Cav's Place

I already ran twice since the start of December but am yet to even post about November’s runs, so I’m going to fix that now, starting on November 5 when, after starting to eat dinner at 3:15 AM, admittedly after having lunch and also some corn puffs in the evening, the alarm woke me at noon… And, while I’ll otherwise continue to skip the things that have to do with the UPS, which also means not including November 11 and 13 in this post, I’ll mention here that after waking up that day I noticed that for some reason its software’s tray icon application was using 2% of CPU every few seconds and 150 Mb of RAM, so I killed it and then stopped the service as well… Which I should have done ever since disconnecting the UPS, as that’d have avoided the problem it caused on the night before the marathon. Either way, at least I did it then, and then had the usual stuff plus pumpkin, the yogurt being a “creamy” one with 10% fat, and the sweet thing the last of those expired nicer biscuits, with added honey, finally finishing them since I don’t have any long runs planned until spring, so there was nothing left to save them for. Then I put on the full running gear and left a bit after 2:25 PM, when the reported temperature was about 24°C, at least according to our weather service, since it otherwise varied wildly between sites. It felt a bit chilly on the way though, and the fact that it was somewhat cloudy wasn’t enough to explain that, so I rather doubt it was that much.
The time was 48:10.29, with sector times of 4:34.88, 5:01.10, 5:54 (5:53.84), 4:31 (4:30.53), 5:08.47, 5:55.00, 4:29 (4:28.57), 5:06 (5:05.65), 5:44.60 and 1:48 (1:47.65), making for lap times of 15:29.82, 15:34.00 and 15:19 (15:18.82). With work continuing in the park, I was learning how to lose less time as I went along, and there was a part, on sector three, where the new surface had been poured and the area wasn’t fenced off even if it hadn’t also been painted yet. I still rather avoided it on lap one, but tried it a little on lap two and made good use of it on lap three, finding that it just feels soft, so it protects the joints but doesn’t seem to recover energy, throw the leg back up, possibly even absorbing energy and making it a bit harder. I do seem faster when running on it, however, and I’m not sure how much of that is just because I don’t have to go the long way around it, so maybe it’s just an impression and it does help more directly as well, couldn’t really say even now. Either way, I definitely did my best to avoid the scraped areas, since they’re uneven and stepping there means risking injury, and they were working on a part of sector three, before the one where the new surface could be used, so most of the path was fenced off, leaving just a narrow strip for people. And, though on top of being rather cloudy I even felt a few drops on the first two sectors, the high temperature had brought out plenty of people, and the work being done made getting past them more difficult, plus that the scraped area made me go the long way around in plenty of places anyway. So I had to slow a few times as well, and briefly stop because of roadblocks on sector two of laps one and three and sector three of lap two. As for physical issues, there were some warnings from my knees and ankles, maybe starting with my left ankle, but most of it only on lap two.
Not that I could really notice anything else after the long straight of sector two of lap three… Since that was when I fell. Was sprinting, someone was ahead, someone else who I think was on a scooter was coming from the opposite direction, on the left, where the scraped area also was, but I seemed to have room to the right and aimed for that gap… Only for the woman in front of me, who was probably focusing on the person on the scooter, to get startled when she heard me coming, slow and spread an arm out, which I guess is a reflex, to make yourself seem bigger when you’re scared. So she blocked me at a moment when I could no longer stop in time even if I wanted to and I tried to get around her on the grass… But I guess I stepped on fallen leaves, because my right foot went sideways at a moment when the left one was in the air, and it was a good thing that my body knew better than my brain at that point, because I meant to slam the left foot down when I’m quite sure it’d have landed sideways and instead found that it went completely limp under me. That meant I was completely surprised to find myself going down, landing quite hard, on the path, first on the left knee, then the left elbow, and finally on my hands, but that saved my ankle, which would have likely snapped otherwise. And I picked myself back up right away, said yes when that woman asked whether I was all right, brushed off a few leaves and just kept going. I only noticed the blood flowing from the left elbow and right little finger a bit later, and the knee was stinging as well, but I pushed even harder, and putting on an angry face and making a point of showing my bloody arms whenever somebody was coming towards me tended to make people get out of my way.
That was an unpleasant way to mark what seems to have been the 200th time I ran ten kilometers, if you include those runs on the street and the one that was a few hundred meters shorter. But at least I avoided any serious injuries and my tights didn’t tear either… Though they did get a bit damaged in that spot, so they’re likely to tear there sooner or later. Either way, I even jogged on the way back, and then also stuck to the plan that included a long walk that evening. But that has to do with “round two” of the long walks to “pay” with PET bottles, so I’m leaving it for another time… Though I have no idea when or even if I’ll write about those.

I will, however, mention November 6, since after only showering in the morning, having needed to wait for the hot water to return, I didn’t replace the bandages before finally getting in bed, at 8:55 AM… And that led to waking up with both the elbow and the knee stinging badly, too badly to be able to continue sleeping, so I eventually had to get up around 12:40 PM or so and put some bandages again, getting back to bed after that and only getting up for good a bit after 4 PM. And in the evening dad was baking a frozen pizza when the oven turned itself off again, so at first we thought it was that same problem, but the stove wouldn’t work either, so we wondered whether something was blocking it from receiving gas completely or the gas had been cut off, having no way to really check. It was only the next morning that we learned that it was the latter option, somebody from the gas company coming to say that it had been cut off because of some problems, even though the site hadn’t listed anything that night, and asking us to check to make sure that everything was working properly once it’ll be turned back on. But, to return to that night, I started eating dinner at 3:20 AM, after having had lunch in the evening, and kept feeling irregular heartbeats.

Kept feeling those heartbeats the next day as well, but another problem then was that there was again blood when I crapped. Had put it off the day before, not feeling like I really had to go, but that feeling struck me with a vengeance as soon as I woke up and, while I went straight away at that point, I guess that holding it in while sleeping, and also for those last few moments until I got to the toilet, had been too much. Either way, I again had lunch in the evening and then started eating dinner at 3:25 AM.

The next run, which would be the 200th ten-kilometer one if you don’t include that slightly shorter one, was on November 8, when the alarm woke me at 1 PM. I then had the usual stuff plus pumpkin, the yogurt being a bio (organic) “Greek” one with 10% fat, and a slice of cozonac with added honey as the sweet thing, just wasted time on the toilet, which was understandable after bleeding the day before, put on the full running gear, with some things in the pocket of my tights, and left at 3:45 PM, when the reported temperature was about 17°C, supposed to drop by 1-2°C by the time I’ll finish.
The time was 48:28.45, with sector times of 4:21.11, 5:06.25, 5:46 (5:45.72), 4:38.41, 5:09 (5:08.53), 5:51.90, 4:40 (4:39.53), 5:16.13, 5:52 (5:51.78) and 1:49.09, making for lap times of 15:13.08, 15:38.84 and 15:48 (15:47.44). Considering the scrapes and bandages, I had no real target, but would have been really disappointed to go over 50 minutes again and pushed from the start. Needing to carefully step on the scraped area to get around people meant that there was no way to sustain the sprint on the long sector one straight, however, and while it wasn’t quite as bad the scraped area caused problems on sector two as well, again most notably on the long straight, seeing as it again caused broken sprints. And the fenced off area started right after the bridge, so right at the start of sector three, but it also ended sooner, so the new surface could be used for more of that sector and I did so, for the most part. That lane is always on the left, however, towards the lake, so staying on the inside of turns that go in the other direction means going off it, and it also doesn’t quite get to the edge of the path, just enough space for a foot being left, so if you want to really stay on the inside you’ll end up with the right foot on the new surface and left off it. Either way, after the first lap I checked my times and wondered about 48:30, knowing that I won’t sustain the pace I had on said lap, which in itself would have been good enough to stay under 48 minutes, this being proven right away, by sector one of lap two. And at the start of lap three I knew I had to push for it, and the first two sectors didn’t look good, nor did the time at the end of the lap despite pushing harder on sector three. But I pushed even harder on the final sector and, despite slipping a couple of times on leaves on the final straight, it just worked out in the end.
The knee was fine, but I might have been favoring it a bit and the other one complained a little as a result. But the main problems were caused by people, since it was much harder to get around them, so there were broken sprints, times when I had to carefully step on the scraped area, and one clear roadblock at the start of sector three of lap three. A guy I had overtaken on sector three of lap one had just gotten back ahead of me, towards the end of sector two of lap three, after I heard him and made way, and we found a group of people ahead of us right after the bridge, where the path was narrow because most of it was fenced off, so he took a step on the grass and went right past them but I couldn’t get myself to do that again while running, in fact avoiding the grass altogether having caused me to need to slow a few times earlier as well, so at that point I pretty much just walked on the grass and around those people, losing a few seconds as a result. I did push after that and was slowly catching that guy again, but he soon stopped, so I couldn’t have him as a target all the way to the end of the lap. And on a part of that same sector three of lap three I also found myself really fighting the wind, which I had actually started feeling as of sector three of lap two.

After the run, I wondered about going to Auchan, or maybe even trying to run and get to both stores, but eventually just went to that Carrefour and got some more food for Liza, then came back, having a quick look in the nearby Mega Image but not getting anything. Then I had a quince and something sweet, was relieved to see no more blood when I went to the toilet, took a bath and, after dad went to bed, early, made mamaliga. My right foot was burning again, and the irregular heartbeats continued. They seemed to go away the next day, but just during the day, since there were a few more that night as well.

On November 12, the alarm woke me at 1:30 PM, I had the usual stuff plus pumpkin, and a slice of cozonac with added honey as the sweet thing… And saw the reply to the e-mail I had sent in reply to that message about a tree planting, which again stated that the event was exclusively for those who could get there on their own, the reply stating that transportation was offered after all, so after dad said that he could give me his metro card then, I signed up for the event I attended the next day… Which led to having more to do that evening. But I already wrote about that so, returning to that day’s run, I put on the full running gear, with some stuff in the pocket of my tights, and left at 4 PM, also wearing the jacket on the way, since the reported temperature was about 12°C, supposed to drop by a couple of degrees by the time I’ll finish.
The time was 48:13.01, with sector times of 4:18.32, 5:10 (5:09.94), 5:51 (5:50.78), 4:31.09, 5:09 (5:08.88), 5:55.97, 4:33 (5:32.56), 5:10 (5:09.59), 5:47.82 and 1:49 (1:48.06), making for lap times of 15:19.04, 15:35.94 and 15:30 (15:29.97). The fence that closed the area starting right after the bridge had been pushed back just a little, so the path won’t be narrowed even further where it’s already narrow, but that was the only relevant change, that part of the paved area on sector three still being fenced off even if the new surface had been poured there by then. So it was just as hard to get around people, and there was pretty much no chance to sprint all the way on a long straight, and I also briefly stopped because of a roadblock on the long straight of sector two of lap one, and again on sector three of lap one. But I also slowed twice on sector three of lap two, the second time more, to see the time better, and on sector three of lap three I actually stopped for a couple of seconds for that same reason, the light being at that level where it’s hardest to see the time. Otherwise, I saw an ambulance when I got to the paved area of sector two of lap two, someone having collapsed there, the ambulance just leaving when I got there again, on lap three. As for physical issues, the main warnings were from my hips. The right knee again gave a few early on, but from lap two it was the hips, and there was a moment, I think on sector three of lap two, when I almost twisted the right one, again noticing that I was stepping oddly, so I had to be careful.

On November 15, I went out at 7:20 PM, also taking the paper and the stuff I take to Kaufland, dropping off the paper in a recycling bin and then going straight to that newer Kaufland, grabbing a number of things, including the last bread of that kind and a few other bakery products once the discounts were announced. Got back a bit after 9:35 PM, had that cake bought two days earlier and one of the spoiling heavily discounted bio (organic) oranges I had grabbed, then spent a couple of hours washing the stove top in the bathroom before finally showering, being back in the kitchen at 1:15 AM. There were more things to wash, however, so it was 2:10 AM when I started making salad, and I started eating the dinner consisting of said salad and the second pizza bought two days earlier at 3:30 AM, after having lunch in the afternoon. Got in bed at 5:40 AM, annoyed after noticing that dad had sort of cleaned something in the small bathroom, messing things up of course.

On November 18 I got up when the alarm rang, at 1 PM, had the usual stuff plus pumpkin, with some regular biscuits with added honey as the sweet thing, got out the food I had “invested” in for Micky, put on the full running gear, with some things in the pocket of my tights, and left a little after 3:40 PM, again wearing the jacket on the way, the reported temperature again being 12°C, supposed to drop by a couple of degrees by the time I’ll finish.
The time was 47:38.04, with sector times of 4:13.60, 5:08 (5:07.78), 5:52.38, 4:28.15, 5:03.03, 5:52 (5:51.16), 4:29.38, 4:54.50, 5:46 (5:45.46) and 1:53 (1.52.60), making for lap times of 15:13.76, 15:23 (15.22.34) and 15:09.34. Started by pushing really hard, but as soon as I got past the bridge the scraped area put an end to that, as I had to get across it a few times on that downward slope and on the long straight. And on sector two huge bags of that new surface were placed at certain distances on the scraped area, so there was no way to go across it at all in those spots, and two bags were sliced, with the contents spilling out, so I had to rather jump over what had spilled. And on sector three they were painting the area they had poured the new surface on, so all of it was closed off again, being even worse after getting past the area they had finished, since they had used ribbons tied between pieces of fence placed quite some distance from each other, the ribbon being blown by the wind towards the part of the path that was left, forcing me to go even wider to avoid getting tangled up in it. And some of the stuff had spilled past the fence in some spots, my shoes feeling sticky for a while after each time I passed through such a place. But I again tried to optimize, started thinking of staying under 48 minutes after the first lap, then calculated after the second, thinking it’d be hard but really pushing, the clearer long straight allowing me to do better than I thought even on sector one, and then really giving it everything after that, realizing after sector two, when I saw 39:59.98, that staying under 48 minutes was pretty much guaranteed unless I’ll have a problem.
It was just there, at the end of sector two, under the bridge, that an older man coming from the opposite direction dug something out of his bag as I approached and held it towards me, saying it was a present for a sportsperson, but I have no idea what it was, didn’t even really “process” what he said until a few seconds later, after finishing the sector and seeing the time. Otherwise, my right knee again gave some warnings on sector two of lap one, and they reappeared occasionally until the end, again telling me that I was moving it in a potentially damaging way. But the main problem was again that there were a fair number of people that it was hard to get around, making me have to go across the scraped area, slow, squeeze through, most notable being the roadblock that formed ahead of me at the end of sector two of lap one, forcing me to slow a lot. And on the last straight of sector three of lap three, two guys who were on scooters or skateboards were coming from the opposite direction and three people who meant to go across the path saw them and stopped, but as I squeezed between the guys and those three, the first two saw me and stayed where they were while the third probably didn’t, stepping forward just when I got there, so I ended up elbowing him in his large belly as I went past. And right at the end of the lap there were two people with dogs, one on the left, towards the lake, and the other sitting on the bench on the other side, the dogs being near the one on the left and a leash going across the entire path, from the person on the bench to her dog. I shouted at them to make way and at least the one on the left took her dog away to let me squeeze through, the other not seeming to care.

After the run, I went to the bigger Mega Image from the area, having seen discounts, and got the two other things, but just looked at Micky’s food. It was again discounted at the time and we badly needed more, but I had already taken out my “stash” and wondered whether to replace some of those cans or not, that discounted price being higher than the one I had purchased them at. But the price labels on the shelves didn’t mention any discounts, and the full price showed up when I used a price checker too, so I asked an employee and she said that the discount was applied at checkout, but I didn’t care to risk it at that point. And I also looked at the expiring things and saw that the discount had been reduced from 50% to a mere 20%, so I asked the employee who was there about that and she said that they had lowered it, then agreed with me that nobody was going to buy those products anymore, also saying that they used to be all gone by that hour and instead that area was overflowing. But there was a 50% discount for a few pastries and I bought one of those. And then I also checked this nearby Mega Image on the way back and did get some more of that food for Micky, albeit of just one kind, to replace that part of what I had taken out. And the discounts did apply, but just at checkout. Either way, that evening I made mamaliga again, after dad left.

The next day was unpleasant, however. The first problem was that, though I didn’t think it had been that long, I guess I again held it in for too long and there was blood in the toilet again. Actually, there was a whole lot of blood, and I didn’t feel well at all after that, getting worse in the evening even if I ate a fair bit. I meant to write that day and just couldn’t, eventually crawling in bed… And at night I saw a better deal for cat food on-line, for both Micky and Rocky, albeit only if purchasing entire boxes from that pet shop, making me feel even worse. It was still a tiny bit more expensive that what I had paid back when I made that “investment”, however, so I was fair and updated the “charge”, reducing my “profit” to a negligible amount.

As for the month’s last run, that was on November 22 when, after starting to eat what was a combined lunch and dinner at 3:15 AM but at least managing to get in bed at what’s now the usual 5:15 AM, I got up when the alarm rang, at noon. There was again blood in the toilet, but I nevertheless stuck to the plan, having the usual stuff plus pumpkin, and doughnuts with added honey as the sweet thing, putting on the full running gear, also taking the pills and leaving at 2:35 PM, when the reported temperature was about 14°C, maybe dropping by 1-2°C by the time I’ll finish. Considering the blood, I also took the slip with the emergency contact information with me, just in case. And my mother arrived just as I was putting my shoes on, my cousin bringing her, so he also saw me, but he didn’t step inside and I didn’t even look up at that point.
The time was 47:37.26, with sector times of 4:14.85, 5:00.03, 5:50.04, 4:28 (4:27.87), 5:06.06, 5:48 (5:47.91), 4:27 (4:26.62), 5:19 (5:18.94), 5:35.00 and 1:50 (1:49.94), making for lap times of 15:04.92, 15:22 (15:21.84) and 15:21 (15:20.56). I hoped to stay under 48 minutes and the first two sectors were a bit faster than I thought, the first lap giving me hope overall, and after lap two I was fairly confident, but all the time lost at the end of sector two of lap three put it all in doubt, so I gave it everything on sector three, managing a great time and having a clear margin as a result.
I kept being worried that I’ll bleed again, which also made me hold in some gas, and I felt a bit lightheaded on sectors two and three of lap two, but it was fine in the end. The work being done continued to be a problem, however, so I still had to step carefully when I had to go across the scraped part and slow plenty of times. And there was a break in the closed off area on sector three, and when that part of the path was corded off again it wasn’t also corded off at the beginning, so I initially stayed on that side of the path on lap one, though I avoided stepping on the new surface, until I realized that I shouldn’t be there and at some point stooped between the ribbons to get back to the other side. Otherwise, I briefly stopped twice on sector three of lap two, but the worst loss of time was the one I already mentioned, at the end of sector two of lap three, since they had fenced off that part of the path under the bridge as well, leaving only a small space for people to squeeze through, and at that point that space was just full of people going both ways, with several elderly people walking slowly ahead of me and those coming from the opposite direction meaning that I had absolutely no way to squeeze past all of them, so I mostly had to walk at their pace, only slowly getting past some of them, one by one, before I got past the bridge.

After jogging back, not putting the mask back on as a result, changing and spending some time talking to my mother, I went out, realized I forgot my Library pass right after locking the door, came back for it and finally left again a bit before 5:15 PM, first going to that location of the Library again, hoping to finally find it open… Only to yet again see that it was closed, for the entire week, again supposedly for disinfection, and I had checked the site and nothing of the sort was mentioned. At the time I was wondering whether it was ever open or somebody just came from time to time to change the announcement listing the reason why it was closed.
But the plan then included going to several stores from the Obor area, so after a quick look in a Profi I went to Auchan, just getting some onions. Then I grabbed one thing from a Mega Image and then went to Penny, getting what I wanted except another pumpkin, those being really small and looking weird. The cashier was pretty much unbelievably fast, however, making the slowness of that one guy whose line I again ended up in at Carrefour, where I went next, even more obvious. But at least things went fine otherwise, as I put what I already had in a cabinet, peed, got what I wanted and a few discounted things, just skipping the yogurt since the kind I wanted was expiring too soon for the quantity required to get the sale price, and I also finally used that 10 RON code I had.
Then I retrieved my things and also went to Kaufland, seeing that they had properly separated the lanes, so people no longer had to go past the guard checking the certificate to reach the cabinets or toilets… Not that I ever had the certificate checked that day, the guard from the Obor shopping center not even bothering to approach and the one at Veranda having a look and saying that it was fine without scanning it. Either way, I put my things in a cabinet and then went to wash, ending up using the handicapped room, since the cleaner was cleaning the little hallway in front of the men’s and women’s and directed me there. Then I went in, heading straight for the bakery area and seeing evening discounts, but not for that kind of bread, so I even asked an employee and was told that if there’s no discount label, there’s no discount, and I therefore only got some other things, most for my mother and a few for myself. Then I also got the pasta I wanted and some yogurt, and then checked the evening discounts for fruits and vegetables and got a number of those as well, finding that the price of the cucumbers was even lower than the listed one even if those labels are electronic and should update automatically, and some apples ended up being almost free, a mere 0.10 RON per kg, as closing time approached. And I did stay there until those last moments, the receipt actually listing 9:05 PM, so the store had already closed by the time I scanned everything and paid, but at least the self-checkout caused no problems and there were other customers still behind me. In fact, there were quite certainly others still inside the store, since I was still trying to arrange everything in the bags and backpack when, I think at 9:15 PM, there was a rather firm announcement that the store had closed, no longer asking customers to finish their shopping or even head to checkout, and I heard an employee mutter that maybe they’ll get the message that way.
I certainly did, doing my best to finish what I was doing and finally being out of there a bit after 9:20 PM. And I got back at 10:15 PM, having carried 21 kg. Had a banana, then started eating lunch around 12:15 AM, finishing half an hour later, and then I showered, getting back in the kitchen at 1:40 AM, having something sweet and finally starting to make the salad a little after 2 AM. Started eating dinner at 3:35 AM and got in bed at 5:45 AM, after getting as far as crossing the finish line in the post about the marathon and editing it to add that part.

Speaking of that post, the plan for this one was again to pick up from where it left off and also include the rest of that day, what I did after leaving that area. But the runs were the priority and over the next two days I won’t have time to once again do what I’ve been doing lately and add more to this post, so I once again set that aside and focused on writing about all the runs from November, in fact managing to finish and post all of that a little before midnight, only this paragraph and that last section above, about the rest of November 22, after the run, being written and added later, while eating the mamaliga I made tonight. And for this reason I didn’t change the time to 11:59 PM again.