Day 262 Almost 100%

Calf still a little tender but holding up on longer runs. Big difference from before the capsules. Normally it would take weeks and weeks to heal.

This is fast for me to be coming off an injury. This is healing in a much different way than before.

This is fast for me to be coming off an injury. This is healing in a much different way than before.

Staying healthy has always been the challenge so using the capsules everyday until my bowel movements became loose seems to have accelerated my healing by a couple of weeks. I also took three days off of running but that has never worked before. Something is different. Always the possibility I could re-injure, but my new protocol will be to use a capsule at least once every three days and to use as many as required if I feel inflammation breaking through. To have this sort of fine tune control gives me hope that I can accomplish some the physical goals I have set for this year. Is this what it feels like when you trust your body? This is a new feeling and I like it.

 

Day 252 Still Hurt

Started to hurt at mile 5 so I cut it short. Definitely an injury that I need to be careful with. Bowel movements still firm so hoping that the capsule a day will help as I continue the increased schedule. I am right at the boundary of the speed and distance I can train and not get hurt. This is a remarkable improvement from where I was prior to the FMC, but like the worms, it is beginning to feel like expanded tolerance to inflammatory triggers that are still there in the background.

 

Day 251 Fine Tuning of Inflammation?

Tweaked my calf on a recovery run two days ago. I was pushing to see how fast I could do a 15K two weeks out from my last race and felt a tightness in my left calf (lateral gastrocnemius) as I was cooling down. This is exactly the kind of injury that has plagued me for years. It tells me that I have inflammation sneaking around my body looking to make trouble. I started taking a capsules everyday yesterday and will continue until my bowel movements get loose. I want to see if I can heal this muscle issue quickly. In the past, an injury like this would take four to six weeks to heal if I did not re-injure it. This is the problem that has kept me from being able to train consistently and why I was struggling to stay healthy for half-marathons prior to the FMC.

So there is an opportunity to see how the capsules can be used to fine tune inflammation. Depending on how this goes it may also be that one capsule every five days is not enough to control my silent inflammation and train at this level. Of course, it could just be that I am getting old and I pushed too hard. Yet, I have been running this hard all winter and have not had this type of injury since starting the FMC. Will try to run on it tomorrow depending on how I feel.

Tweaked calf on this run

Tweaked calf on this run

Day 248 Recovering Well

I am taking one FMC every five days now. It took a couple weeks but I am back to training for the next event 50K in March and then a 50 miler in May. Had a little toe numbness that came on after the race. This is something I used to get around mile eight in a half-marathon before the capsules. It has something to do with my immune system and repetitive pounding. It is a familiar pain that took a couple weeks to heal and a 38 mile race to develop. Otherwise, everything has been really good.

I reduced intake of my daily magnesium and vitamin b supplements. I take them now every three to four days just as insurance. I am guessing that I am better absorbing those nutrients from my diet now or the improved microbiome is helping making them bioavailable (maybe even making them from dietary precursors). Whatever the cause I am using them less and feel the same. I like this because I worry the supplements can hyper-nourish the gastrointestinal ecosystem and too much of a good thing is bad.

The yields from my hookworm incubations continue to be spectacular. They seem to have settled at about 200% of my yields before the capsules. From an ecology perspective this tells me the large mutli-celluar residents are happy with the changes. I am mostly focusing on cleaning up my diet. Took my beloved energy drinks out and replaced with coffee. Normally, I cannot stand the taste of coffee but I have to admit I feel better without the energy drinks.

Next step will be to incorporate more raw vegetables and further reduce the sugar and artificial sweeteners from my diet. News from the beta testers is a mixed bag. I am learning everyone is going to be different on the dose required to shift the respective ecosystems. One signal that seems to be most remarkable is the feeling of calm that is being reported among a variety of conditions.

Day 235 60K

Best test yet. Very hot day in the mid 80s with part of the trail a breezeless 90 degrees. Stomach finally had some issues around mile 27 but that was a lot of runners in the heat. What was most remarkable was that I was able to recover after being dehydrated around mile 30. Usually that would be the end of my race but something is different now. I was able to run/walk for about an hour and felt better. It is two days after the race as I write this and recovery is slow. Feeling wiped out and not going to run for at least another day. Overall, happy with how I did and looking forward to the next event.

Day 200 - La Cuesta Ultra

50km with 10,000ft.+ of elevation change.

50km with 10,000ft.+ of elevation change.

No stomach problems. I was not as fast as I would have liked to be but that was due to my inexperience at this distance. It was the first time my body has ever tried to deliver nourishment to my muscles at this pace for this length of time so I am happy. If I can stay healthy I will get faster.

In the weeks leading up to this race I have been pulsing the FMC. I take one every two to three days depending upon how I feel. This will, in all probability, be my schedule going forward.

This trip was an opportunity to collect more material from donor so in the coming weeks I will be able to experiment with fresh vs. stored material.