Cav's Place

After spending most of the evening of October 7 in the kitchen, washing some pots and eating some walnuts before starting to work on the salad, which included lettuce, I also made the tea for the morning and ate dinner, with peanut butter on all of the bread, between 12:45 AM and 1:30 AM, with the last several minutes spent gathering what was stuck on the plate. And I also used the aromatherapy lamp again. But then I spent too much time on-line before finally putting the cereals, raisins in dark chocolate and baked almonds with Himalayan salt into a bowl, so I’ll just have the yogurt to add in the morning, and going to the toilet, so I got in bed at 3:35 AM… And a little later I heard a noise that didn’t seem to have been caused by Liza and went to investigate, though when I didn’t immediately identify the cause I just got back in bed. But I slept poorly, needing some time to fall asleep and then getting up to pee just before 5:40 AM, at which point my right hip bothered me a fair bit, which was not surprising after standing for so long in the kitchen, especially while struggling to wash those pots. And I woke up again at 7:40 AM and went to pee one more time, managing to get back to sleep faster but waking up yet again when the computer did the daily backup, at 8 AM, and then getting another brief nap before the alarm rang, at 8:15 AM, and I got up.
After eating the Gala apple and adding the bio (organic) yogurt in that bowl and eating that as well, I realized that I hadn’t checked before going to bed and saw that no visits had been reported on October 7. Either way, I then took the supplements as well, obviously with the exception of the second pill of the iron and the one for joints, and then I heard the sound of mowing from behind the building again, so I took a few “before” pictures. The fact that I then just wasted some time on the toilet was less of a concern when I had gone before going to bed. And then, just because I was going to do so before the marathon, I decided to have another sweet thing after all, in the form of the last two of those nicer but expired biscuits, with added honey. And I left at 9:45 AM, wearing the full running gear, returning to the new shoes and deciding to take the t-shirt from last year’s marathon once again, but without the running belt or even anything in the pocket of my tights. The reported temperature was 14°C at 10 AM, when I started running, and 17°C at 11 AM, so it couldn’t have been less than 16°C when I finished running. And I’ll also mention that the right shoe bothered me a little at the back at first, so I stopped on a bench after entering the park to take it off and put it back on, which took a little longer than I thought it would, because the shoelace tied itself in a knot when I tried to untie it.
The time was 47:14.23, with sector times of 4:13.70, 5:09.22, 5:55.00, 4:22 (4:21.69), 4:56.09, 5:50.09, 4:28 (4:27.94), 4:55 (4:54.28), 5:39.38 and 1:47 (1:46.84), making for lap times of 15:17.92, 15:08 (15:07.87) and 15:02 (15:01.60). I hoped to at least get under 48 minutes and pushed to some extent from the start, and while I paid attention to avoid exhausting myself, I was a little disappointed by that time on the first sector… And then even more so by the one on the next sector, even if I knew that I had slowed down somewhat. So I pushed a little more on sector three, but when that resulted in a lap that was only a little under that 15:20 that’s the target lap time for 48 minutes, things didn’t look good and I once again thought of continuing to 16 km, which I had in fact considered to do for this run. But then I was surprised by that very good time on sector two of lap two, when my mind had been elsewhere as I covered that long straight and I thought that I was going to once again be quite slow. And sector three of lap two was faster than that of lap one as well, as was the lap as a whole, which didn’t just make me quite certain that I’ll stay under 48 minutes, but I even started thinking about squeezing under 47:30, even considering continuing to 16 km if I won’t. So I really pushed on lap three, still keeping something in reserve on the first sector, but going for it on sector two and really giving everything on sector three, hoping to at least give myself a chance… Only to be surprised when I was already safe at the end of the lap, at which point the goal became to squeeze under 47:20 as well, so I was once again pleasantly surprised when I saw that I had even squeezed under 47:15. Sure, seeing as I’ve been taking all of those supplements for so long, I’d have felt much better if I’d have gotten under 47 minutes, but I’m nevertheless content with this time.
My right thigh muscle gave warnings pretty much from the start, and they were pretty serious warnings, but things didn’t get worse, and on lap three I noticed them less, though that was probably just because I was so focused on pushing. And I did feel somewhat lightheaded on sector one of lap three and at the start of sector two of lap three, but then the feeling went away, and while towards the end of the lap, after having pushed so hard, my chest was starting to burn, that time on sector three of lap three pretty much justifies the feeling. And those were pretty much the only notable problems, otherwise the damaged and wet lane clearly remaining the main reason to weave or go the long way around. But I was noticing on the first lap that it was almost as if I was in a race, considering the number of runners, though that number dropped later.

On the way back, I briefly poked my head in a small bakery that seems to have replaced a burger place and then also had a quick look in the nearby Mega Image. And when I entered the building an old woman asked me to check whether the elevator was stuck somewhere, since it apparently wasn’t coming, but when I called it to the first floor it came from below, so it had been at ground floor already, and I shouted to tell her that it was working and she called it again, but I didn’t wait to see whether she could open the door, since that seemed to have been the actual problem the first time around.
A slight reason for concern was that, after taking off the shoes and socks, I noticed that the right shoe had still rubbed the back of my foot a little, though I hadn’t felt it while running… But since then I’ve been occasionally feeling that the back of my left foot had been rubbed a little, though I don’t see any mark there. Either way, I then had a very early lunch, took the “after” pictures of the area behind the building, arranged the munchies that I have in my room, ate some watermelon as well, and cleaned my room a little, also changing the sheets and taking the blanket again. And cleaning less than two months after the previous time was quite an improvement… And when I put the backpacks back in their place that clove which had fallen three weeks earlier fell off, so it had almost certainly been in or on the torn backpack, even though I had turned it over and shaken it back then without anything falling. Either way, a few minutes after 7 PM I went out again, with the plastic and metal, the bottle caps, which I finally remembered to take again, and the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
I put the recyclables in the machine from the nearby Mega Image, being left with one that wasn’t accepted, and just cashed in the voucher and grabbed a few smaller coins off the floor, at which point I spotted what I’m pretty were two 0.50 RON coins there as well, but I didn’t take a closer look, so if they really were there, I left them. Then I dropped off the plastic and metal in a recycling bin on the way, went down to the lake when I cut through the park and washed my hands at a drinking fountain, then dropped off the bottle caps when I reached Penny Titan, and while that recyclable wasn’t accepted by that recycling machine either, one that I found next to it was, so I entered the store with that remaining one and got an expiring product for dad, also using the voucher received for that recyclable when paying.
Since I had dad’s metro card, I then took the metro to Carrefour Pantelimon, put my things in a cabinet and just got an expiring chocolate, even if it was imported, so the trip wouldn’t be a complete waste of time, since I had wanted to go to Carrefour for pumpkins, which were on sale, but a single one of that kind was left and it was cracked, so I didn’t take it. Either way, I still had to use a regular checkout, and then I retrieved my things, put the chocolate in the jacket’s inside pocket, and instead of walking to Kaufland Basarabia, I got back on the metro and went to what I guess I could call the usual one.
While the recycling machine from there also rejected that recyclable, I found three with the deposit symbol at the top of one of the garbage cans that are in front of the entrance, so I went back and put those in the machine, ending up with two vouchers because the machine timed out while I emptied the last one. Then I put my things in a cabinet, washed my hands, and entered the store at 9:30 PM, seeing that only some bakery products had labels listing the discounts of 50% and taking a cheap bun and a sweet pastry, after scanning the labels and finding that the 50% discount applied to both even though neither had a discount label. And then I saw that a huge evening discount had appeared for green onions and I was trying to pick a bundle that was less bad than the rest when a woman came and commented that they were from Germany, which I hadn’t noticed, so I walked away with one bundle but then went back and put it back. But I took a bundle of dill, which also had a huge evening discount, mainly just in order to get one more thing and be able to use the voucher received for two recyclables at the self-checkout, after which I cashed in the one for the third. I believe that I was still at the machine when the closing announcement came, but it’s also possible that it came just after I was done. Either way, I then retrieved my things and arranged everything, figuring out where to put that dill taking me a little while.
I then decided to take the metro again, one option being to go to Carrefour Unirii, but while I now see that it’s once again open non-stop, I hadn’t checked before leaving, since going there wasn’t part of the original plan, so I thought that it still closed at 11 PM, and it was past 10:15 PM when I got to the metro station and I didn’t jump into the train that went in that direction, which was just there at the time, so I thought that it was no longer an option and decided to go back to Titan, to check that Mega Image that I recalled also had discounts of 90% for expiring products just before closing time. But, after putting my things in a cabinet, I only saw discounts of 50% and nothing that was particularly interesting anyway, so I just retrieved my things, though that time around I did pick up a 0.50 RON that I spotted on the floor. So I wandered around a lot and had little to show for it, and on the way back I just grabbed a couple more recyclables with the deposit symbol.
I got back a few minutes after 11 PM, and after cleaning the litter box and going to drop a bag of trash down the chute I put the few purchases in their place, ate some koliva which had been brought by dad, washed what was in the kitchen, did the day’s squats, and at 12:15 AM I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash. I was done a little before 1:20 AM, but then I talked to dad for a while, also took something again, and ate dinner between 3:25 AM and 4:10 AM, at which point I also noticed that at least one of the computer’s fans was making a worrying, uneven noise. And there were no visits recorded that day either. On the other hand, while I did recover some sleep, only waking up the last time when it was past 3 PM, during that last part of the sleep I had a particularly elaborate dream that included multiple fears but centered on my worst one, so I was just crushed when I got up, physically as well, but mentally even more so. And when dad got back I was in the kitchen and the door to my room was wide open, so when he went to the bathroom he could clearly see the picture that’s my desktop background. Since he doesn’t pay attention to anything, it’s quite likely that he didn’t notice, but it made me feel even worse.

Thursday morning, I got in bed at 5:20 AM, and after getting up, having lunch and doing 200 squats, since the previous day I kept putting them off until I forgot to do them at all, I went to pick up the race kit for the marathon, leaving at 6:40 PM, with the two recyclables with the deposit symbol that I came back with two days earlier and two fish cans, which I dropped off in a recycling bin on the way. And I was in a hurry, so I just picked up one more recyclable with the deposit symbol before Unirii Square, where I made a little detour to Carrefour in order to put those three recyclables in the machine, so I won’t have them with me when I’ll pick up the race kit. But I couldn’t lose time, so it was somewhat worrying when both recycling machines were in use when I got there, and when the first person was done and I tried to put the first plastic bottle in, the other person said that only the other machine accepted those, the one that I was trying to use being only for glass bottles, and I didn’t even check whether that was correct, since the other machine was quickly freed as well and I could use it. And then I had a look through the recyclables which were discarded around the machines, found two of those with small bar codes and managed to get the machine to accept those as well, after a few attempts, ending up with a second voucher. And then I continued on my way, also walking the last part of the route in the process, and washing my hands at a drinking fountain.
I reached Constitution Square just before 7:45 PM, had a quick look at the nutrition sponsor’s stand, then picked up the race kit and checked the bag after walking back out of the Sport Expo area, but I did that so quickly that I didn’t even realize that the usual magazine wasn’t included, so when I went back in and bought a jelly bar from that stand, I didn’t also check to see whether the magazines were somehow placed somewhere else, so those who wanted one could take it. But I had checked the number and noticed that it was 1038 while that of the timing chip was 10038, and while in previous years the two numbers had nothing in common, the fact that they were so close this time around made me wonder whether something might have been wrong, so I asked someone about it, being told that they’re unrelated and it’s fine. So I then went to a table and arranged everything somewhat better, though I didn’t also try on the t-shirt, as I usually do.
On the way back, I entered that Carrefour Express with everything and grabbed two expiring products, then wanted to put everything in a cabinet when I returned to Carrefour Unirii, but there were no free cabinets, and the guard confirmed it when I asked, so I asked her to put stickers on those two products, which were of one of their store brands and which I had carried in my hand, pointing out that everything else was obviously the race kit and then entering with everything, putting those two products in my regular backpack and taking the empty bags out of it once I was inside the store. And, after having a quick look at the expiring products, I went up to the bakery area and saw that some products were already discounted by 50% even though it was still well before 9 PM. But none of those products were interesting, and the large apple pie that also had that 50% discount wasn’t something that I wanted to buy that day, so I went to pee and wash my hands and then just got some beans, since I finally saw Romanian beans on sale again. And at the self-checkout I also used the vouchers received for those recyclables, and then I added the beans in the backpack.
Since I had seen on-line that Kaufland Popa Nan was supposed to close at 10:30 PM and it only meant a small detour on the way back, that was the next destination, so after grabbing a few more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way, I got there when it was almost 9:45 PM… And saw that the listed closing time was 10 PM! But I still took a moment to put those recyclables in the recycling machine, along with one that I found there and which was accepted on first try even though I was quite sure that it won’t be, since I recalled having one of those among those that weren’t accepted before. Then I rushed to wash my hands and two bottle caps that are used in a contest and which I had remembered to keep that time around, but the men’s was closed, and after dashing to the women’s to wash those caps, I noticed that there was no soap there, so I went to the toilets for disabled people and was finally able to wash my hands as well.
That left me with very little time, so I entered with everything and hurried as much as possible, the good thing being that the bakery area is right next to the fruits and vegetables in that location, close to the entrance, so I quickly scanned the price labels for two kinds of bread that had no listed discount, finding that one did have one, but it was small, so I didn’t take any, just getting a sweet pastry that did have the 50% evening discount. And then I rushed to grab some vegetables and a quince, all of which had evening discounts, and during that time I also mentioned to the employee from that area that the site listed the closing time as 10:30 PM, but he said that it wasn’t the case anymore. But I just made it in time, the closing announcement coming just as I was also weighing a few onions, which only had the regular discount that they had those days. That meant that I had no more time to see whether they still had any of the olives that were on sale, but I’ll only need those if I’ll make pizza after the marathon, so I then went to the self-checkouts, also using the voucher received for those recyclables, and then took my time to arrange everything. And on the way back I checked a Mega Image, putting just the bag in a cabinet, entering with the backpacks, and then just retrieving the bag and walking out, picking up two more recyclables with the deposit symbol from there and a couple more on the way back. On the other hand, at some point I realized that, since I hadn’t checked the rest of that Kaufland, I had forgotten to get a small yogurt, and I’d have liked to have one the following day, before making pasta… But I made do without it.
To return to Thursday evening, I got back a little before 10:50 PM and within a quarter of an hour I was in the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, being done a little before 11:55 PM. Then, after spending some time in my room, I eventually put the purchases in their place, showed dad what was in the race kit, ate that quince and a sweet pastry that I already had, took another pill, because my throat felt a little sore once again, and used some of the lettuce which I had bought from Kaufland for the salad, finally eating dinner between 4:10 AM and 4:55 AM and getting in bed at 6:10 AM.

Well, after waking up to pee at 10:45 AM, I couldn’t get back to sleep, one reason being that I started feeling the other pressing need as well, plus that my nose was a little stuffy. So I eventually went back to the toilet a little after 11:10 AM, but after the first piece the rest didn’t seem to want to come out even though my guts felt just stuffed. At least I eventually managed to get some more sleep, but the dreams were once again quite troubling and by the time I got up I had only slept for a total of about five and a half hours, and then I only added a short nap, about half an hour, late in the evening, and this morning I only got in bed at 5:30 AM, after dad got back. But at least I only got up when it was close to 4 PM, and while I woke up several times before then, including one time when I was woken up by the noise made by dad when he got something out of the freezer before leaving, I’m quite sure that I got a total of over eight hours of sleep. And now let’s see how I’ll manage to eat dinner earlier, get everything ready for the morning and maybe manage to get a little sleep tonight as well.