Struggle after Skiing #5: Seasonal Pattern or Mistake?

 I'm getting there. I'm straighter and turning quicker. And I was able to ski both Castle and Lower Dynamite nonstop from top to bottom.  A huge improvement compared to the last time I had to stop and rest 6 times to complete Castle run. The snow being softer, not crusty like the last time, probably helped. But standing straighter certainly made the runs less tiring. Now I just need to add some more style.

The Sierra weather turned clement on Thursday, so I went up on Friday 2/9. I skied about as much as the last time, for the total of 5 hours, and I was less fatigued afterwards.

I figure it'll be the repeat of the last time: watch football on Sunday, crap out Monday, and then I'd be back on my feet. No such luck. I continue to have bad days. Maybe it was the bike repair work. I finally got around to put sealant in the new tire. Then I installed the bike mirror the next day. They were both minor works, but still an exertion. Then yesterday, I walked 6 blocks in the afternoon and did 2x8 pushups in the evening. I'm paying the price today.

I usually get weaker after #4 or #5 in January. It could be just the continuation of that pattern. Or it could be that I did too much after skiing. Can't tell which. One thing for sure, one week of probation is still valid. I'll have to lay off any exertion for a week the next time. If I struggle again, then it would be the seasonal pattern. If not, then it is the exertion in the days after skiing.

Bike Ride to Guy West Bridge

 I slammed the bike onto the curb a week ago and trashed the new tire that I installed only a month ago. I got the replacement, but I wasn't able to install it because I was in the probationary period after the skiing last Thursday.  I finally installed it on Tuesday and then took it out for the test-drive yesterday. I wanted to make it to Folsom for 40 miles, but the weather didn't cooperate. I decided to make it to Guy West Bridge and back.

I was planning to bike back on the south bank. I knew there was construction going on under Hwy-99, but I was able to sneak through it the last time. This time, however, they had fence around it. I had to backtrack to the bridge and bike back on the north side. That added extra 6 miles. To make the matter worse, it started to rain at noon, earlier than the forecast. I rode through cold rain for over an hour, nonstop at the speed of 12 mph. In all, it turned into 26-mile ride.

Dirt splashed all over my back, all the way up to my helmet. I'll have to install a fender if I'm to bike-pack this summer. I didn't feel the cold while riding, but my feet were numb when I got home and got off the bike. I got out of dirty clothes, grabs a quick lunch and crawled into the bed. I slept like a baby for 3 hours. Then I got up feeling like a million bucks. It's amazing how well a mild hypothermia works as sleeping aid. 

Today, I'm recovering from the ride. I'm fatigued, but it not much worse than regular post-exercise fatigue. I'll probably be under the weather for a week -- it was a strenuous exercise.  When that is over, it'll be the time to hit the slope again. The weather is supposed to turn sunny next Thursday after dumping a foot or two of new snow. 

Implication of Nicotine Not Working

For the first two days I was high, energetic and clear-headed. Then the effect faded in subsequent days as my body got used to nicotine. But I'm not using nicotine patch to get high; I'm using it to get me through the weather after heavy exercises. So, the question is: has it been effective in tempering my exercise-hypersensitivity while I'm under the weather? I haven't accumulated enough data for the analysis, but, frankly, I don't seem to need one. A glance at my activity log tells me that nicotine patch didn't make difference on my exertion-hypersensitivity when I'm under the weather. 

So, what does that mean to my dopamine theory? The theory is that dopamine tempers down the inflammation-hypersensitivity and, therefore, prevents PEM. Therefore, it necessarily predicts that nicotine will prevent, or, at least, alleviate the PEM. Was the theory disproven?

One could suspect that nicotine does not sufficiently raise the dopamine level. But it does. I know that because my cheeks get flushed and warm when I'm on nicotine patch, whether or not I'm under the weather. And I'm more energetic when I'm not under the weather. It's just that nicotine does not have the desired effect when I'm under the weather. It works when I'm healthy, but it does not when I'm under the weather, in other words. That makes nicotine patch useless for my purpose.

Another possibility: Novelty Effect may not be mediated by dopamine. I did search for brain chemicals for Novelty Effect ("response to novel stimuli") and found this paper that mentions 3 chemicals: dopamine, acetylcholine and GABA. Then a search for acetylcholine and microglia lead to this paper: Acetylcholine suppresses microglial inflammatory response via α7nAChR to protect hippocampal neurons. But a7nAchR is a nicotinic receptor that nicotine binds. Which means nicotine patch, in addition to raising dopamine level, should have similar effect as acetylcholine. 

So, I'm back to square one. It's still possible that dopamine/acetylcholine work to suppress the hypersensitivity in ways that nicotine cannot induce. Maybe pharmaceutical intervention is not a substitution for the natural response to novel stimuli. Or combination of 3 chemicals somehow temper town the hypersensitivity in a way that nicotine cannot. I have no idea. All I can say for now is that novel stimuli work, and nicotine doesn't.