Cav's Place

The plan for this post was to also include yesterday, when I planted trees and then took part in a pro-EU demonstration, but when I couldn’t even finish writing about this week’s run by midnight, the part about the problems I had during the run only being added Thursday evening, when I edited the post, it makes more sense to leave yesterday for another post, even if this quite clearly makes this a waste of a personal “slot”. Either way, to start with the early hours of March 10, I ended up eating dinner between 3:30 AM and 4:05 AM, with some more of that peanut butter expired for half a year on all of the bread. Then, after getting up after the alarm rang, at 1:30 PM, I had the usual stuff, but the yogurt was a really nice “Greek” one, with 9% protein and 2% fat, and I also added raisins in dark chocolate in it, while all of the almonds were once again those baked ones with Himalayan salt, still leaving the last few unsalted ones for another time. And, for another sweet thing, I put honey and jam between some of those wheat things. And I left at 4:15 PM, wearing the full running gear and one armband, with the slip of paper with the emergency information in the pocket of my tights, but sticking to the old running shoes. The reported temperature was 21°C, dropping to 17-18°C by the time I finished.
The time was 1:47:23, with sector times of 4:26, 5:14, 6:05, 4:38, 5:10, 6:06, 4:45, 5:19, 6:11, 4:45, 5:20, 6:13, 4:50, 5:23, 6:16, 4:48, 5:28, 6:23, 1:55, 6:12 and 1:56, making for lap times of 15:45, 15:54, 16:15, 16:18, 16:29 and 16:39, plus 10:03 for that final portion. While I had a faint hope to do a little better, the realistic target seemed to be to just squeeze under 1:48, and the rough target times that I had at the start added up to that… But when I recalculated them, after the first lap, assuming that I’ll get 15 seconds slower on each of the next four laps and 30 seconds slower on lap six, I knew that a minute was added to the total but was somehow convinced that those new times would have still allowed me to squeeze under 1:48. So it’s a really good thing that, when I realized that I might have a chance to be a minute, and eventually a minute and a half, faster, I did my best to manage that, so I didn’t end up doing even worse than I initially thought I would without even realizing it.
Either way, I started at a controlled pace and was content with that time on the first sector, but then the goal became to cover the first lap in less than 15:45 and I failed to do so by fractions of a second, and going so much over six minutes on sector three of lap one was also a bad sign. So I recalculated those target times and, as a result, I was actually a little pleased with lap two and content with lap three, after which I started wondering whether I could actually be a minute faster, which I was convinced meant getting under 1:47. So the targets for the remaining laps became 16:20, 16:30 and 16:45 and it all worked out, though it was tight and I was concerned, so I pushed a little more on laps four and five… And then I pushed even more on lap six, wondering if I’ll be able to gain 30 more seconds by the end, which meant that I needed a few on that lap, seeing as the target for the final portion was 10:30 and I really didn’t see how I could get below 10:00 and recover all of that time there. And I obtained those seconds, so I really went for it on that final portion, wanting to know that, whether I’ll manage it or not, I did everything to gain those seconds, and being pleasantly surprised to find myself already safe before the final sector. However, as I said, I was certain that I was about to squeeze under 1:46:30, since I don’t look at the minutes while running, and by then it was starting to get darker anyway, so it was a very unpleasant surprise, if not even a shock, to see the actual time at the end. At least it’s better than a year ago, and also a little better than the initial target, but it’s not something that I can work with if I’m to think of this year’s half marathon…
That feeling that something wasn’t quite right which I had also noticed in the past after eating those wheat things was present that day as well, so I should probably give up on them, at least after finishing those I already have, but at that point I just had to deal with it, as well as with an overall feeling of heaviness in my abdomen that appeared from the very beginning and with the need to snap my back, which appeared soon after I started and never really went away, at least a part of the feeling from my abdomen likely being reflected from there. But the problems became more notable from lap three, my right knee giving warnings on sector one and my hands already starting to go numb by the end of sector two.
While I remember that there was one thing that I was making a mental note of on each sector for quite some time, by the time I got back I only clearly recalled those first two things, so past that point I’m not sure of the exact order and I likely forgot some details completely. I really don’t know what it was that I felt on sector three of lap three, but I believe that it was at the start of lap four when a certain pressing need appeared, and it gradually worsened, becoming rather concerning by the end of sector two of lap six before suddenly lessening, which was a relief. Then I once again no longer know what it was that I felt on sector two of lap four, but I believe that it was at the end of that lap when my left knee also starting giving some warnings and I tried to put more weight on the right leg again, which led to some pretty notable pain from that knee right away, so at the start of the following lap. Then again, while it seems too early if I think about it, it is also possible that these things happened a lap earlier. Either way, I tried to balance things after that, which eventually led to pretty much my entire right side hurting, a slight cramp even appearing on the inside of that elbow, and on lap six both ankles were starting to give some warnings as well. None of the problems, with the possible exception of that brief but quite acute jab in my right knee, were exactly bad on their own, but they were things to manage and kept adding up.
Otherwise, past a more or less normal amount of weaving and going the long way around, whether because of the damaged lane or because of people, it was definitely on a sector one when I hesitated and sidestepped quickly because a man tried to clear the lane when he saw me coming but I had already committed to the inside, but whether that was lap four or five, I can’t recall. But I do know that it was on sector two of the final portion when a girl and a woman, so probably her mother, cut across the lane without looking right in front of me and I barely avoided the girl, needing to slow to squeeze around her, at which point the mother muttered after me and the girl actually shouted at me to go to hell! On the other hand, on the first sector of that final portion I stopped for a couple of seconds to see the time, and on the second sector I slowed to a walk for another couple of seconds for that same reason.

On the way back, I decided to have a quick look in the nearby Mega Image, picking up a can with the deposit symbol just before getting there and then seeing a bag with more recyclables with the deposit symbol in the trash can that’s in front of the store, so I grabbed that as well and entered with it, but then I found the reason why it was there, which was that the recycling machine wasn’t working, so I left it in front of it while I had a very quick look in the store and then picked it back up. Then, since I took the last slice of the cake bought back in October out of the freezer, after keeping it there all this time, I decided to take all of my bread out as well, to see just what I had and rearrange it. And then I ate a bag of peanuts, so I got some 950 calories just from that, and that slice of cake, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again at 8:30 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol.
Well, the machine from the nearby Penny was once again not working, so I put those recyclables in a cabinet, without locking it, and bought some things, though they were out of the frozen peas that I wanted to get for dad, and which were the main reason why I had decided to still go to Penny even though it was already quite late when I left. Either way, after arranging the purchases in the backpack and retrieving the recyclables, I continued to Kaufland, picking up a few more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way and putting all of them in the machine from there, separating on two vouchers. That machine didn’t seem to like cans, since each of those required multiple attempts, and the Pepsi bottle that had no cap required me to pick up a discarded one and place it on it, but it eventually accepted everything. Then, after washing my hands, I entered the store, with the purchases from Penny, a few minutes after 9:30 PM, first grabbing a large paper towel roll that was discounted because the plastic bag was torn and then returning to the fruits and vegetables and getting two celery roots, a grapefruit and a bag of Mandarin oranges, all of these having evening discounts. And the announcement that the store had closed came while I was using the self-checkout machine, where I also used both of the vouchers received for the recyclables. Then I took my time to arrange the purchases and finally walked away at 10:10 PM, picking up two more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way back, though the bottom of one was quite crushed and I did what I could to straighten it.
I got back at 10:40 PM, then cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, put the purchases in their place, ate an orange that I already had and lunch, washed the few things that were in the kitchen, did the day’s squats, and it was a little after 12:30 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash. It was several minutes after 1:30 AM when I was done, and then I decided to also wash a pot and a lid, ending up eating dinner between 3:25 AM and 4:05 AM.