Cav's Place

After starting it on January 10 and finishing it on January 12, in the early hours of January 13 I wrote and posted the quick review for Grim Work. Then I made a salad that contained just baked beets, a little green onion and a bit of lemon, since I didn’t have anything else that I’d want to put in a salad on the night before a run, and I also slept rather poorly and had bad dreams. But I got up when the alarm rang, at 1 PM, had all of the usual stuff and a slice of cozonac from my mother, with added honey, as the sweet thing, and left at 3:50 PM, wearing the full running gear and that thinner old training shirt that I used to wear inside, plus the gloves and that thing that goes on my neck, and the jacket on the way, tied around my waist as I ran. It was overcast and the reported temperature was 4-5°C, holding steady.
The time was 47:35.00, with sector times of 4:14.84, 5:05.10, 5:57 (5:56.72), 4:31 (4:30.84), 5:03.09, 5:47 (5:46.94), 4:22 (4:21.88), 4:56 (4:55.97), 5:50 (5:49.96) and 1:50 (1:49.66), making for lap times of 15:16.66, 15:21 (15:20.87) and 15:08 (15:07.81). I wanted to get back under 48 minutes and the first lap didn’t look good, mainly because I hoped for a faster sector three, and sector one of lap two made me quite sure that I won’t make it, but I pushed and the next sector was better, and the one after it even more so. I felt like I was slowing and tiring when I was approaching the end of the lap, but that lap time nevertheless allowed me to think that I had a chance, so I just gave it everything on lap three and sector two was particularly good, and in the end I was close enough to 47:30 to think that I might have managed even that without slowing and stopping to check the time, and also without that small loss of time likely caused by taking the glove off to press the interval button and putting it back on.
I actually briefly stopped to see the hundredths even on sectors one and two of lap two, before doing it again on sector three of lap three, and I slowed a few other times, since the overcast sky made it quite dark. And the lane was mostly soggy, so I tried to avoid it most of the time, and the other runners that I saw seemed to be doing the same. Also, while from lap two I was thinking that I could have been just wearing the t-shirt, there were a couple of gusts that made it feel chilly again, and it’d have definitely been too cold to start and run the first lap like that. But at least that meant that there were pretty few people, the one problem caused by them being on sector two of lap three, when a large group formed a roadblock that I had to slow in order to squeeze past. Otherwise, I felt a certain pressing need from sector two of lap two, but it wasn’t bad, and there were some warnings from my right hip that also started at some point on lap two, though I tried to be careful with how I moved that leg and it got better in time.

I quickly checked the nearby Mega Image on the way back, pulling that thing up to also cover my mouth and nose, since I didn’t have a mask. Then I ate a banana and lunch, with a part of a large bag of corn puffs instead of bread, changed my pants and left again at 7:55 PM… But a talk with dad had pretty much caused my brain to disconnect and I forgot the voucher for Penny that I meant to use if I’d find enough of the cat food that was on sale, realizing it as I was about to exit the park, so I had no reason to go to that larger Penny and also didn’t want to go to that Auchan anymore, since the reason would have been to look for bread for dad. So I went to Carrefour instead, but I just couldn’t think. I was looking for a “shopping backpack” from their catalog, but I couldn’t find it and couldn’t get myself to ask, and I also forgot that I also wanted some tomato sauce, remembering when I had already left that mall, after changing my mind about which exit to use. So I went back in and grabbed what I thought was that tomato sauce… Only to realize that I had accidentally grabbed something else when I passed by a second spot where it was placed, so I could at least get the correct product from there, and I also used the voucher that I had, from previous purchases, and the cashier didn’t take the receipt away. I still didn’t find that backpack, however.
After changing my mind a few more times, walking back and forth inside that mall, I eventually decided to go to that other Auchan, entering with that tomato sauce. However, even though that location closes at 11 PM and I got there at 9:40 PM, it was already too late to find any of that bread for dad, since they clear the bakery area earlier and it was already cleared… And I also forgot to look for some more water for him, just getting myself some tea. And then I just wasted time by trying to also go to that Kaufland, since the site still listed that location as open until 11 PM, but it was closed when I got there, and the signs listed the closing time as 10 PM. But on the way back I entered a Mega Image, putting the bag in a cabinet and finding one of those apple pastries with the evening discount. So I bought it, then I retrieved the bag and once again put it in a cabinet when I also checked the Mega Image that’s next to Tei, but I didn’t find anything there, so I just walked out and retrieved it again.
I got back a little before 11:15 PM, ate that apple pastry, cleaned up a little in the kitchen, and it was past 12:10 AM when I went to the toilet and to wash. I got back to the kitchen at 1:25 AM and I might have just managed to stick to the dinner schedule despite still having to put the purchases in their place and wash a few more things, but I decided to put something else on some of the slices of bread and microwave them separately, so I ended up starting to eat dinner at 3:25 AM. And I only finished an hour later, in part because I searched for some things that were related to that talk while eating, and I got in bed at 5:20 AM. And my mind was still pretty much broken the next day. I was a mess and just couldn’t think, or at least not about anything other than that topic… And in the evening I tried to find those vouchers for Penny, and when I finally did I saw that they had expired, so the fact that I had forgotten them shouldn’t have mattered.

Despite wandering around the previous evening, on January 17 I got up when the alarm rang, at 1:30 PM, had all of the usual stuff, with the sweet thing again being a slice of cozonac from my mother, with added honey, and left at 4:05 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was 15°C, dropping to about 13°C when I finished. After waiting for the site to update with the values from 4 PM, to see what the temperature was just before I left, I was in a rush and forgot to turn off the monitor.
The time was 47:38.51, with sector times of 4:15:01, 5:03.50, 5:55.47, 4:32 (4:31.65), 5:03.09, 5:52.07, 4:23 (4:22.84), 5:00.32, 5:45 (5:44.74) and 1:50 (1:49.82), making for lap times of 15:13.98, 15:27 (15:26.81) and 15:08 (15:07.90). While running, I was sure that the time for sector three of lap two was 5:55.07, but when I calculated I realized that I had remembered the seconds after sector one, the time there being 19:45, instead of calculating from 24:48, which was the time after sector two… Or at least I’m quite sure that’s what happened. There is a small chance that the difference is from somewhere else, maybe from the next sector, but it’s unlikely, so I’m leaving it like that, without question marks. Either way, the plan was to stay under 48 minutes, but I thought that I’ll struggle to do so and on sector three of lap one I was thinking that if I’ll go over six minutes I’ll have to push to even stay under 48:30. And staying under 48 minutes still didn’t seem likely even if I didn’t go over six minutes on that sector, and that continued to be the case even after pushing harder from lap two, especially after the first sector. But I just went for it on lap three, hoping to somehow make it, and after sector two I felt reasonably safe, and continuing to push resulted in a time that was better than expected. And this seems to have been my 250th ten-kilometer run, if you include those from the lockdown, on the street, and the one that was a couple hundred meters shorter, but obviously don’t include the one that was several hundred meters longer, with pauses and a significantly modified route.
Most of the lane was once again soggy and I avoided what I could. On the other hand, there weren’t many people, so I still had to weave and go the long way around occasionally, but they didn’t cause notable problems except on sector three of lap one, when I had to slow a couple of times. But keeping my eyes on people and forgetting to move to the right side meant that I also slowed right at the end, since I had to make that move on the last steps and obviously couldn’t maintain my speed, though that might have just affected the exact time, since it might not have cost me more than half a second. However, I felt abdominal pain from the beginning, and while a part of it might have been reflected from my back and it lessened to some extent after I partially managed to snap my back, on sector one of lap two, another part was likely a result of eating a large bag of bagels and drinking all of the tea in a hurry the previous night, after getting back, so it remained something to manage… As was a certain pressing need that I felt all along, though it was never bad. And wandering around the previous evening also left me feeling rather tired.

I once again had a quick look in the nearby Mega Image on the way back, despite not having a mask. Then I ended up only eating a banana before changing and leaving again a little after 7:10 PM, finally taking those things that I take to Kaufland, including the used masks, and five more cooking oil bottles and one small vinegar bottle, in case the machine would reject the cooking oil bottle that was clearly dirty. So I went around Mega Mall and straight to the machine that’s at that Kaufland, and it accepted that dirty bottle just as well, so I kept the vinegar one for another time. And then I dropped off the masks right in front of the door where the sign was still displayed, even though the bin had been taken away for a long time. When I got back later, I saw that a cleaner was working in the area and the masks were in a bag of garbage, but I had checked a site and that location was still listed as a place where masks could be dropped off, so I did what I could. Either way, I then thoroughly washed my hands and on my way out I also dropped the other things in what may be the appropriate bin.
I then went to Mega Mall, checking a bookstore and a sports store, even trying on some boots, before entering Carrefour and wandering around, checking some boxers and socks and looking for that “shopping backpack”. However, I couldn’t find it there either, so I just grabbed an expiring product and waited until after 9 PM, just in case the bakery discounts would return. But that sign didn’t appear and I didn’t ask again, so I just used the self-checkout for that product, put it in a pocket and went back to Kaufland, using the toilet and entering the store when it was past 9:15 PM. However, there were no evening discounts for bread, and I confirmed it by scanning the label of the one that I get from there, and the other bakery products that were still available weren’t interesting. So I got another pack of those snacks for Liza, to use the discount received for the bottles, plus a handful of small beets and one of those large packs of toilet paper. I was using the self-checkout when it was announced that the store had closed, then I put everything in a bag and decided to also check that Mega Image, managing to stuff the bag in a cabinet and finding a discounted bread that I could get. Then I retrieved my things from the cabinet and decided to just put the bread in the same bag.
I got back a little before 11 PM, but after cleaning the litter box I went back out to throw a small bag of trash down the chute. Then I ate that expiring sweet thing from Carrefour, put the other purchases in their place, and it was 12:30 AM when I finally started eating lunch. I went to the bathroom at 12:55 AM… And ended up wasting time on the toilet even though something seemed to be right there. Then I washed and at 1:50 AM I got back in the kitchen. However, I still decided to slice three of dad’s breads before dealing with mine, and I also washed what I had left in the sink, so I only started eating dinner at 3:50 AM, finishing at 4:45 AM.

This is how far I got before midnight, but I had one more run from January to add and I edited the post in order to do so, though I actually only added the part about the actual run before going to bed in the morning, the rest, about the rest of that day, being added Tuesday evening. Either way, I definitely couldn’t leave the post with just what I initially included in it, because this last run from January was the 250th of ten kilometers if you don’t count that shorter one, so it needs to be here to make the post’s title accurate in either scenario.

In the early hours of January 25, I ended up starting to eat dinner at 3:20 AM and finished at 4:05 AM, the salad once again just containing baked beets, some lemon and the green onion tops “stolen” several days earlier from a crate of vegetable parts that were quite clearly going to be thrown away in Kaufland. Then I got in bed at 5:20 AM and got up when the alarm rang, at 1:45 PM, but my mother came by, unannounced, the noise woke me at 1:10 PM and if I fell asleep at all after that it was just for a moment, at one point, before waking up with a start once more, and I actually jumped a couple more times even when I wasn’t asleep because of the noises. Either way, she was in a hurry and left soon after I got up, then I had all of the usual stuff, with the last slice of that cozonac from her, with added honey, as the sweet thing. And it was past 4:15 PM when I left, wearing the full running gear but also an undershirt and that thick training shirt that I was wearing inside those days, that thing that goes on my neck, two pairs of socks and the gloves, plus the jacket on the way, tied around my waist as I ran. The reported temperature was 1-2°C, most likely 1°C by the time I started running, and holding there until I finished.
The time was 48:23.27, with sector times of 4:13.45, 5:14.22, 6:03.03, 4:31 (4:30.38), 5:09.41, 5:54.49, 4:28 (4:27.75), most likely 5:07, most likely 5:54, and 1:50.03, making for lap times of 15:30.70, 15:34.28 and 15:29 (15:28.26), since the exact time for sectors two and three of lap three was 11:00.51. I didn’t take off the glove and missed pressing the button at the end of sector two of lap three, so I don’t have that exact time and, while I was quite certain of the seconds, after thinking about it I realized that, while low, the risk of having looked a little later isn’t exactly negligible, so there’s enough of a chance that those sector times were actually 5:06 and 5:55 to call for listing them with a question mark. But the bad thing was that I went over 48 minutes again, and that it was the slowest time since the end of August. At least it wasn’t also the first one over 48:30 since then as well, but it was close, and until the end of lap three I was quite sure that it would be. And I was worried from the beginning, and after a first sector that seemed good, the rest of the first lap was bad and it made me worry that I won’t even stay under 49 minutes. To some extent sector two and, more clearly, sector three of lap two at least made it quite certain that I’ll manage that, but it definitely looked like I’ll go over 48:30, and even at the end of lap three, when it did seem like I’ll avoid that as well, I wasn’t exactly certain, since there was a chance that I was too tired to manage even a passable final sector. I pushed and that sector wasn’t bad… But, again, the rest of the run was.
Dressed like that, the temperature wasn’t a problem once I started. And there were few people, so I probably went the long way around in order to avoid the soggy lane more than because of people. Still, I did give a wide berth to a couple of people with dogs on long leashes, or in one case no leashes at all, and right at the end of sector two of lap one I actually stopped for what were probably a couple of seconds, after a silly dance with a girl on a scooter. Otherwise, I had felt like I hadn’t left everything in the toilet before leaving, but that only had effects on sector three of lap three, and they were manageable. But my nostrils were constricting because of the cold, and plenty of times I found that I couldn’t quite focus, mentally. And I probably slowed a little in order to see the time pretty much after each sector, and on sectors two and three of lap three I briefly stopped for that same reason, since it was getting too dark… And when I noticed that I hadn’t actually pressed the button at the right time after sector two of lap three, I wanted to check whether I hadn’t accidentally pressed it a little earlier, while trying to get my finger into position, since that might have allowed for a better estimate of that sector time.

I again had a quick look in the nearby Mega Image on the way back, pulling that thing up to also cover my nose, and in fact I rushed back there seconds after walking away, to check a price one more time. Then I cleaned up to some extent in the kitchen and had lunch, but I was panicking because dad was cooking and wanted to be able to finish before leaving for work and he had quite a cold and I didn’t want to be in the same room with him, but trying to rush obviously only caused me to mess up and be even slower, and I was starting to shake and couldn’t really think anymore…
It was just after 8:10 PM when I finally left again, rushing to Tei but not jogging, so I was there a little after 8:25 PM and got what I had on the list, but I couldn’t find that cheap vitamin C and zinc supplement despite looking all over the area where supplements are twice over, so when I heard the announcement that they’ll close in five minutes I asked an employee and she took me to the one spot that I had somehow skipped over both times, one end of the last shelf of that area, before the cosmetics. So I could finally get those as well, and then I grabbed one more thing for dad and rushed to the checkout just after it was announced that they had closed. Then I threw the purchases in a bag and walked out, being directed to the emergency exit.
After taking a little time to arrange the purchases once I was outside, I also went to Carrefour, once again rushing but not jogging. I put the purchases in a cabinet when I got there, then checked out some plates that were discounted, but those of the size that I was most interested in were gone and I didn’t quite like those of the next size either, so that was just a waste of time. But I got some red onions and beets, then I retrieved my things from the cabinet, arranged a little and continued on my way.
The initial plan had been to also get to that newer Kaufland, since bread tends to also get evening discounts in that location, which doesn’t usually happen at the other one, but it was already too late, so I just rushed to that other location, once again without jogging, and again put my things in a cabinet. Oddly, the announcement that the store will close in 15 minutes came at that point, but it was 9:40 PM, so I also quickly washed my hands before walking in, seeing that the discount for bakery products was 74%. And it actually seemed set at 74%, not a result of rounding for some of them. Either way, I grabbed some things from there, including some that I was going to use instead of bread, and also some green onions that had an evening discount, and I was waiting in the long line formed at the self-checkouts when it was announced that the store had closed… And an old woman who was ahead of me asked me to help her with her products, but that was after the machine said that the grapes that she had placed on the scales weren’t the correct product and she removed them, so it obviously wasn’t going to allow anything else to be scanned and I told her that she had to call an employee, at which point she wanted to walk away, but others also told her to wait and she eventually did, and when another machine was freed and I walked to it, I also told the one employee who had to deal with everyone to go to her as well. And I had no problems with the machine, then I retrieved what I had in the cabinet and took my time to move the purchases to the backpack, just leaving the bakery products in that bag that hangs from my neck and walking away from there a little after 10:10 PM.
On the way back, I also checked a Mega Image, walking in with everything, and I was quite concerned when the back of my left knee acted up when I stood up again after checking the expiring products, but it got better the next day. Either way, a bread that I could get was left, but no bakery products were placed in discount bags even though that place closes at 11 PM and I waited until 10:30 PM, so I don’t know whether they didn’t make any discounts that evening or the discounts would have applied for everything at the checkout, since I didn’t ask. So I just got a bag of those raisins in dark chocolate, the correct, lower, price being listed in that location.
I got back right at 11 PM, but dad hadn’t taken the bag of trash and hadn’t even dumped everything that was left after his cooking in it, so I took off some of the clothes, cleaned the litter box and then went to drop all of that down the chute. Then I ate an orange and one of the sweet pastries, washed just a couple of things, put just the bakery products in the fridge, and at 12:20 AM I went to the toilet and to wash. I was back out at 1:15 AM, but I had the other purchases to put in their place and a lot to clean after dad’s cooking, starting to eat dinner at 3:15 AM and also taking a pill, just in case… Not that it helped… Either way, I finished dinner at 4:05 AM.