 2 days, I've faded on the back half in my openers but always deliver a negative split when I am on B12.  Interesting.

PM- Canterbury 3.5 in 32:05 (9:10 pace).  I'll take it.  13 seconds per mile is not a significant improvement but given that this is a hilly route and a longer distance, I'm pleased.  Again, I scored a negative split and a sub-9 in Mile 3.  This is definitely the equivalent of a sub-9 pace on a flat 3 mile.  The long-term goal is a sub-7 pace for 3 miles or roughly a 21:45 for 5K.

Distance=4.0

8/11- Opener is all the way down to 2:33 (7:39 pace). MINUS 62 and I was much better at holding the pace (75-78).  Probably the last day that I will see massive improvement but I would like to be in the low 2:20s tomorrow.  

Went straight to Lakeshore for a 2.5 miler and my time is down to 21:22 (8:33 pace).  I got out faster but did not have as strong of a negative split (10:49-10:33).  This may be close to my base level of fitness.  It's equivalent to about 26:45 for 5K.  I do think I'm better than that without any additional training once I get the B12 up but pretty soon, I'll have to work to get my times down.

Distance=3.0

8/12- The inevitable first step backward was today.  No opener.  Directly to Lakeshore for a full 5 miles.  Finished in 45:39 (9:08 pace).  Hoped for a sub-9 pace and came up short.  I was at 21:42 at the half, which is just 8 seconds per mile slower than yesterday.  Figure I could have matched yesterday's 2.5 mile time give or take a few seconds.  Still felt reasonably well through 3.5 then hit the skids.  Mile 5 was over 10 minutes and the back half was a weak 23:57.  What happened?  The smart money is on not enough B-12.  I may need more to go longer distances.  If I have to, I have to.  Also, I've learned that even moderate alcohol consumption depletes B12.  I didn't binge but yes, I did drink last night

PM- No running this evening but I did take an extra B12.  Improvement was noticeable.  No, it would not have brought the paces down from the 10s to the 7s but I don't want that.  I'm afraid that I will need a booster pill to get through the long run this weekend.

Distance=5.0

8/13- Ran the opener in 2:19 (6:57 pace).  MINUS 45 but it took 2 days to realize those gains.  As expected, the rate of improvement is slowing.  I figure that if I run it tomorrow, I'd be hard pressed to break 2:15.  This one took a lot out of me too.  No closer.  Just a cool down to complete the mile.  That's it for today.  Long tomorrow.

Distance=1.0 

8/14- 10 miles on Lakeshore in 98:50 (9:53 pace).  I'm pleased with this one.  I had planned to go out at 10 minute pace give or take a few seconds and try to hold it for 7.5 miles then take a booster dose of B12 just to see what happened.  I completed the first objective at 75:50 (10:06 pace) but I was slipping at the end.  Pace had slowed to the 10:20-10:30 range at the beginning of Mile 8 and that last quarter would have been ugly without the booster.  I simply hoped to rebound with a 9:40 average the rest of the way to finish with a sub-10 overall.  I ended up a lot better than that.  Did the last 2.5 miles in 23-flat (9:12 pace) and I felt like I had more in the tank.  That's just 4 seconds shy of a sub-2 pace for a half mary.  

Distance=10.0

Reaction:

If I do increase my B12 dosage from 16K to 20K, it could be a game changer.  I'm still afraid of going overboard with it and ending up intolerant for a couple days, which is what happened last time I tried to increase it too quickly.  I'm unsure of what to do but I WILL load on race day.

8/15- BAFA day.  Ran the opener in 2:11 (6:33 pace)  MINUS 24.  I believe that I am within 60 seconds per mile of my closer time with a full dose of B12.  Still, the ability to hold a respectable pace for 1/3 of a mile versus even a standard issue 3 mile day is TOTALLY different.  In order to meet my demand of "no extreme dependence," I must stay off all pills for 2 days then manage a sub-9 pace for 3 miles.   I've still got a ways to go.  After that, I've got to remain stable for a month before I even think of declaring myself healthy.

Real workout was a 3.5 mile recovery jog on the Trak Shak loop just to hit the quota.  Pace was very slow but that was the plan.  Ran it naked too (no watch).  This weekly mileage total is my highest of the year.  If I can bump it up to 35 on a regular basis, it should be enough to get back to respectability.

Distance=4.0

-30 miles on the week. 

Another COVID RANT

 Disclaimer:

A certain word has been misspelled on purpose to prevent this post from being flagged.

Surveys show that 57 percent of Americans have taken the COVID vackseen.  Add to that the number of people who were infected, and we should be very close to the 75 percent threshold for herd immunity.  In spite of these numbers, cases are rising again due to the Delta variant and there are reports of a Lambda and Columbian variant.  In addition, some countries such as Israel have nearly a 90 percent rate of vacksination yet are also facing a surge.  Because of this, I have my doubts that we will ever achieve herd immunity even with mandatory vacksination.  The virus may not go away, but I predict that it will weaken in time and within 3-5 years, COVID will be no more deadly or widespread than the regular flu.  It will continually mutate, and it will be difficult to predict which strain will be dominant in a particular year.  Thus, the vackseen will become about as effective as the standard flu shot and will require a booster every 6-12 months. 

Now, Biden wants a vackseen mandate for federal employees and it is coming at the state level in New York.  Google, Facebook and Walmart have already announced plans for mandatory vacksination as a condition of employment.  Some universities have announced requirements to attend class and live on campus.  Just as I predicted last year, I won’t be thrown in jail if I refuse the shot, but it could be de-facto required to live a normal life.  I am an Alabama State employee so given that I am in a deep red state, I am likely safe from the requirement for the time being.  Finding another job is not a realistic option.  I have at least 10 years until I can retire though I intend to work at least another 15.  A job that pays the mortgage and allows a pension will be almost impossible to find.  Again, this is all due to a virus with a 99.5% survival rate.   If I am to visit Cancun, Mexico again, as I did last Christmas, I need a negative test to re-enter my own country, yet it is common knowledge that COVID positive illegals are being released into the USA.  That is unconscionable!    

I am not a nut job conspiracy theorist nor do I consider myself anti-vax.  Rather, I am pro-choice on this issue.  I encourage everyone to weigh the risks and benefits and make the best decision for yourself given your situation.  For me, it’s a no brainer to say NO.  I had a recent episode in which I was down with my usual flu-like malaise after taking a food-based veggie supplement.  I know it was the pill because a confirmation dose made things worse almost immediately.  In the past, I've had similar reactions to a bottle of orange juice.  The culprit is most probably malabsorption due to a stomach protein deficiency.   Now, can you imagine the potential danger of an experimental vackseen?  I’d also like to add that through it all, my immune system has been remarkably strong recently.  I’ve not had a cold in nearly 2 years, and it’s been at least 4 years since I’ve had to call in sick for work.  It’s a risk either way but I figure that if I am exposed to COVID and catch the virus, my chance of death or permanent disability is less than 1 in 1000.  With good reason, I believe that a severe reaction to the shot is far more likely.  Get a medical exemption?  Not so easy.  I’ve dealt with doctors who do not believe the extent of my issues and have never seen it before.  They think it’s all in my head.  I also heard of a girl who was denied admission to the college of her choice even with a medical exemption.

Now, suppose my circumstances were different.  Suppose I am 2 decades older with no malabsorption issues or trouble with supplements.  Suppose I am significantly overweight with diabetes and other co-morbidities.  In that case, there is no hesitation.  I’d be very careful when out and about and take the shot as soon as it’s available even without a guarantee of its safety.  The virus poses a greater threat than the vackseen.  If at some future date, there is a pandemic with a greater than 5% chance of death or disability, yes even given my circumstances, I’d most probably take the shot.  Between 3-5% represents the gray area in which I may take it but not until I am more confident in its safety and effectiveness. 

There are several other rationales for not taking the shot:

1.      You can still catch and spread the virus, but your risk of serious complications is reduced.  Well, an otherwise healthy person is also unlikely to face severe illness from COVID.  Therefore, the benefits are not very high and do not offset the risk of an experimental vackseen.

2.      I do NOT trust Big Pharma.  Johnson& Johnson had to recall a sunscreen and Pfizer had to recall their anti-smoking drug Chantix due to cancer causing chemicals.  How ironic!  All drugs that have been recalled went through many tests for safety and passed.  Now, we are to believe that the same companies have developed a 100 percent safe vackseen before it has even been approved by the FDA.  I don’t think so!

3.      I do NOT believe the media.  COVID is real and I’ve never said that it was a hoax.  Anyone who does is a nut job.  That said, I do believe that the threat is overhyped.  Flus and colds are being reported as COVID and cancer deaths with COVID are also included in the death count.  Their coverage of the Trump administration was blatantly dishonest, and the bias is getting worse all the time.  Risks such as heart inflammation and increased chance of a miscarriage are continually suppressed.  Reports of very rare serious cases among the young and healthy are constantly aired while there is virtually no coverage of vackseen injuries.  Promotion of inexpensive alternatives is often censored rather than debunked. 

4. Previous vackseen injury.  Perhaps you've had a serious and/or scary reaction to a previous shot that has been on the market for years.  Now, you may be required to chance it with an experimental shot.  What the _____!