Pills Part II

 

I discussed doping my last post and I have continued to work on getting clean for racing.   I have successfully changed my blood pressure meds with a totally different active.  The follow up visits with my doctor have indicated that the BP is in my normal range and that change has been OK.   I have been experimenting with different actives for my allergy medication.   I have used Allegra D 24 for years and it is not legal for meets, but is OK during the rest of the year.  Tricky medicine to get out of your system as well.  I have calculated it would take around 72 hours to get clean after a dosage.  This pill is encapsulated for timed release and it makes getting the actives much more difficult to clear.

I was in Canada a couple weeks ago and bought some Claritin and Allegra D 12 hour medicine to "trial".   The Allegra D 12 was effective while in Canada and not nearly as strong as that neutron bomb I had been doing in the Allegra D 24.  When I got back on the 24 for a few days--I was amazed at the strength of that stuff--it really knocked my down a notch in energy.   I have been doing Claritin the last couple of days--it only has 10 mg of active drug and thus far--it is working.  It is also over the counter and comes in a Decongestant version as well.  I am trying to get off the D versions of these meds--that is the dirty part of the medicine that is illegal for my competitions.   I recently purchased a new active I saw on my last trip into Walgreens--Xyzal.  I think I will call it "alphabet" because it may be messy to pronounce. I will do some reading on its effects and side effects--and give it a shot.  I have all kinds of different juice to try out the next couple of weeks. 

With all these changes-- normal is difficult to achieve because it is constant moving.  I just hope to find a nice sunny spot to rest where I can achieve a nice acceptable normal with the allergy meds.

I have been nearing completion of the new deck job for our back porch that turned into a complete

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

rebuild.  That is how things happen in old houses--simple jobs take a lot of new lumber and paint to complete properly.   The back porch deck was junk and I ended up replacing the deck, foundation,  posts, sides and roof.  Everything had some sort of rot and the further you went, the worse it got.  I did keep a few parts but that was limited to roof supports and spouting.  It is nearly done and after our trip to the Virgin Islands, we can move on to gardening.   I will finish the deck painting this next weekend if it is sunny.  Decks are hard to get dried out properly so they do not scuff.

I mentioned a trip to Canada a few weeks ago.  I was in Powell River, BC for some support on a machine rebuild.   The mill uses wood chips from various sources and they arrive by barge and are unloaded directly to the pulp mill.  No large piles of chips--which is very different than most pulp mills.  Typically there is enough chips to run at least a month-- which is a pile that covers many acres. Here,  they do not have the space and do not have the piles.  Another very interesting fact about the mill is they have an artificial harbor they have created with WWII vintage cargo or Liberty ships.  If you look closely, the boats are actually reinforced concrete!!





  These ships are floating and anchored to provide a break from the waves which could be pretty rough with a prevailing West wind.  The photo to the left taken from the mill dock shows the concrete breaking off and exposing the rebar used in construction of the ships.  During WWII there was all kinds of shortages and someone decided to make a concrete boat and they did get used to transport material during the Big War.  But when the war was over, they were too slow and inefficient to compete with steel ships and became surplus. 
You learn something every trip.  Crazy--concrete boats.    They are strange looking hulks in the water.  You half expect Johnny Depp to show up and sail one away!!
 
I am still resting for the most part and I have been doing some gym activity and a bit of walking.  I think the next push will start when we return from our Easter tip, that leaves me 4 weeks until the Nashville meet and another couple after that to be ready for the first National meet.  I have found 4 to 6 weeks of hard training is enough for me to be ready.  I gotta get my meds squared away so I understand what my body is telling me, listening is a big part of staying healthy. Then on to the hard work. 

 

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