Cav's Place

To start with the part about the games, before going to bed on the morning of February 9 I had gone ahead and entered a raffle for GreedFall: Gold Edition in The Community Giveaway on the GOG.com forums, since that’s how higher value games are now handed out… And I ended up winning the game, which is even more awkward because, on top of the fact that it’s donated by that same guy who donates so much, I’m very firmly and vocally opposing this new system. Either way, I was going to run that day and didn’t see a notification about the message with the code before leaving, so I only redeemed it the following day… When I once again ended up letting the water for the tea boil over and turn off the stove, since I went back to my room for a while. It smelled of gas, but the window was ajar and I knew that I had gone back there quickly, so after opening the window more for a few minutes I turned the stove back on. And that night, or more exactly in the morning, I went to bed at 5:30 AM… And after getting up I saw that another GOG.com user had simply sent me a code for Vampires Dawn 3: The Crimson Realm. I asked whether he was really sure, especially since it came right after winning that other game in such awkward circumstances, but when he said that he just wanted to give me a gift and asked me to take it, I did redeem it… And then I also downloaded the first two games, since they’re free and I had actually been thinking about getting them for some time. And the next day I installed and started the first one… Which may mean dropping Diggles yet again despite finally being close to the end, especially since I’ve been struggling with a particularly tedious moment. But, to return to February 11, there were no views recorded that day. And that night I ate in the kitchen, just managing to stick to the dinner schedule by doing so.

Moving on to the runs, I heard some faint hammering when I woke up on the morning of February 9, just after 9 AM, to pee, but I could get back to sleep at that point… Only for drilling to start some time later, and while I still got some sleep, I was hearing it in my sleep and incorporating it into some very weird dreams, so that was some bad sleep, probably with plenty of interruptions. I went to pee again a little after 12:30 PM, and I’m pretty sure that I managed to get some more sleep, albeit still of poor quality, before the alarm rang, at 1:30 PM, and I got up. The pain that I had started feeling the previous day in one spot on my right calf muscle remained, but I stuck to the plan, having the usual stuff, with a slice of panettone, with added honey, as the sweet thing, and leaving at 4:05 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was 17°C, and 16°C when I finished.
The time was 47:55.16, with sector times of 4:12.63, 5:11.09, 5:58 (5:57.94), 4:28 (4:27.87), 5:01 (5:00.85), 5:56.09, 4:28.06, 5:04 (5:03.47), 5:43.63 and 1:54 (1:53.53), making for lap times of 15:21.66, 15:25 (15:24.81) and 15:15.16. I wanted to get back under 48 minutes and pushed from the start, but I probably slowed down a little when I realized that I was pushing too hard, so the first sector time was a couple of seconds better than I expected. Sector two was definitely worse, however, and sector three wasn’t good enough to keep me on that required pace over the first lap, so things looked bad. But the first two sectors of lap two were promising, and at the end of the lap I was wondering whether I might have a chance after all, even if that required lap three to be the fastest of the day. So I pushed hard from the start of it and, while it didn’t look good after two sectors, I just gave everything on sector three and was almost safe at the end of the lap. Considering how tired I was, I didn’t consider myself completely safe, but it was good enough, and that was despite not getting those final steps right and probably losing a second or so just at the end. I had to give everything in order to just barely manage a normal time, but at least it wasn’t worse.
Towards the end of sector two of lap one, I started feeling like I hadn’t left everything in the toilet, and I continued to feel like that over the course of sector three, but then the feeling faded. And on sector three of lap one I briefly stopped because of a dog that was running behind its master, off the leash, and got right in my way as I was about to pass her. But, otherwise, people only caused me to occasionally have to weave or go the long way around. There were also a couple of moments when I was trying to figure out how to get through a roadblock, but an opening appeared by the time I actually got there, so if I slowed at all because of that, it didn’t cause any notable loss of time. And what was interesting was that the right calf muscle didn’t bother me while running, the only warnings coming, on and off, from my left hip. But my nose was once again really irritated after the run.

I had a quick look in the nearby Mega Image on the way back, then ate a banana and lunch, did the day’s squats, changed, and left again at 7:25 PM, going back to the new Penny, since it was clear that I had ended up paying 1 RON less two days earlier, after the cashier handed back the larger bill which I had apparently counted as 1 RON but then didn’t ask for that remaining 1 RON and I only realized what happened after the fact. So I wanted to give her that 1 RON, if I saw her again, and I did, but I first had a look through the store, then walked out without buying anything, stopped after getting past the checkout, waited a little, since she had a line and was talking to a customer just then, and then just handed her that bill when there seemed to be an opening, saying that I had given her 1 RON less two days earlier, and she just took it and put it in the till. She didn’t say anything, but I had the impression that she had been looking at me quite intently as I walked past the checkout, so maybe she remembered and wanted to see what I’ll do.
Then I went to Carrefour and saw that the red cabbage was still discounted, even though that sale should have ended two days earlier, and while it was pretty bad, I found one that seemed good enough and bought it, then I put it in the backpack and entered with it when I quickly checked the Mega Image that’s next to the farmers’ market and Supeco… And when I walked out of Supeco I saw a beer can on the pavement, with the symbol indicating that a deposit had been paid for it clearly visible, so I grabbed it and walked with it in hand to Kaufland, putting it in the machine when I got there. Then I went to the toilet, hearing the announcement about bakery discounts of 50% as I was about to pee.
I entered the store, once again with the backpack, a little before 9 PM, and on the way to the bakery area I grabbed an expiring bread for dad, then took three buns and scanned the label for a kind of bread that was new but had ingredients that didn’t bother me, finding that it was also discounted even though it had no discount label, so I took one of those too, and a little later, after grabbing some biscuits that were discounted because they were rather crushed, I put back one of the buns and took a sweet pastry instead. And then I saw evening discounts appearing just as I was looking through the vegetables, so I got both white and red potatoes, plus onions, taking quite some time to dig through the onions and get good ones. And then I wanted to get some discounted grapes as well, but when I got there and tried to figure out which bag to put them in while also placing the other bags over something else, the one with the onions opened and the one with the red potatoes tore, and an employee had just washed the floor in that area and I ended up smearing the dirt from the potatoes on it. Gathering what had spilled and putting everything back into bags took some time, and I noticed that one of the red potatoes had rolled under the crates and I couldn’t retrieve it, so I went to grab another one and weighed them again, almost slipping on the wet floor on the way back, by which time that employee had driven that vehicle that washes the floor through there again, so I tried to step on my heels, to keep the floor as clean as possible and show that I didn’t disrespect his work. All of that left me with little time to pick through those scattered grapes, but I still got some, rushing to weigh them when I heard the closing announcement. Then I took some time to arrange everything before walking out.
I got back a little before 10:40 PM, with a little over 13 kg. Then I spread out the purchases, ate those biscuits, and quickly went to the toilet and to shower. After I was done, I put most of the purchases, as well as some of the things brought by dad, in their place, just leaving the bread, buns and sweet pastry out, and washed a few of the things that were in the kitchen, then I did something else that I had to do before going back there, talking to dad a little, washing and cleaning what was left, and also dealing with my bread and putting the other bakery products in their place. I also ate a bag of snacks during that time, only finally starting to eat dinner at 3:45 AM and otherwise being done a little before 4:40 AM, but then getting what was stuck on the plate while checking more things on-line, so it was just after 5 AM when I was completely done, and I got in bed at 5:55 AM.

And now let me get to this week’s run, which was on February 15. Normally it’d have just been the last run before the theoretical start of the preparation for this year’s half marathon, but it actually ended up marking a special moment, since it was my 500th, at least according to how I count them, so including the Dream Treks, as well as those two untimed runs from way back when I started running, but not the three that were the very first ones, when I was just trying out the idea over short distances, before setting my mind on it and actually starting to run once per week… And I didn’t even have green onions for the salad made in that day’s early hours. But I had an old regular onion, which might have actually been the last one left out of those received from Carrefour’s campaign, and which had sprouted a fair bit but otherwise remained surprisingly good, so I used its sprouts and core, and put more of the old peanut butter on all of the slices of bread. And I got in bed at 5:25 AM. Then I got up when the alarm rang, finally getting back to the usual time of 2 PM, though I’m not sure how much I slept after getting up to pee just before 1 PM, possibly just briefly drifting off. Either way, I then had the usual stuff, with the sweet thing being something taken after last year’s Dream Trek, with added honey, since those things are expiring within days and I had two of that kind and one that was different, so I wanted to test one of the two and plan to use the other one next month, when I’ll cover a half marathon distance, while I mean to use the different one two weeks before that, when I’ll run 16 km. But, to return to that day, I left at 4:30 PM, wearing the full running gear and that thing on my neck, the reported temperature being 11-12°C, holding steady.
The time was 47:40.51, with sector times of 4:09.20, 5:02.06, 5:57 (5:56.79), 4:27.53, 5:05 (5:04.43), 5:50.53, 4:26.38, 5:03.00, 5:49 (5:48.78) and 1:52 (1:51.81), making for lap times of 15:08.05, 15:22.49 and 15:18.16. The first sector was particularly frustrating, since I have several times of 4:08 that are tied for tenth fastest first sector and want a faster one in order to knock all of them out of the top ten, and while I only managed a 4:10 the last time I actually tried to do so, this time around I obtained that 4:09 not just without actually trying, but in fact while thinking that I was controlling my pace, so I apparently missed a rare moment when I could have obtained that better time, if I’d have just set my mind on it. And sector two’s time only proved that I hadn’t exhausted myself over the course of sector one. At that point I even wondered whether I could cover another lap in less than 15 minutes, but I didn’t really try to do that either and felt that I had slowed down a little on sector three, which proved to be the case, though the first lap’s time was pretty good even so. After that, I just settled back on the usual goal of staying under 48 minutes, which had been the initial goal for that run as well, and I was rather pleased with sector three of lap two, the lap’s time even making me briefly think about 47:30. However, that’d have required either lap three to be the day’s fastest or for its time to be close to the first lap’s while still leaving me with enough energy for a great final sector, and both of those options seemed highly unlikely, so I was just content to see that I was a little faster than I had been on the previous lap on each sector, and that at the end I was just a little faster than on January 18, and therefore the fastest I had been since November.
There were some warnings from my right knee from the start, and while they faded after that, if I paid attention I occasionally noticed them again, albeit faintly. And on sector one of lap two it felt as if I hadn’t left everything in the toilet, and even that what wanted to make its way out was rather liquid, but it wasn’t a serious problem and then the feeling faded, returning on sector three of lap three but being rather faint even then. Otherwise, the cold did make me feel a little stiff at times, and my hands were starting to go numb by the end, but it wasn’t a notable problem. And, while I obviously still had to weave and go the long way around at times, the one notable problem caused by people was on sector three of lap three, when I briefly stopped because a kid was cutting across the path while also dragging a toy and a guy who was coming from the opposite direction walked around the kid, blocking my way.

After doing the day’s squats and eating lunch, I changed, though I left the running t-shirt on, and left again a couple of minutes after 7:30 PM. After quickly checking that Mega Image on the way, I bought an expiring pudding from what used to be the nearest Penny, before this new one opened. After putting it in the backpack, I went to Carrefour, and it may be the first time when I entered that mall through the parking lot, so I didn’t have to go around Kaufland. Either way, I got two breads and a sweet pastry that were among the discounted products, but at the self-checkout a guy was almost pressing against me, seeming impatient to get his turn, and I rushed to grab the change and leave. I immediately noticed that something seemed wrong with the coins and actually thought that the machine might have once again “eaten” the 0.50 RON one, and when I glanced in my hand I quite clearly saw a 0.05 RON one that shouldn’t have been there, but I also thought that I did see one that seemed large enough to have been the 0.50 RON one after all. However, I didn’t actually have a good look and then I just put those coins in that small pocket, over the others. If I’d have kept them in my hand or put them in another pocket, there would have been no room for error on my part, but I did count what I had in that pocket as soon as I walked out of that area and found 0.45 RON less than there should have been and a single 0.50 RON coin, which should have already been there, so I’m pretty much certain that the machine gave me a 0.05 RON coin instead of a 0.50 RON one… So I made up for it two days later.
Either way, I added those purchases in the backpack and entered Kaufland with it, after washing my hands, a little after 9:05 PM, seeing some labels that listed discounts of 30% in the bakery area. However, when I scanned one I saw that the discount was of 50%, and then the employee came with new price labels… But she just left them there, so I scanned a few more, and when another person was asking about the price of the plain buns, I didn’t just say that I could check for her and did so, but then I even looked for the proper label among those left by the employee and placed it there. Then I stuck around until the employee finally placed the new price labels, but the two kinds of buns that I’d have normally been interested in remained as they were, one listing a discount of 30% and the other no discount at all, and I confirmed that after scanning the labels, so I ended up getting three of those plain buns. Then I also got two bananas, a bunch of parsnip roots and some beets, all having evening discounts, and in case of the beets it’s a good thing that I had seen the employee from that area take the crate with the remaining ones and put it on the stack that was probably meant to be for trash, so I knew that some were left, took down that crate, dug through it, and then put it back. Then I looked around a little more and made my way to the self-checkout just before 10 PM, but the closing announcement only came just as I was walking away, after arranging the purchases, and that was at 10:05 PM.
After putting the bag that hangs from my neck in a cabinet, I entered that Mega Image with the backpack, and as I meant to leave, without buying anything, I saw a 1 RON bill on the floor, just behind the last two guys who were standing in line, so I told them that they dropped it, but when one told the other that he had dropped it, that other one said that it wasn’t his… And I felt that it’d have been too awkward to just take it at that point, so I stepped away and the first guy told the second one to get it, and he did. Then I just asked the guard whether I could walk out past the other checkout, which was closed, and he waved me through, after which I retrieved that bag. And on the way back I looked for some recyclables with the deposit paid, wondering whether another opportunity to recover what Carrefour’s self-checkout machine had “eaten” would appear, but I didn’t find any. I thought that I spotted that symbol on a can and picked it up, but when I got to a place where the light was better, I saw that I had been wrong, so I just dropped it in a trash can.
I got back a little after 10:45 PM, ate a banana and that pudding, washed most of what was in the kitchen, put the purchases in their place, and went to shower just after 12:15 AM. The fact that the water was mostly cold made me hurry, so I was done 20 minutes later, then I finished washing and cleaning after dad in the kitchen, ate a large bag of corn puffs while working on dinner, also dealt with one of my breads and moved something for dad into a jar, and eventually decided to also eat dinner in the kitchen once again.

At least I managed to write about the actual runs, plus the part about the games, before midnight, despite being so exhausted that I was about to fall asleep in the chair, so I once again posted only those parts and then edited the post in order to add the parts about the rest of February 9 and 15 Tuesday evening. There would have definitely been enough “room” to also write about yesterday in this post, but it doesn’t seem right to add something entirely different at an even later time, so I guess I’ll leave that day for another time… Even though, with the exception of the one thing that’s the reason why I want to post about that day, it would all fall under odds and ends, so it wouldn’t really “fit” with what I still post here. But I guess I’ll find a way… Assuming that I’ll manage to get myself to keep writing anything at all.