Cav's Place

Euro 2016 started last evening, with Romania losing 2-1 to France after France scored the second goal in the 89th minute. But it’s not the match I’m writing this quick post about, but the conditions under which the competition takes place… And the situation viewers here have to face as well, with the exception of those who are subscribed to a cable company that offers the channels that do broadcast all matches.

Admittedly, unlike other cases in the past, it couldn’t have been known at the time it was selected to host this competition that France will find itself in such a situation during it, but between floods, strikes and outrageous security measures, this may well end up being a more troubled edition of a major competition than some which were expected as such from the moment the host country was selected. And, to state the obvious even more, the floods are at least in part caused, and definitely worsened, by man-made climate change, the strikes are entirely justified by the dreadful measures and general direction of development supported by most governments, the fact that the French one had actually done so perhaps slightly less than others being probably part of the reason why the French people tend to react more than most to being shat on, and while the security measures are admittedly in part justified by a real terrorist threat, they’re to an even greater extent a sign of things to come under the excuse of a greatly exaggerated terrorist threat, especially when the real potential impact of even some successful attacks is weighed against other threats that result from the failings of governments, or which are simply facts of life.
Under those circumstances, one would be tempted to say that it’ll be less about football and more about the other problems it can highlight and the causes it can become a platform for. And perhaps that’s exactly what should happen, even if it’s not exactly a “fair” thing to wish for. Far too many people will be watching, both in Europe and elsewhere, and the powers that be, without being limited to the French authorities or even the European Union, are watching too closely for this opportunity to be wasted.

To also turn to Romania before the end of this post, TVR’s situation meant that they are unable to broadcast the competition, all matches only being shown on a private sports channel owned by one cable provider and not available from all others. However, at least PRO TV grabbed the “free to air” package, consisting of one match per day, obviously including all of Romania’s matches and otherwise what they consider as the most interesting match of the day on days when Romania isn’t playing. In addition, a large screen was set up in a park and people will be able to watch matches there, but only the first half of the last ones taking place each day. That’s supposedly due to needing to keep the noise down after 11 PM, according to the law, but I’ll simply call it terribly stupid and leave it at that.

Let me start with this week’s run, which was two days ago. Seven kilometers again and managed a time I didn’t believe possible until over five kilometers into it. I mean, was thinking it’ll be fine if I’ll just stick to something similar to what I managed last time, since even a 35:30 would require both laps matching the time managed in the second lap then, while still having enough to match the time in that final portion as well. But then I found myself doing the first lap in 16:10, with intermediate times of 4:38, 5:25 and 6:07, respectively, and this made me aim for a time under 35:30 after all. Then, in the second lap, after a pretty good sector one time of 4:35, it was when I saw the 5:15 managed in sector two that I realized I may just get under 35 minutes if I really pushed. Sector three was covered in 6:06, making for a lap time of 15:56 which isn’t only the best lap time for any run longer than what used to be the usual 4.1 kilometers but seems to be the fifth or sixth best lap time overall. That still seemed to leave me with too little to spare, but I just pushed as hard as I could, sprinted for the final part, and managed a 2:52 for the final sector, for a final time of 34:58!
Should probably dig up the posts about runs and list the best times somewhere, or maybe even all times. For those on the track, I pretty much only have the total time, as for laps I only have some rough times, rounded to a number of seconds divisible by five, but I guess I could post the best of those as well. As for the park, until recently I listed the total time it took to reach a sector, so if I’m to list actual sector times I’ll need to calculate them. Not sure which is better, listing sectors separately or the total time to reach a certain “checkpoint”. Will definitely list lap times separately though, but then it’s only recently that a run started including more than one lap, after all.

Moving on, yesterday I went out again. Had three trips left on the ten-trip metro card bought six months ago for the times when I’d really need to use the metro and dad would need his monthly pass as well, and since the card expired today I decided to use them to explore a little more, the first destination being the park close to where my grandmother lives. Don’t even know if I was taken there more than a few times when I was a little kid and actually lived there, and certainly haven’t been in it since, so I said I might as well, since one of the metro lines was extended to that point in 2011.
It’s a pretty small place, compared to the parks I’m used to, but seemed nice enough. Paths far too wide for my liking and was wondering why at some point I was seeing benches only on one side, but the feeling I got from it was nice enough during the 15 minutes I spent there, before quite unexpectedly finding myself back at the entrance across the street from the metro station, having obviously gone all around already despite taking it slowly.
Was feeling rather down though, and I knew I was holding off another crash for quite some time, so was wondering whether I’ll just break down somewhere in public as I made my way to the next destination. And I guess this made me decide what that next destination even was, since I initially meant to hop off the metro at Tineretului but was sort of thinking of making my way to Carol Park from there, but that suddenly didn’t seem like a good idea anymore. I did enjoy Carol Park the few times I went there, but I felt like in a bit of a race against time and that park also carries some memories that’d have only made it worse, so I decided to just go in Tineretului after all.
Not that I wasn’t completely at a loss there too, just entering and looking around, wondering what the fuck am I doing there, or anywhere for that matter. Spotted a narrow dirt path climbing on the surrounding hills from the insanely wide path starting from the main entrance, going around the stairs, and I just made my way up there. Looked around again and saw a young couple sitting near the top of the next section of stairs, obviously seeking privacy, so at first I meant to head in the other direction, but just couldn’t get myself to move much… And the bittersweet feeling caused by seeing them, added to seeing two others hugging and kissing in front of me in the metro, resulted in something that was neither bitter nor sweet, but just terribly sad and disheartening.
Walked towards them after all, but only after noticing another narrow path created by others right next to the stairs, allowing me to climb while hoping I won’t intrude upon their little world. Once at the next level, if I may use the term, I met a few guys coming down, one of whom greeted me two or three times, before I nodded back and then was left staring at their backs in confusion, since I definitely didn’t recall having seen any of them before. It did tell me that others were exploring that area, and also that there was something worth exploring, since the rough paths I saw were leading pretty much into a forest… Which on the one hand is a nice thing to find in a city, but on the other made me feel quite anxious, mainly worried about somebody rushing from behind a tree to mug me or beat me up or who knows what else.
Still, picked one path and kept going, finding myself utterly alone until I saw a homeless person that I assume was sleeping on the stairs leading down to another entrance. Then, as I ignored those stairs and kept going, I was once again alone until I saw a guy climb up somewhere ahead, where that path finally ended in a corner of the park. But making my way to the sidewalk there didn’t mean I was heading back, as I got back in the park at those stairs I had spotted earlier, using another narrow dirt path to get back up without actually walking past the homeless person, and then took the other path starting in the spot where that guy had greeted me.
Since this path ran alongside that wide one starting from the park’s main entrance, I did see a few people sitting at the top of the stairs leading down, and then also a larger group somewhere above, letting me know that there was something interesting there too. And, after walking a little further to avoid them, I reached that even higher path by using another narrow dirt one to climb a slope that was just about as steep as I possibly could climb without using my hands as well, my feet slipping quite a few times.
This highest path was running alongside the park fence on that side and I did spot a couple of runners, a cyclist or two, an old man walking his dog and another couple walking past, acting as another painful reminder that I can’t share any of it with her. As I got to the part where the concrete and stone wall made way for metal fences and the aging or even ruined buildings on the other side made way for pretty nice houses, with entrances leading from this path to the streets running between them, I even saw one or two parents with children. Got out at that point too, using one of those streets and then making my way back to the metro station… Which involved going all the way back on the sidewalk instead of simply turning around and staying in the park as I made my way back to the entrance.
And then I did pretty much nothing, and still couldn’t even cry. Finally crawled in bed around 9:15 PM or so and eventually fell asleep, woke up a few minutes before 11 PM, managed to get up some time later, then spent about half an hour pretty much simply standing there, occasionally pacing around my room, but didn’t even do much of that. So barely managed to read two pages, if even that, of this other book I started now, which is also quite a responsibility since it’s not released and I guess I’m sort of helping edit it. Or, more exactly, I was just asked to read it, give an honest opinion and point out anything I feel should be pointed out, but I can’t just read it in this case, switched to this other mode and this means I can barely get through a few pages per day and feel even worse because of it with each passing moment, being another thing I obviously suck at.

As for last week, had happened to look up at the ceiling a couple of weeks before and spotted mold, apparently starting above my door and having spread from there. Ceiling hadn’t usually been affected before, and if there was a little mold on it, it wasn’t there, so that was weird and also difficult to do something about, but dad bought something to cover the bed with and after I put the books on the desk and moved the bookcase next to the window, he sprayed that area… Only to then notice that it had spread even further on the ceiling, a few spots being in this area above the desk as well, where we couldn’t spray at the time, and we didn’t have enough stuff left to spray with anyway.
Not sure when we’ll spray this area too, and now I’m seeing mold on the wall as well, above the desk, though what’s strange is that I’m not seeing anything if I try to look behind the desk. Not the first time this happens, but it seems no less odd. So I guess I’ll need to take the computer out and move the desk again, and doing different parts of the room at such different times obviously means I’m not doing much of anything and simply allowing the mold to move from one place to another, but I don’t care that much anymore… Though it makes me sad that it’s obvious that the books have been affected too. But that’s nothing new; not by a long shot.
Actually kept the books on the desk for a couple of days; think it was only Friday night that I put them back, and then only Saturday that I cleaned the rest of the room a little. And this was after spraying on Wednesday, when I went out as I waited for the smell and vapors to clear, first trying to look for a firm which should be nearby but which I couldn’t find, then having a quick walk through the park next to the stadium, where I don’t usually go, also ending up on a high path and then making my way down on a steep one that I just barely managed to stay on my feet on. Also had a quick look at this other park nearby on my way back, but only spent a few minutes there, though I have to admit that at least the small areas between the unreasonably large number of paved paths are finally starting to slowly look like a park, after the entire relatively “wild” area was initially cleared away in order to plant new trees, which will obviously need decades before they’ll have as much to offer as those that were butchered in such a manner.
As for Thursday, went to the book fair. Found a few interesting things, but had no money on me, so simply went to have a look, and was already in a rather poor state as I got there because I didn’t check the map again before leaving and, since I only go in that part of the city once per year, for this fair, I forgot how to get there and spent quite some time trying to figure it out, since of course none of the information kiosks in the area worked. And then I was also recognized by the person manning the stand of this on-line bookstore I tend to buy from, who greeted me quite enthusiastically as I was walking past.
That messed me up right then and there. Shaky, sweaty, heart racing and pretty much just awkwardly standing there until a pen or something of that sort fell under the table and I picked it up, as she was exchanging contact details with someone with a camera. Probably shouldn’t have, since that made her thank me, also saying my name, and asking me to sit or at least have a look, which I sort of just pretended to do for a few seconds, before waving and walking away, in no state to spend much more time there.
Hadn’t checked many of the other smaller stands though, so I pretty much just wandered around a little longer, only glancing around quickly, making sure nobody could consider me interested enough to say anything, and then got out, ignoring the larger stands I had left for the end. Not that there would have been anything interesting for me there, but did mean to at least spend some time looking if I wouldn’t have been shaking and nauseous.

And then, of course, Sunday I voted, again going early… And finding the “newspaper” promoting PSD’s candidate in the notice board, which is locked so I couldn’t get it out. However, since it’s illegal to have campaign materials in public even on the day before election day, not to mention on the day itself, and I definitely oppose that candidate, after coming back I grabbed my camera, paper, sticky tape and scissors and, after taking a “before” picture, covered the bottom of the notice board. Was awkward when a neighbor came in and obviously saw what I was doing, but neither of us said anything as he waited for the elevator and I waited for him to leave, then took an “after” picture, decided to put more tape, took another picture and went back inside.
Got back out a couple of hours later and saw the paper torn away. Had the materials with me, expecting just such a situation, but too many people were going in and out by then and didn’t cover it again, though I then kept wondering whether I shouldn’t have written something on the paper, such as the polling station where the people living here should vote. Would have been useful information, so they won’t have to look it up once there, and may have been left there in that case, but was already too late. And that candidate sadly won anyway, as it was clear she would, but the good news is that the new party I supported got a result that was better than expected as well and this translated into a fair number of people in all councils.

This book was obviously meant as the first in a series that never continued, the sequel promised for 2012 never seeing the light of day, or at least not yet. However, this is no extended introduction, quite the contrary, as it definitely doesn’t lack in action and does complete its part of the story satisfyingly enough. And I can’t complain about the writing style or any lack of polish either.
Would have needed to be at the very least twice the size for any chance at a better rating though, and to have filled that space with more information about the world and characters, and in fact with more characters, places and events. As it is, it’s a well-written but too short single adventure, taking place in a single location and involving one small group and one problem. It hints at epic fantasy and some interesting twists, but in fact offers only plain sword and sorcery and feels perhaps a bit rushed even for that.

Rating: 3/5

Unless I’ll skip ahead from where the previous post left off, I don’t see how I’ll manage to post much of anything this week, so I’ll leave what I did for the rest of the day after the half marathon and how I felt after that for some other time and skip straight to Saturday, May 21, which was the first time I went out after that run, to a “fair” of NGOs taking place in Herastrau Park. Proved to have been for no reason, made even worse by the fact that I was sort of thinking of attending a debate scheduled for 10 AM, so I slept very little in order to be there on time and then pretty much ended up wandering around until about 11:30 AM, deciding to not even try to attend anything else, obviously not showing enough interest in anything to be approached and eventually heading back with just wasted time and sleep. Headed back on foot too, after taking the metro to get there.

Otherwise, since I spent a week and a half just with dad and he was out most of the time, I poked around the kitchen for quite a while and, on top of the usual stuff, I also tried to cook two things for the first time. One was Sunday, May 22, when I cooked some rice with mushrooms, which I then had to drain since I guess I had put too much water and then also noticed that not putting in salt makes it taste odd even for me, though despite liking to munch on salty things I often skip salt in food and think that what my parents cook has far too much. The other I’m pretty sure was the following Sunday, when I found some fusilli in a drawer and decided to cook some of that, and what I mixed in there, which included the probably half a serving of peas that were left, made the result better than I was expecting. Was quite quick too, so I may well do that again now.

Moving on, the first run after the half marathon was Monday, May 23, when I once again ran on the seven-kilometer route used for those two roughly timed runs. There was some work being done again in the spot I had to go around when I had to abort a run due to my watch stopping, but this time only towards the lake, so could use the path immediately behind the fenced area and therefore lost less time than then, though it was probably still a matter of about ten seconds in sector two of each lap.
Was quite difficult to get going at first, feeling quite exhausted for about half a lap before something finally started clicking back in place. In fact, after first being uncertain whether I’ll go for seven kilometers or return to what used to be the usual 4.1 and deciding that I’ll do the latter if I’ll be fast enough, by which I meant completing a lap in around 16 minutes, I quickly started wondering whether I shouldn’t stick to that shorter route simply because I was too slow and tired, covering the first two sectors of the first lap in 4:54 and 5:52, respectively. But then, as I said, things got better, I managed a third sector in 6:13, making for 16:59 for the first lap, then the second lap was covered in 16:19, with sector times of 4:34, 5:30 and 6:15, respectively. Add 3:06 for that final section, including the slope, and the total time was 36:24.
That meant I could consider aiming for a time under 36 minutes if I won’t need to go around that area again, and that was what I did this Tuesday, when I also started much better and managed a 35:44. Covered the first lap in 16:29, with sector times of 4:48, 5:20 and 6:21, respectively, then the second in 16:13, with sector times of 4:43, 5:22 and 6:08, respectively, and that final section in 3:02. Seemed that I ran just about as late as possible to get a first proper time on this actual route though, as there was a truck slowly backing towards that area where work was being done before just as I was passing through it the first time, and then it was stopped right there on the second lap, with something already placed to block what was left of the path around it. A worker also shouted at me to go around as I approached, but they hadn’t actually closed off the entire area yet, so I just went around the blocked path, taking a few steps on the unpaved bit between the path and the lake before returning to the path once past the truck.

Going back a bit, I was curious enough to attend a meeting announced by the sector’s mayor just across the road on May 28. One of many, of course, since the elections are Sunday and he seems to have scheduled a few of these per day as part of the campaign, with announcements posted at the entrances of all buildings in the area. Other candidates couldn’t legally do something like this, or so I’ve been told when I also attended a meeting with the one I support for this sector the next day, but obviously he doesn’t care and has over 50% in polls either way. Still, I was there to see both what he had to say and what the people will say, finding that I had probably around half the average age of those present, likely no more than about 10% being under 50. There were a few who were quite angry and showed it, but a few others seemed very satisfied with him and vocal about it. The rest had specific grievances they wanted him to solve, but the impression I was left with was that they’ll vote for him again either way.
That sure showed the contrast between this bubble created by social media and most of those who actually vote, once again revealing the reason why the old parties and figures keep winning despite the wave of discontent, everything that keeps being revealed about them and all the people who claim they don’t know anyone voting for them. And that other meeting I mentioned above showed it as well, since in spite of the support one can believe exists for Nicusor Dan and his party, heading towards 20% in the polls and being backed by most activists, their candidate for this sector was pretty much ignored at first, volunteers barely managing to direct a few people towards her as she could easily have one-on-one conversations lasting several minutes with each.
Admittedly, I was the second person talking to her and then left, so I’m not sure what happened later, but I doubt it was too different and both she and the volunteer I talked to admitted that they have serious problems in this sector and all they can hope for is to obtain the 5% needed to enter the council. True, the number of people she said they aim to have on the council would require more than 10%, but when she realized that she admitted it’ll be very difficult, mentioning 7% as a more realistic target and again pointing out that even the 5% would be a good start, considering how in control the current mayor is.

And I guess I’ll stop here, since I didn’t finish what was started Wednesday and this is, and took, long enough already. Decided to read another one of those ebooks grabbed for free some time ago this week and it’s short, so despite reading little each day and not at all yesterday, I should easily finish it by the end of the week and the quick review for it will be this week’s second post. No idea when I’ll finally get around to how I felt after that half marathon or what’s going on now. Not that it matters.

The post’s title states that more than a week passed before I managed to write about this, but in a matter of hours it’ll be more than two weeks, so I have to somehow pick up from where I left off at the end of the previous post, when I was just crossing the start line of the Bucharest Half Marathon, which the official results state happened about 5:48 after the actual start, though I guess a more exact value would be 5:48.50.
Didn’t go through the thousands of pictures posted on the event page and there aren’t any posted on the site yet, but did go through the thousands posted by one photographer and you can spot me in three of those made right after the start. I’m on the far side, with the blue cap; my face is outside the frame in the third picture. Can actually also just spot the cap in the distance if you go three pictures back from the first one I linked to, but in the two in between I’m completely masked by another person. Either way, I was there, albeit starting so far back that I was already disappointed and had to give up on the first goal from the start, as I said in the previous post.

Being in such a large crowd and still at least aiming for less than two hours as real time meant I needed to pick my way through, but at the same time try not to tire myself too much in doing so. Needless to say, that was hard to manage and all the weaving and the speed variations probably took a bit of a toll later, but even so I barely managed to cover the first kilometer in the planned six minutes, and that initial plan was made assuming I’ll take it easy at first, which was not the case. The only thing I was glad of was passing the last group of pacemakers, aiming for a time of 2:20, just as I reached that one kilometer marker.
The next few kilometers were pretty much more of the same and I didn’t even check my time again during that period, since I was getting past just about as many people as I reasonably could and there wasn’t much else I could have done about my pace. Attempting to get past the 2:10 pacemakers and the group running alongside them was quite a problem though, as they pretty much formed a solid triple wall of people that I think I spent some 500 meters struggling to work my way through. What’s strange is that I was sure this took place between kilometers four and five, but I recall running on the tram lines while struggling with that group, and that could only happen just after the first five kilometers, so it may have been between kilometers five and six instead. One of the memories is obviously wrong, but not sure which one.
Either way, I used most of the cup of water I grabbed from the first refreshment point to wash my hands, since there was no way to do that after going to the toilet before the start, and then poured the bit that was left on my sponge, using it to wet my face and the back of my neck. And then, whether shortly or more than a kilometer after finally passing that 2:10 group, I clearly remember finally checking the time again as I passed the six kilometer marker and noticing that, while I had definitely made more effort than I wanted to, I hadn’t actually lost a significant amount of time while working my way through the slower people ahead of me and was still on target to meet the goal if I could maintain the pace of 5:20 per kilometer that I had planned for kilometers five to fifteen and again for the seventeenth.
Making my way past others was also starting to become somewhat less difficult at that point, since the group was becoming less compact, but I know that shortly after passing that marker I bothered someone enough to make him complain out loud about me getting back on the actual road right in front of him after using the tram line to get past. Meant to tell him to stay under 5:20 per kilometer if he doesn’t want me in front of him, but kept quiet and kept going, calmly getting past him again when he sped up after complaining. And otherwise I did my best to stay out of the way of those who were faster and not bump into those who were slower all the way from start to finish and, while I do remember a few moments when I unfortunately didn’t quite manage to do so, don’t recall anybody else complaining.

The first 180° turn was at seven kilometers, then as we turned towards the stadium the road finally became wide enough for passing people to really not be a problem anymore. However, I was still mainly interested in passing those who were still ahead of me but not running at the pace I meant to maintain as we went around the outside of the stadium, so instead of sticking as close to the inside of the road in order to minimize the distance covered, I ended up covering a fair bit more, which was another thing that took a toll later.
Still, after getting back out of the stadium area and returning to Basarabia, around the nine kilometer marker, I actually saw the white balloons of the 2:00 pacemakers ahead. There was still some distance between me and them and I wasn’t about to run faster than I had to, but I intended to keep my eyes on them and get a little closer each kilometer, with a goal of running alongside them as we’d need to start that climb on Victoriei, after some 15.6 or 15.7 kilometers. Also, had grabbed a water bottle from the sponge point at about 7.5 kilometers, so I thought I had what I needed for quite a while, also ignoring the cups offered at the refreshment point that came after ten kilometers.
Unfortunately, it was just that water bottle that caused problems, because I didn’t really know what to do with it. Took a tiny sip, rinsed my mouth with it and spat it out, wet my sponge, yet it still looked like hardly any of it had been used. So I caused myself a bit of a problem, feeling my heart skip a beat and my breath be somewhat difficult for just a moment, obviously due to the difference in temperature, when I poured just a little bit down my back. However, what was far worse was when I decided to pour a little water right on my face instead of just wetting the sponge and then dabbing that on my face, because this caused me to feel like I was drowning for a moment and I pretty much had to stop and “reset” my breathing, and after that I kept sort of blowing my nose for a while as I was breathing out.
Needless to say, that’s not what you want to do when you’re trying to maintain a certain pace, so I started getting slower and by the time I got back to Constitution Square, at kilometer 14, those white balloons were too far ahead to be seen anymore. But at least, after rinsing my mouth and spitting a few more times, pouring some more down both my back and my chest, under my shirt, and a bit on my head as well but making sure it won’t end up directly on my face anymore, and making sure my sponge was sufficiently wet, I had managed to finish that water bottle before that 14 kilometer marker, so I threw it in the Square as we passed by the start area again, then just grabbed cups at the next points, not wanting to cause myself that sort of trouble again even if another bottle would have been offered. Don’t think I even noticed whether one was or not.
One thing I definitely was noticing at that point, however, was that I rather needed to go to the toilet. Had started feeling an increasingly pressing need around kilometer 13, in fact, which was after eating the slice of orange I had grabbed when I actually saw the fruit being offered and that options other than bananas were available, but it would have happened anyway and it’s quite normal and expected for such distances. Experienced this during or after my longer runs before as well, and I know that garlic tends to get things more or less back in order, so that was why I had those two small cloves in my pocket and I ate them at United Nations Square, as we were approaching the 15 kilometer marker. Was actually just doing that when a woman asked what our time was and I remember looking at my stopwatch, which I remind you I had started nine seconds after the official start, and seeing one hour and 29 minutes. She then also asked whether we were at least around kilometer 18, give or take one, not sure anymore, and I told her it’s more like 14.5, and 15.5 is when we reach Victoriei.
Probably more like 15.7 there, as I mentioned before as well, but 15.5 was close enough, right? And at least the garlic had done its job by then and I no longer felt like I was about to shit myself, so I think I grabbed a slice of apple as well, if not even two, from the refreshment point that was there, or somewhere around that area, and got started on that slope, made worse by the fact that traffic was again a problem. Entirely expected, since a single lane was available and people were slowing due to the slope, but it was unpleasant to suddenly have to once again struggle with the crowd as well when the slope itself would have been more than enough. And the gate marking 16 kilometers, which was supposed to cool runners struggling with the slope with a fine spray of water, didn’t really do anything on the way up because the wind carried the droplets away, to the lanes used on the way down.

Was feeling rather exhausted and knew I was falling behind the target when I reached the second 180° turn, but it did feel a little better to go down that slope I had just climbed, which also implied going through the fine mist created by that gate, which as I already mentioned ended up cooling those going down instead of those struggling to climb. At the 17 kilometer marker, at the base of that slope, it still looked like I could make that two-hour real time target, and I knew I was over one kilometer and therefore over six minutes, maybe even over seven, ahead of the 2:10 pacemakers, who had started some distance ahead of me, in Sector D, and were just starting the climb as I was reaching the bottom on my way down.
Unfortunately, that was the last time I had any hope of finishing under that target of two hours as real time, because by the 18 kilometer marker I had hit the wall. It was also around that time that I saw perhaps the best sign held by someone cheering on the runners: “Smile, you paid for this!” Didn’t help me much though, as my legs kept getting heavier and harder to move and my hands started getting numb. Around the 19 kilometer marker my legs started feeling like they were on fire, and as I was heading towards 20 kilometers I was even starting to feel quite out of it, perhaps my vision narrowing as well, or at least feeling like it.
I know I checked the time at 18 kilometers, but also know I had forgotten it even before reaching the finish line. I remember something about 1:44, but that seems pretty much impossible, as it’d have implied covering over three kilometers, probably closer to 3.5, including the slope on Victoriei, in 15 minutes, since there’s that 1:29 at United Nations Square that I remember very clearly. So I guess I just happened to see 1:44 when I looked before reaching that marker, leading me to the next time I remember seeing, which was 1:47. Again, this is official time, so if I did reach 18 kilometers in 1:47 official time, so 1:42 or even just a bit under that as real time, I was still just marginally on target at that point, as the initial plan had set aside 18 minutes for those final 3.1 kilometers, knowing I’ll most probably hit the wall and fall behind the pace of 5:20 per kilometer.
Either way, I was perfectly aware I couldn’t cover the remaining distance in the time I had left in order to finish in under two hours as real time, and that was even without taking the people that started to pass me more and more often into account. There was even a brief moment when I considered giving up, and more than one when I considered simply walking all the way to the finish, but I gritted my teeth and refused to allow myself to be defeated quite so thoroughly, deciding to keep running, albeit slowly, aiming for an official time under 2:10 or at the very least under 2:15, to at least get the benefit of a Sector D start if I’ll participate again next year and sectors will be split in the same manner.
And that was the story of that final portion, where you can also see me in five pictures posted by that same photographer. Taking it step by step, focusing solely on putting one foot in front of the other despite the pain and the burning sensation and the numbness and anything else. At least after crossing the river and starting the way back on the other side, after the 19 kilometer marker, I was looking at my watch at least every minute, possibly even more often, but I wasn’t really aware of the actual time anymore and definitely wasn’t calculating anything, merely using it as another method to prove to myself that I was getting closer to the finish, since time was passing and I kept moving forward.
At some point after 19 kilometers, perhaps around 19.5, maybe even slightly later, as I was easily passing a woman who had hit the wall even harder, I heard a man who had paced himself well and rushed past both of us say, apparently to her, that there was another refreshment point at 20 kilometers and to use it, and I sure did. Hadn’t cared much for those points until then, grabbing things pretty much just because they were there and, as I mentioned above, not knowing what to do with that bottle, but I definitely needed that one and actually stopped for a moment to get a cup of water, one of juice and a slice of orange. After rinsing my mouth with a bit of it, meant to pour the water on the sponge and then drink the juice, but got my hands confused and accidentally spilled half the juice as well, so ended up drinking only the remaining half, but then I walked for a few more steps as I ate the piece of orange, and this really saved me for that final part.
After that, I struggled to run again and eventually turned right, at around 20.5 kilometers, and the finish started appearing in the distance. Didn’t make me run any faster at first, as it still took everything to just keep putting one foot in front of the other and people were passing me left and right, but just at the end, when I found myself in a bit of space, I did whip myself just a bit harder and stayed just ahead of the next person coming after that five-second gap. May have raised my hands as I was crossing the line, or may have meant to, but didn’t have the strength for it and didn’t really feel them anymore either, so not sure what actually happened. Didn’t even know the exact time, not looking up as I covered those final meters, but correctly assumed it was around 2:08:30 as official time. In fact it was 2:08:27.10, while the official results list 2:02:39 as real time, though the chip apparently registered 2:02:38.60 and I always round down my run times.

Once past the line, everyone passed first through a set of gates where the timing chips were cut away and taken back, then through another where the finisher medals were given, then went past a series of stalls where large cups of water, half-liter bottles of juice and pieces of fruit were offered. As for myself, I grabbed the water and, after keeping the first couple of sips in my mouth for a moment before swallowing, drank the rest right away. Then I took a bottle of juice and just kept it, only drinking it after getting back home. Waited a while before getting to the fruit, since people kept cutting ahead and those of us waiting calmly in line weren’t getting anywhere, but I eventually did what the rest were doing as well, spotted an apple only cut in half instead of four or five slices and grabbed both halves, then a slice of orange as well, and ate all of those. Obviously ignored the bananas.
Feeling somewhat better, I then made my way back to the WWF area, where I had my picture taken before heading into the main tent, meaning to pick up my bag and change. However, the gap that allowed access from the main tent to the bag storage area before the race had been closed, so at first I got back to a line of people I had noticed waiting to get massages, since a medical center was offering them there. Did realize it’ll be rather weird, since I had those trousers on and it’s hard to pull them up, but didn’t mean to leave my spot in order to change until I was told the person handling the line I was in was going to stop offering massages with the person right ahead of me.
It was pointed out that two more were left, so the three lines will merge into two and I could just move over, but I decided to walk away and change after all, returning once that was done, in shorts, somewhat to the surprise of one of the other people from that medical center, who remembered me and that I left just before it was my turn. I ended up at the person who seemed somewhat less interested in giving good massages though, so mine lasted about half as long as the one given by the other guy to someone else at the same time, but it was free and I’m not keen on massages anyway, so it was fine.

And that’s it for now. Meant to also include what I did on my way back, since I wandered around for quite some time, but this is twice the size of the previous post already and I spent far too much time writing it. So I’m posting it as it is and will continue with the rest of the day and the time that passed since then at a later time. When will that be, I don’t know, nor do I know whether I’ll continue with a more generic personal update or stick to that day and how I felt, mainly in terms of my mood, over the next few, but at least I finally managed to post this, just hours shy of two weeks after the fact.