Cav's Place

Of course, “The People” from across the pond had already provided even more ample evidence of it, pretty much ensuring that, as the recent developments and statements, which I’m not going to comment on in what’s just a rushed post, make even more abundantly clear, there’s no hope left for any of us. But a week ago it was once again the turn of the Swiss voters to prove that “The People” can always be trusted to make the wrong choice, overwhelmingly rejecting a constitutional amendment requiring the Swiss economy to respect planetary boundaries, the opponents stating that environmental concerns shouldn’t significantly impact the standard of living and that the ten-year deadline included in the initiative was unrealistic… Even though ten years from now would be at least eleven years too late.
But, of course, this is just one news piece that’s easy to point to, the rule being proven with nearly every opportunity, all over the world and throughout history, including just these days and here or elsewhere in Europe, or at various other points by just those Swiss voters, including on other environmental initiatives. So I’ll just go back to those two quotes yet again: “The People tended to be small-minded and conservative and not very clever and were even distrustful of cleverness. And so the children of the revolution were faced with the age-old problem: it wasn’t that you had the wrong kind of government, which was obvious, but that you had the wrong kind of people.” and “That does seem to be the rule, doesn’t it? Analyze the problem, choose whichever strategy makes least sense and then do it.”
The question is how can the right thing ever get done if “The People” keep making the wrong choices and those who, by whatever means, end up in positions of authority are those who want them, which pretty much by definition means that they’re unsuited for them because they’ll generally use that authority for their own gain. The only way seems to be to hand power to those who don’t actually want it, but who would use it to force humankind in the right direction… But will there ever be even a snowflake’s chance in Hell of that happening? And, if it somehow would, would the people who would want to steer humanity in that right direction actually use that power to do so, by whatever means necessary, obviously going against the will of both the rich and powerful and “The People”? Because that’s another important side of the problem, those who would want the right things to get done refusing to employ the methods necessary for that to happen while the others have no such qualms.

While this post otherwise covers the remaining days from January when I ran, I’ll start by mentioning that, in the early hours of Wednesday, after noticing that no views had been recorded the previous day, I finally got around to removing the Google Analytics code, since I hadn’t been checking that at all in a long time anyway, sticking to Matomo even if it doesn’t offer what I was used to and I don’t see how I could ever put together any more of those statistics posts just based on what it shows. But it’s not like those posts have any relevance.
On the other hand, Wednesday evening dad mentioned that he met that neighbor who had been interested in trading his apartment for ours and was told that the contract for retrofitting the building had been signed and in no more than two months the scaffolding will be put up, which is obviously a terrifying prospect and means that I won’t be sleeping for months and months to come, plus that there will be people walking around in front of my window and eventually they’ll likely replace the window as well, with who knows what other consequences, and it remains to be seen what will happen to the blinds, being on the outside… Plus that all of this will start while I’ll be preparing for this year’s half marathon. And no, dad didn’t say anything about what that neighbor did about that apartment in the end.
Either way, another thing I want to mention is that on February 3 we ended up with a second Internet subscription, in fact from the same provider, my computer being left on the old one on its own while dad started using this new one, so the connections are now separated and I can stay on-line without feeling that anxious. It still feels wrong, not being in the sort of network that I’ve been in until just over five years ago, but it’s a major improvement. And it was forced by the provider, who called my mother, on whose name the landline is, to tell her that they’re switching to fiber optics for landlines and unless she agrees to switch and also include an Internet subscription along with the landline, for a slightly higher monthly fee, she’ll have to cancel it completely. So she agreed, and the guy came and put in that new line.

To finally get to the runs, the first one that I’ll write about here was on January 16, and it came after being out on both of the previous two days, albeit not late on the previous evening, plus that I still didn’t have green onions for the salad made in that day’s early hours, so I once again used a red onion. And then, after getting up to pee a little after 8:45 AM, I kept waking up, and a little after 10:10 AM I was also woken up by a call, later learning that it was a pharmacy that I had ordered some teas for dad from, though I didn’t answer at the time. And there were also an increasing number of little noises, both from the neighbors and from dad, after he got up… And at 12:40 PM he pulled his bread out of the freezer and woke me up again, so I went to “thank” him for it… And he just asked why did I get up instead of staying in bed. Either way, I had actually fallen asleep again by the time the alarm rang, at 1 PM, then got up, feeling quite sleepy, and had the usual stuff, though I once again delayed opening another bag of whole grains and used regular oats instead, albeit quite a lot of them. And the sweet thing yet again consisted of a slice of cozonac, with added honey. And I left at 3:45 PM, wearing the full running gear, with some things in the pocket of my tights, the thinner old training shirt, despite the shape it’s in, plus that thing on my neck and the gloves, and the jacket on the way, tied around my waist as I ran. The reported temperature was 6°C and it was sunny and not windy, yet it felt surprisingly chilly on the way to the park. Either way, that temperature should have dropped a little by the time I finished, but I couldn’t check at that point and the fact that it was 2°C at 6 PM isn’t relevant, since that was after sunset.
The time was 48:48.20, with sector times of 4:17.79, 5:13.16, 6:03 (6:02.96), 4:35 (4:34.50), 5:39 (5:38.69), 5:52.44, 4:30 (4:29.50), 5:02.16, 5:44.00 and 1:53.00, making for lap times of 15:33.91, 16:06 (16:05.63) and 15:16 (15:15.66). Since I seemed to have finally recovered after that fall that caused problems during the year’s first two runs, at least for the most part, I was clearly aiming to get back under 48 minutes, but the first sector’s time seemed a little worse than it should have been, the second sector was much worse, and when I went over six minutes on sector three of lap one and over 15:30 on the lap as a whole, I knew that I was once again looking at just staying under 49 minutes… And even that became unlikely after I ended up losing over 30 seconds because of a shoelace on sector two of lap two. But I did my best after that moment, pushing more and really going for it on lap three, not thinking that I had any realistic chance but just wanting to know that I gave everything, and in the end I did make it, in fact already being safe at the end of the lap. But, of course, that remains a bad time, and even without that problem, and also without the few seconds lost on sector three of lap one, I wouldn’t have managed to get under 48 minutes.
That loss of time on sector three of lap one was because I almost slammed into another runner who was coming from the opposite direction and jumped aside when a dog jumped at his legs before the owner could pull on the leash, and at that point he was just a couple of steps in front of me and I obviously also turned sharply in the same direction in order to avoid getting near that dog, what saved us from really slamming into each other being that both of us had the same reflex, to thrust our arms forward and grab on, so we grabbed each other’s arms and stopped like that for a moment. But, of course, the big loss of time was when the right shoelace once again became undone, on sector two of lap two. At least it didn’t end up knotted, but I still lost over 30 seconds because of it. Otherwise, there were the usual problems caused by the lane and the small loss of time likely caused by pulling off the glove and then putting it back on after pressing the button on the stopwatch. As for physical issues, while that muscle, if that’s what it was, no longer hurt, I probably still held back to some extent, not wanting to risk a return of the problem by pushing it too much, too soon, and over the course of the first lap a spot on my right calf that seemed to be on the bone was hurting, and then a muscle on my left leg gave some warnings, possibly because I had been trying to spare the right one. Those problems faded after a while, but on lap two I felt like I wasn’t getting enough oxygen, though that issue also seemed to go away on lap three, when I actually pushed harder. On the other hand, while at one point I thought that I might be overheating, I didn’t, so it really felt colder than that reported temperature.

After the run, I wanted to go to two pharmacies, but I tried to use a slightly different route, ended up going off it, and when I was about to get back on it I spotted 3 RON on the sidewalk, which I took after looking around for a little while and not seeing anyone who seemed to be searching for something. I did think that at some point I should probably spend half of that amount on some deeply discounted products that I’ll then give away, but the fact that I didn’t think to do so on the first opportunities and then Kaufland stopped making evening discounts for bakery products puts that in doubt. But that’s a matter for another time, so, to return to that day, after I saw the queue at the first pharmacy, I gave up on the idea of going there as well and just went to Tei, where the queue for those who were buying actual medicines was frighteningly long, but you could walk right in if you wanted other products, so I grabbed the teas for dad and the toothpaste for myself, then quickly checked that Mega Image as well, putting the purchases in a cabinet and then retrieving them. And then I once again put them in a cabinet when I also checked Penny on the way back, buying what I wanted and then retrieving what I had in the cabinet.
I got back for the first time a little after 6:15 PM, put the purchases in their place, did the day’s squats, ate lunch, changed, albeit leaving the t-shirt and shirt on, and left again at 8:10 PM, with dad’s metro card and once again taking that wheeled bag, since the main goal was to check a couple of other Kaufland locations for those large bags of laundry detergent that had such a great discount those days… And I just missed the first metro, the doors closing just as I had gotten to the bottom of the stairs, but at least the next one came only a few minutes later and I took it to Obor, grabbing a recyclable with the deposit symbol on the way to that Kaufland and putting it and another one that I found there into the recycling machine. But that was the only benefit of going there, since none of that detergent was left, so after using the room for disabled people to wash my hands, since the men’s was getting cleaned, entering the store with that bag and walking out when the entrance gate opened for someone else, I got back to the metro station and went to Kaufland Basarab… Which was another waste of time, since I didn’t find that detergent there either, so I peed and washed my hands, once again entered the store with that bag and then just asked to be allowed to leave, the employee from the information desk just opening the gate but the guard asking to see what I had in the bag and whether I only had the gloves in my pockets, also patting that area after I took the gloves out.
Since at that point I thought that I might just have a chance to also reach Kaufland Vitan right before closing time and that jogging to Grozavesti and taking the metro from there might be marginally faster, I did that, but when that metro came I realized that it was too late. I might have just had a chance to get there if I’d have just returned to Basarab instead, but it’d have been awfully tight and at least that way I could get off at Unirii and go to that non-stop Carrefour, where I once again entered with that bag, after trying to put it in a cabinet but seeing that it wouldn’t fit, so I let the guard know that I had it and said that I’ll let him check it if I’ll walk out without purchases. But that wasn’t the case, since I found a few things to get, so at least the evening wasn’t a complete waste of time. The self-checkout machine asked me to make sure that I scanned everything, displaying a clip of me moving the empty bag from one side to the other and highlighting it, so I raised my hand and looked at the employee from that area, but she just told me to hit OK and I could continue once I did. Then I put the purchases in that wheeled bag and got back to the metro station, but I got there a little after one metro had left and the next one waited for a minute or so before leaving the station, which led to missing the last one leaving from Dristor by that time, so I couldn’t switch and walked back from there.
I got back a little after 11:20 PM, put the few purchases in their place, washed the easier things that were left to wash after dad had cooked again, ate a banana and something sweet, and it was 1 AM when I went to shower, being done a few minutes before 1:30 AM and then also eating some nicer bagels while washing and cleaning some more in the kitchen and working on dinner. And I took out a piece of the walnut bread which I had nevertheless bought some time before despite having dropped it on the store’s floor, and which I had washed and microwaved for several minutes before placing in the freezer, washed it a little more and then baked it in the regular oven for a while before slicing and microwaving it normally. And using the regular oven definitely made it even better, though what it did to the crust made it a bit trickier to slice. Either way, I ate dinner between 3:30 AM and 4 AM, and got in bed at 5:20 AM, still feeling some pain on the left side of my neck, which pain had appeared while I was out, maybe while I jogged from Kaufland Basarab to Grozavesti, so it was probably caused by carrying that wheeled bag, and at least it went away the next day.

In the early hours of January 24, I once again used a red onion in the salad, since I still didn’t have green onions, and started eating dinner at 3:15 AM, but at least I still managed to finish at 3:40 AM. On the other hand, at some point during the morning I was dreaming that I was trying to hold my breath or breathe very shallowly because I was trying to trick someone into thinking that I was dead, but I couldn’t do so because I kept needing more air, and when I eventually woke up I felt out of breath and my heart was beating very irregularly. It was quite a relief when the problem seemed to fix itself almost as soon as I took a few deep breaths, but I was wondering what that was about, and whether it had anything to do with my nose once again feeling rather irritated. Either way, after getting back to sleep, I got up when the alarm rang, at 1 PM, and had the usual stuff, finally opening another bag of whole grains as well, while the sweet thing consisted of another slice of cozonac, with added honey. I left a little before 3:25 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was 14-15°C, dropping by 1-2°C by the time I finished.
The time was 49:46.04, with sector times of 4:19.82, 5:13 (5:12.22), 6:26.82, 4:41 (4:40.24), 5:14.32, 5:58.21, 5:11 (5:10.76), 5:01.46, 5:51.04 and 1:52 (1:51.15), making for lap times of 15:58.86, 15:53 (15:52.77) and 16:03.26. Considering how crowded it was and how I felt, I didn’t really think that I could get back under 48 minutes, and after two sectors I was thinking that just staying under 49 minutes was a realistic target… But then I lost some 25 seconds because of a shoelace on sector three of lap one and after the end of the lap I thought that even staying under 50 minutes wasn’t completely certain, and it became increasingly questionable over the course of the next two sectors, though sector three of lap two was something of a relief… Only for the same shoelace to cause me to lose even more time on sector one of lap three, though I didn’t check to know just how much, and I also had multiple notable problems caused by people on that sector, making it seem that I was going to even go over 50 minutes after all. But I still had a chance if I could somehow obtain some normal times from then on, gaining as much compared to six minutes on sector three as I’ll lose compared to five minutes on sector two, so I just gave everything and, despite more problems caused by people and also picking up a coin, I was safe at the end of the lap. But the time remains awful, that shoelace only caused me to lose a little over a minute, and the notable problems caused by people likely put the total around a minute and a half, so I don’t think that I could have managed to get back under 48 minutes even without any of these problems.
As I already mentioned, one major problem was that it was crowded, so I kept having to weave, go the long way around and squeeze through, and there were also moments when I slowed a little or took to the grass. There were a few brief silly dances as well, though those were from enough of a distance to avoid needing to stop. But I did briefly stop, because of roadblocks, once on sector two of lap two and twice on sector one of lap three, one of those moments being on the long straight, and there might have been one more such moment on sector two of lap three, though I’m not quite certain and I might have only slowed a fair bit in that spot. But it was also on sector two of lap three when I had to stop for a couple of seconds when I was pushing as hard as possible and a guy on a scooter came from one of the other paths and turned towards me, so we saw each other just before a potential impact and he didn’t try to avoid me at all, but we managed to stop just in time. And I also slowed significantly while squeezing through roadblocks on sector two of lap one and sector one of lap two, as well as in another spot of the long straight of sector one of lap three. But, of course, the biggest losses were caused by the left shoelace getting untied on sector three of lap one and sector one of lap three, which was obviously the most problematic sector, and at that point I made two attempts to retie that shoelace despite the fact that I saw that it had knotted and left it like that, just tying it over the knot, so it won’t trip me. And I also tightened the right shoelace after taking care of the left one. On the other hand, it was on sector three of lap three when I briefly stopped to grab that coin.
But all of that still doesn’t add up to enough to excuse being almost two minutes slower than I should have been, so there were physical issues as well, the most notable being that I felt that I wasn’t getting enough oxygen, which definitely made me think about that moment from the morning again, and there was also the fact that my stomach and abdomen hadn’t recovered after being stretched by the large mamaliga, with plenty of things in it, eaten two nights before, those problems being felt right from the beginning and having quite an impact, even if they gradually faded as time passed. My right knee also gave some warnings towards the end, mainly on sector three of lap three, but that’s barely worth mentioning by comparison.

After briefly checking the nearby Mega Image on the way back, entering with the recyclable with the deposit symbol which I had picked up by then and picking up one more after walking out, I ate what was still somewhat usable out of a mostly spoiled banana and a lunch that consisted mainly of some slices of homemade “pizza” brought by dad, probably made by my cousin from that side and which was worse than some focaccias bought from hypermarkets, and in which I also found a hair. I also added what was left of some shiitake mushrooms that I had fried and boiled a few days earlier, but those didn’t make that much of a difference. Either way, I also did the day’s squats, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again a little before 8 PM, with a box of regular recyclables that I left next to the bag from the garbage room, since it wouldn’t fit in it, and some old paint that I threw down the chute, plus the recyclables with the deposit symbol, and I picked up some more on the way to Carrefour.
After putting those recyclables in the machine from there, splitting into two vouchers, I just bought a little garlic, needing to enter the code manually after the warning displayed by the scales, that the printer was badly worn and there might be problems when trying to scan the bar code, was proven true, and then I also cashed in those vouchers, though an employee came as I was paying for the garlic, took the two coins which had been left on the machine, and asked whether another voucher received for recyclables, which had a large value on it, was mine, and when I said that it wasn’t she checked to make sure that it had already been used and then took it away, saying that they can’t leave large amounts there, before letting me cash in my vouchers as well.
After putting the garlic in one of the jacket’s pockets, I continued to Kaufland, washing my hands and entering the store a couple of minutes after 9 PM, but only a few discounted products were left in the bakery area and a nicer bun that I could use instead of bread was the only one that I cared for, so after scanning another label and confirming that the product in question only had the regular discount that it had those days, I eventually took that bun, even if most of the cereals which should have been on it seemed to have been scraped off. And then I grabbed a few expiring products, even if most were imported, along with some biscuits and one more thing.
After arranging the purchases, I continued to that Mega Image, putting my things in a cabinet and noticing some wrong discount labels in the bakery area, so I notified the employee who was there about two of them and she took those products away, but when I noticed another issue and notified the other employee who was having a look at the time, she told me that those labels were actually correct, even if that couldn’t be the case, seeing as they stated that some buns weighed more than the much larger ones of the same kind that were right next to them. Either way, after initially grabbing the one bread that was left and which had the 50% evening discount, I eventually put it back and took the two sliced breads that were discounted by 90% that I spotted, thinking that, while I was actually taking them for dad, I could make some use of their ends for myself, even if they were small. And then I found some nicer roes discounted by 90% left among the refrigerated expiring products and took them, even if they had likely been returned there, since they were in plain sight and the only product with that 90% discount that was left there. And those roes also gave the cashier a fair amount of trouble, since the actual bar codes hadn’t been covered by the discount label and they kept scanning instead of it, so she had to remove them multiple times, but at least she eventually managed to scan the discounted price, and then I retrieved my things and made my way back, picking up some more recyclables with the deposit symbol, including a can with a flattened bottom half.
It was almost 10:55 PM when I got back, and then I cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, struggled for some time to straighten that can to some extent, put the purchases in their place, washed what was in the kitchen, and ate the last, large, slice of cake brought by dad some time before, possibly after having left it there a little too long, judging by the foul gas I started having and the way the left side of my tongue started feeling shortly after that. Either way, it was almost 1:20 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and take a bath, 2:30 AM when I was done, and 3:55 AM when I started eating dinner, finishing at 4:30 AM, after spending the last several minutes getting what was stuck on the plate. And I got in bed at 6 AM, at which point I felt that the bone spur from my spine had caught something again, and my right leg once again felt rather numb after that, the feeling persisting after I got up, as did the irritation in my nose.

I’ll also mention here that the following night I started eating dinner at 3:05 AM and, while I would have otherwise still finished at 3:40 AM, I then ended up spending ten minutes gathering all that was stuck on the plate, so I actually finished at 3:50 AM. And, after backing up the documents folder on an USB stick but forgetting to also use /DST, getting scared when I saw that it was replacing pretty much every file, stopping it, then taking a few minutes to figure out what had happened and then finally doing it properly, I got in bed at 5:30 AM… By which point I was also feeling something in my chest.

Before getting to January’s last run, I’ll also mention that on January 27 I finally installed the month’s Windows updates, setting the new computer’s uptime record to 36 days, 26 minutes and 41 or 42 seconds, including the time between taking the screenshot and the system actually rebooting. And then I also installed the software for the UPS, sticking to the old one, even if it’s been discontinued, and being relieved to find that it no longer lost connection.

As for that last run, it was on January 28, and in that day’s early hours I put the beets in the oven and the few carrots that I had left on the stove and then shaved, thinking that I was going to have time, especially after having already sliced the bread during the evening… But I ended up eating dinner between 3:15 AM and 3:50 AM, the salad also containing the core and the sprouted parts of a large onion which had sprouted, since I still didn’t have green onions. And, after waking up multiple times, including once because of an SMS about an order, and having some trouble getting back to sleep on that occasion and the last one, which must have been a little after 12:30 PM, since I checked the time after a while and saw 12:41 PM, I think that I had just fallen asleep again when the alarm rang, at 1 PM, and I got up. Then I had the usual stuff, with the sweet thing consisting of the last slice of the cozonac brought by dad from his sister, with added honey, and left at 3:20 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was 17-18°C, holding steady.
The time was 47:23.45, with sector times of 4:18.91, 5:06 (5:05.54), 5:52.31, 4:29.03, 4:58.06, 5:45 (5:44.60), 4:25 (4:24.90), 5:01.28, 5:45 (5:44.85) and 1:44 (1:43.97), making for lap times of 15:16.76, 15:12 (15:11.69) and 15:11.03. I had decided to continue to 16 km if I won’t get back under 48 minutes on ten kilometers, but wasn’t sure if I didn’t want to run 16 km anyway, so I really didn’t know how much I wanted to push on the first sector and that time was better than I expected, while after two sectors the target was to at least cover the first lap in less than the 15:20 that’s the target lap time for 48 minutes, which I did. And then, even if my chances of actually staying under 48 minutes looked poor, when I really had to make up my mind, after sector one of lap two, I decided to at least try, so I pushed harder and obtained good times, thinking after the end of the lap that I could make it after all. And when, after sector two of lap three, I felt quite safe, at least unless I was going to have notable problems, I decided to add another minor challenge and continue to 16 km if I’ll somehow fail to stay under six minutes on sector three of lap three. There was also the fact that it seemed very likely that I was going to cover 16 km in less than 1:18 if I was going to try it that day, the question being about 1:17, and it’d have been nice to obtain such a time after not running more than ten kilometers since the marathon, but after going over 48 minutes five times in a row, I was more interested in at least another normal time over ten kilometers. And when, at the end of lap three, it seemed that I might just squeeze under 47:30 as well, that became my target and I kept pushing, managing that while also obtaining a very good time on the final sector.
I again felt like I wasn’t getting enough oxygen early on and had to work on my breathing over the course of the first lap, things improving after that, though over the first half or so of lap two I was starting to feel drained, as if I was slipping out of runner’s high, before that feeling also passed and things seemed to settle. Otherwise, a slight pressing need also made its presence occasionally known over the course of lap two and once again on sector three of lap three, but it was never a real problem. And the weather was just about perfect and there were no other issues, except a pretty normal amount of weaving and going the long way around, the reasons being split between the lane and other people. My nose was quite irritated after the run, but that had been the case even before it.

On the way back, I grabbed a recyclable with the deposit symbol and the label from another one that was too crushed… And when I picked that one up I found that the bottom was cracked and the juice that was left in it spilled on my shoe. Either way, after getting back I ate lunch, in the form of some slices of pizza which had been brought by dad, did the day’s squats, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and after cleaning the litter box, going to drop a bag of trash down the chute and coming back to wash my hands, I left again at 7:20 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, including a plastic bottle on which I had placed that label, even if it was from something entirely different and even slightly larger. And I picked up some more on the way to Carrefour, putting them in a cabinet that didn’t lock after deciding against using the recycling machine from there and then retrieving them after just having a quick look in the store. And then I decided that I had time to also go to Auchan after all, picking up some more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way and putting all of them in the machine from there… Or more exactly in two machines, since after getting a voucher for dad’s recyclables and putting in the first one of mine, the first machine stopped, and the other one that I moved to while the first one was being serviced soon stopped as well, though at least it was restarted quickly and I could continue with the remaining recyclables, ending up with four vouchers. However, that bottle on which I had placed that label wasn’t accepted, and when I tried to place that label on another plastic bottle which I picked up from one of the bins that were there, that didn’t work either, so I dropped that other bottle back in the bin and entered the store with my remaining one.
I was mainly going to Auchan for chamomile tea and maybe a pack of those wheat things, but after picking those up I also grabbed a bottle of liquid soap and an expiring protein bar, and this last thing ended up taking quite a while, because the discount label was covering the ingredients and I looked for the product on the shelf but couldn’t find it. I had also spotted some biscuits among the expiring products that had their ingredients covered in the same manner and I couldn’t find those in the regular place on the shelf either, but while I could eventually spot “hydrogenated fat” among the ingredients of the biscuits and therefore discarded them, the only way to read those of that protein bar was to very carefully peel off the discount label, which is made so it’ll tear into strips, I guess so it won’t be peeled off one product and placed on another. But I eventually managed it, and then I initially went to the one self-checkout that allows cashing in vouchers received for recyclables, but by the time I got there I realized that I was going to be able to use all of them while paying for the purchases, and that self-checkout was in use, so I meant to use the one next to it… Only to realize just as I was about to start scanning that it only accepted cards, so I had to wait for that one after all, by which point I had decided to just buy two of the teas and leave the third one there… And then, while I remembered to use the small amount left on the store card, I forgot to use those vouchers, so it was a good thing that I was at that machine, because I had to cash them in anyway, after paying for the purchases.
I then rushed to Kaufland, deciding to try that recyclable there as well before entering the store but only losing a little time, since a single recycling machine was working and it was in use, so I gave up, put my things in a cabinet, washed my hands, and entered the store when it was almost 9:20 PM. The listed bakery discounts were of 50% at that point, but I scanned the labels for the nicer buns and the sweet pastry that I was interested in and found that they were actually discounted by 75%, so I took two of the buns and the last one of those sweet pastries… But I forgot that I meant to spend half of those 3 RON found after the run from two weeks before on deeply discounted products and then give them away, and as I already mentioned it seems that I won’t be getting other opportunities to do so, at least for the moment. Either way, there were few evening discounts for vegetables and they weren’t that great, so I eventually spent way more than I’d have wanted on a lettuce with root and two pretty small kohlrabies, also grabbing a bunch of kohlrabi leaves from that crate, then wasted time until 9:45 PM, hoping for some new or increased discounts but seeing none… And those kohlrabies were apparently too small for the machine to accept them as the correct products on their own, but after I added the bag with the leaves on the scales it allowed me to continue, and I once again scanned the QR code for dad’s store app.
After retrieving my things and arranging everything, I walked out just before the closing announcement and saw a cart with the coin in it, but I didn’t take it right away, wondering if it didn’t belong to the person who had parked next to it and who was just finishing unloading another cart. So I first went back to the recycling machines and, after that bottle on which I had placed that label still wasn’t accepted like that, I put it on another one that I grabbed from one of the bins and that one was accepted… But I didn’t gain anything, because the man who finished using one of the machines just before I did that also spotted that cart, walked to it before I got back there and retrieved the coin. But at least I picked up a few more recyclables with the deposit symbol on the way back.
I got back a couple of minutes after 10:30 PM, then I separated the kohlrabi stems, to just keep the leaves, put most of the purchases in their place, ate an apple and a sweet pastry that I already had, washed what was in the kitchen, and it was past 12:20 AM when I went to shower, the water not being good enough for more than that, so I was done only some 25 minutes later… But then I spent some time in my room, so it was just about 1:15 AM when I went back to the kitchen, and then I also put the remaining purchases in their place, dealt with one more of my breads which I had purchased two days earlier but then just put them all in the fridge, since dad was going to get up very early and I didn’t want to make noise while struggling to make them fit in the freezer, also used the smaller kohlrabi leaves and some of the lettuce in the salad, and put the roes which had expired a month earlier but which I had kept in the freezer since then into jars, which took a while, because the oil separated pretty much completely when they thawed and I tried to sieve it before pretty much giving up on that idea. So I ended up eating dinner between 3:20 AM and 3:50 AM, though I had licked plenty of those roes before that point.

Since I finally managed to write about the last runs of 2024, it’s time for another one of these posts, obviously just for my own use, likely including as a way to stay at least somewhat motivated. Just as before, I didn’t copy the times for the shorter distances, so those are still in the first two such posts. And I still consider the Dream Trek Summer Edition as something different and not relevant for these purposes, so I’m still not including it here, even if I took part in it last year as well. On the other hand, with the new additions compared to the previous such post again being underlined and the usual notes being in the same format, between square brackets, with the first value representing the distance and the second the lap on which that particular time was achieved, only a few additional comments were needed. And the times still include only the seconds, ignoring the fact that I now usually have exact ones as well, especially for the 10 km runs, and those may change some things. And I still won’t link to the page where I list all the times and also have charts, since it’s still in the temporary location and still lacks many of the dates, the situation being pretty much the same as it’s been for the past few years… Which is also why I discarded the idea of actually adding the dates here, though I have been considering it for a while.

10 km (through the park)
1. 45:59
2. 46:09
3. 46:18
4-5. 46:22 (twice)
6. 46:24
7. 46:28
8. 46:31
9. 46:32
10. 46:35

16 km (through the park)
1. 1:14:53
2. 1:15:10
3. 1:15:37
4. 1:15:40
5. 1:16:09
6. 1:16:16
7. 1:16:17
8-9. 1:16:47 (twice)
10. 1:16:48

Half Marathon (21.1 km)
I. Bucharest Half Marathon real time
1. 1:43:13
2. 1:45:36
3. 1:45:42
4. 1:49:26
5. 1:50:54
6. 1:51:54
7. 1:54:56
8. 2:02:38
II. Through the park
1. 1:42:20
2. 1:42:52
3. 1:42:54
4. 1:43:15
5. 1:43:23
6. 1:43:49
7. 1:44:04
8. 1:44:29
9. 1:44:51
10-11. 1:45:50 (twice)

35.2 km (through the park)
1. 3:18:07
2. 3:23:09
3. 3:25:45
4. 3:26:38
5. 3:42:43
6. 3:44:40

Marathon (42.2 km) – Bucharest Marathon real time
1. 3:57:49
2. 4:02:14
3. 4:11:28
4. 4:14:40
5. 4:19:40

Lap around the park lake (3.2 km) [10-1 unless otherwise specified]
1. 14:21
2. 14:31
3. 14:38
4. 14:40 [10-3]
5-6. 14:41 (twice [10-3])
7-8. 14:43 (twice)
9-10. 14:44 [16-1] (twice)

Lap sector one [10-1]
1. 3:56
2. 4:00
3-4. 4:03 (twice)
5. 4:05
6-7. 4:06 (twice)
8-11. 4:07 (and a second, third and fourth time)

Lap sector two
Note: All times from one and two years ago are still here, despite the new additions.
1. 4:32 [10-1]
2. 4:42 [10-2] (Slightly uncertain that I remembered it correctly.)
3. 4:49 [16-2]
4-14. 4:50 [10-1] (and a second [10-2], third [16-2], fourth [10-1], fifth [10-1], sixth [10-3], seventh [10-3], eighth [10-2], ninth [10-2], tenth [10-3] and eleventh [10-3] time)

Lap sector three [10-3 unless otherwise specified]
Note: All times from one and two years ago are still here, despite the new additions.
1. 5:24 [10-1]
2. 5:25 [10-1]
3-4. 5:32 (twice)
5. 5:33 [16-5]
6. 5:34
7-12. 5:35 (and a second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth [10-1] time)

Final sector on a 10 km run
Note: All times from up to five years ago are still here, despite the new additions since then.
1. 1:40
2-3. 1:41 (twice)
4-9. 1:42 (and a second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth time)
10-21. 1:43 (and a second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh and thelfth time)

Final section of a Half Marathon (21.1 km) run (through the park)
1. 9:40
2. 9:42
3. 9:45
4. 9:52
5-6. 9:54 (twice)
7. 10:00
8-9. 10:03 (twice)
10. 10:04

Even if I was glad to have apparently been proven wrong when she was allowed to compete again, I guess I can say that my initial assessment that Halep’s ban will mark the end of the career was, in the end, correct, just that it took her 11 months of struggle, plagued by injuries that only allowed her to play six official matches and win a single one, to admit it and announce her retirement. And I do believe her when she said that she hadn’t made up her mind at the start of what ended up being her final match, only doing so when what happened on court made it clear that her body simply couldn’t handle playing tennis at a high level anymore.
But the question that remains is who should, and most preferably who actually will, pay for what was done to her, especially considering the recent cases of other important players testing positive for banned substances, claiming that it was a result of contamination, and receiving little more than a slap on the wrist, possibly without the matter even being made public at first. Not that actual payment, in terms of money, would make up for ending such a great career and the toll all of this took on her health, both physical and mental, and possibly her personal life as well, but some culprits should, at the very least, be clearly identified, and measures should be implemented to greatly reduce the risk of others needing to go through something like this. And by “measures” I’m referring to specific decisions and regulations, not decisionmakers choosing to more or less turn a blind eye, as it happened in those cases that I mentioned…

In the early hours of December 19, I started eating dinner at 3:10 AM, but still finished at 3:40 AM. Then, after getting up after the alarm rang, at 1 PM, I had the usual stuff, with the yogurt being an expired bio (organic) “Greek” one with 8% protein and 2% fat, while the sweet thing once again consisted of two of those nicer biscuits, with added honey. Since the reported temperature was 12°C and it held basically steady, I just wore the full running gear and an undershirt, leaving at 3:10 PM.
The time was 47:12.26, with sector times of 4:16.60, 5:05 (5:04.41), 5:51.47, 4:30.00, 5:01.12, 5:40.00, 4:23 (4:22.94), 4:55.44, 5:42 (5:41.18) and 1:49.10, making for lap times of 15:12.48, 15:11.12 and 15:00 (14:59.56). Since it felt like my right shoelace was coming loose and I looked at it multiple times on the first sector’s long straight, I feared a poor time on that sector, so I was quite pleased with what I saw at the end of it, but after two sectors I had doubts about staying under 48 minutes, and those doubts remained at the end of the lap. And then I actually stopped for a few seconds because of that shoelace on the long straight of sector one of lap two, but I pushed hard after that, so that sector’s time was probably pretty much the same as it’d have been if I’d have continued running normally. But after sector two of lap two I was quite worried, even if that sector’s time was good in itself, so from sector three of lap two I pushed really hard, being pleased with that sector’s time, as well as with the lap’s time. And after sector one of lap three I thought of squeezing under 47:30 and kept pushing in order to manage that, doubting that I’ll be safe at the end of the lap but finding at that point that I actually had a chance to get under 47:15 as well, which I also managed.
While I obviously still had to weave or go the long way around at times, I wouldn’t say that the people caused any notable problems, and I even used the lane more than I’d normally tend to, despite all of the damage. And there were no particular physical issues either, while the fact that it was sunny meant that I could also see the time well enough. So the only notable loss of time was what I already mentioned, when I probably slowed down a little while I kept looking at that shoelace on the long straight of sector one of lap one and then actually stopped for a few seconds in the same area of lap two, hoping to cut my losses by tightening it then and preventing it from actually getting untied later.

I picked up a few cans with the deposit symbol on the way back, then vacuumed in the kitchen, weighed myself and found that I had less than 45 kg, did a load of laundry and the day’s squats, ate lunch, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt and the undershirt on, went to pay the maintenance bill, and after dropping off the receipt I left again at 8:25 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, and on the way to Penny I picked up two more, one of them being a pretty crushed can that I couldn’t do much about. But the recycling machine from Penny was sluggish, and when it took the first recyclable it just ate it, so I entered with the others, got what I wanted to get for dad and mentioned the issue to the guard after paying, and he seemed aware of it, but didn’t offer a coin for that eaten recyclable or anything, and only after I repeated that there should be a note about it did he use the radio… Not that I’m sure that it was for that, not hearing what he actually said, but when I walked out I saw some people in front of the machine, talking to the other guard. Either way, that meant adding that amount to what I had to recover from Penny at that point.
The next destination was Carrefour, but I first put in the remaining recyclables in the machine from Kaufland, even that crushed can being accepted without problems, and checked to make sure that it closed at 11 PM in that location as well. Then I entered Carrefour with the purchases from Penny and got some garlic and a bag of supposedly spoiling Florina apples, though they looked good, without charging myself for the bag when I used the self-checkout. And I was just paying when the closing announcement came, but I then took my time to arrange the purchases in the backpack, and also grabbed another recyclable with the deposit symbol, before walking out of that mall.
After putting that recyclable in the machine from Kaufland as well, I went to that Mega Image, entering with the purchases and seeing the employee placing the 90% discount labels, with a few other people around the cart, and when I meant to pick up one product one of them told me to wait until the employee was done, and that she was going to grab that one anyway. And when another product that I’d have been interested in showed up, someone else claimed it, so after the employee was done and asked us to wait until she also took a picture of all of those products, I just grabbed two bio (organic) yogurts.
When I finally reached Kaufland, I first added those two yogurts in the backpack, then washed my hands and entered the store, with everything, just before 10:30 PM, grabbing two bakery products that were discounted by 75% and scanning two other labels, which just confirmed that the regular bread had no discount and something else only had 50%. Then I looked around a little, grabbing an expiring product and considering getting some spoiling mushrooms, but eventually deciding against it, though there was an odd moment while I was looking at them, an employee calling out to me that the store had closed, so I called back that there were 15 minutes left and she muttered something about lying to the other one, but I’m not entirely certain what she said. Either way, I then went to the self-checkout, using the voucher for the single recyclable when I paid and then cashing in the other one, after which I took my time to arrange the purchases again before walking out just at 11 PM.
I got back at 11:25 PM, ate a banana and another piece of the cake, which I had taken out of the freezer before leaving again in the evening, put most of the purchases in their place, cleaned the litter box and went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, and went to wash at 12:30 AM. I was done just after 1:15 AM, then I washed what was in the sink and cleaned a little after dad in the kitchen, put the remaining purchases in the fridge, rearranging the fruits in order to make them fit, and ate dinner between 3:25 AM and 4:05 AM.

Before moving on to December 23, when I ran again, I’ll also mention that I had noticed quite some time before that the apartment was full of fleas, or more exactly I had finally realized that what I had been seeing for a long time were fleas. That was also the reason why I had vacuumed in the kitchen after the previous run, and I had previously used some regular bug spray in my bedroom, while on December 22 I did so again, around the bed… Not that it seemed to do much good.
Either way, in the early hours of December 23 I put peanut butter on most of the bread, finally finishing the opened jar, which had expired in September, and on the last slices I put some jam. Then I got up when the alarm rang, at 1 PM, and had the usual stuff, the yogurt being an expired bio (organic) one with 5.5% protein and 4.5% fat, and the sweet thing consisted of a large doughnut, with added honey. I left at 3:30 PM, wearing the full running gear and the thinner old training shirt, despite the shape it’s in, plus that thing on my neck and the gloves, and the jacket on the way, tied around my waist as I ran. The reported temperature was 3°C, dropping to 1-2°C by the time I finished.
The time was 48:05.66, with sector times of 4:18.85, 5:12 (5:11.35), 6:02 (6:01.93), 4:30.35, 5:11 (5:10.72), 5:49.28, 4:24.47, 5:04 (5:03.46), 5:44 (5:43.69) and 1:51.56, making for lap times of 15:32.13, 15:30.35 and 15:12 (15:11.62). I was feeling myself tiring even before the end of the first sector, so I wasn’t surprised by that time, even if I’d have obviously liked a better one. And after the second sector I was quite sure that I was looking at just staying under 49 minutes, and at the end of the first lap I was wondering even about that. So I tried to do a little better on lap two, and on sector three I actually pushed, being pleased by that sector’s time. And then, since after the end of lap two I started wondering about squeezing under 48:30, I kept pushing, and after sector two of lap three I thought that I was almost safe. But then, in part thanks to having a faster runner as a target, sector three of lap three was the fastest sector three of the day, and the lap was the day’s best as well, so at the end of it I was thinking that I’ll also squeeze under 48:10, which I did by a safe margin. But I was still on the wrong side of 48 minutes, and briefly stopping on sector two of lap three doesn’t account for that difference. It’s probably enough if you add the other moments when I lost a little bit of time, but that’s no excuse, so this remains a poor time.
Early on, I was thinking that the lack of energy that I was feeling was in part caused by that doughnut, being greasy, but the temperature was also a problem, as was the fact that fog was falling more and more as time passed. My fingers were frozen stiff by the end of lap one, so pulling the glove off to press the button, looking at the time and then putting it back on might have cost me a little more time than usual, and starting on the long straight of sector two of lap two I was noticing that the fact that my toes were also freezing, those from my right foot seeming to do worse, had some negative effect as well, though I might have corrected that on lap three. And a slight pressing need and also the feeling that I had to snap my back appeared at one point, I believe on sector three of lap two, but both faded after that. Otherwise, as I already mentioned, I briefly stopped on sector two of lap three, in order to see the time better, but on the other hand being passed by another runner, who then gradually pulled ahead despite being bundled up in a thick jacket, made me push even harder on sector three of lap three. And a surprising thing was that the lane wasn’t soggy, even though it had rained over the past couple of days… But it was still badly damaged, of course.

I picked up a recyclable with the deposit symbol on the way back, washing it a little when I got here, after doing the day’s squats. And then I counted and sorted 90 RON in coins for Penny’s campaign, since dad had told me to also take most of the pile he had gathered, so that took a while and then I just ate some grapes and a pastry that was supposed to be sweet but didn’t taste like much of anything, except perhaps butter, changed, leaving the running t-shirt and the training shirt on, and left a little after 8:10 PM, taking all those coins and the recyclables with the deposit symbol, picking up one more on the way to Penny Titan and putting them in the machine from there before telling an employee that I was there for the coins campaign… Only for her to let someone know through the headset and then say that she had been told to tell me to come back the next day because nobody was available to deal with that at that point… And I wasn’t going to go back there the next day, so I told her that and muttered a little about having brought so much for nothing before having a look in the store and just getting some expiring roes, using the voucher received for the recyclables when I paid.
After adding the roes in the backpack, I considered continuing to the next Penny and trying to hand over the coins there as well, but I decided against it and turned back, grabbing a few more recyclables with the deposit symbol as I approached Carrefour and trying to put them in the machine from there… Only for it to display the message that no bins were available, and a man who was also there at the time said that the guy who was supposed to work there had already left. However, plenty of recyclables with the deposit symbol had been left in the bins, so I grabbed those too, then put my things in a cabinet, finding a 0.50 RON coin which had been left there, and then retrieving everything after checking the store, without buying anything. However, going there turned out to be quite profitable, seeing as I grabbed yet more recyclables from that mall, and a few more on the way to Kaufland, the bag getting so full that after a while I didn’t really look for more. And, with the exception of three cans which weren’t accepted, and which I kept, I put those, along with a couple more which I picked up from there, in the recycling machine from Kaufland, even those which had been crushed and which I wasn’t sure that I had straightened well enough on the way being accepted.
After putting my things in a cabinet and washing my hands, I entered the store just after 10:15 PM, initially seeing labels listing discounts of 50% at the bakery area, but then noticing the sheets of paper with the discounts of 75%, which had just been left there. So I took one and scanned one QR code from it in order to confirm that the listed price was the correct one, then grabbed three buns and two sweet pastries, plus six regular breads for dad, a problem being that I didn’t find any bread or anything that I could use instead of bread for myself. Either way, after having a look at the expiring products and grabbing something for dad and some more roes for myself, the price being the same as for those from Penny but the expiration date being a few days later, I made use of the great evening discounts for some vegetables. I wanted to get plums as well, but since several crates of them were still left when I got back to that area, I left them last, only getting back to them a few minutes before closing… And finding that area empty. The crates were stacked nearby, but when I started picking from them, the employee who was adding other crates to that stack told me to stop, saying that they had been discounted for over an hour and he was taking them to the back, so I just kept the few which I had managed to grab and made my way to the self-checkout, the closing announcement coming while I was still waiting in line.
After my turn finally came, the machine didn’t accept dad’s expiring product as the correct one, and a single employee was working that area, so it took a while for her to get to me and override that error. On the other hand, I found that the discount for dad’s bread had increased to 80%. But then I ended up waiting even longer before I was able to also cash in the voucher received for the recyclables, because pretty much as soon as I paid and grabbed my change, another employee brought a young couple to that machine, moved my products aside as I was trying to pick them back up, and let them use the machine, so I had to wait until they were done, stepping in before the employee who wanted to use the machine after them. He made a comment at that point, but I had been there first, so I didn’t even look at him. And then I retrieved my things and arranged everything in the backpack, walking away when it was past 11:15 PM.
It was almost 11:45 PM when I got back, then I put most of the purchases in their place, and it was 12:55 AM when I went to wash, noticing something that looked worryingly like the beginning of a yeast infection when I pulled back my foreskin, though I later realized that I had been slacking on washing that area every day and the problem went away after I started doing so again. But, to return to that night, after washing I wasted quite a few minutes to try to put something in its place, so it was almost 1:50 AM when I was out of the bathroom. And then I also cut my toenails, only finally getting back in the kitchen when it was past 2:10 AM. And I still had the remaining purchases to put in their place, which also meant arranging the vegetables, and some things to wash, and I also cleaned a little and moved most of the roes from Penny into a jar, so I ate lunch, on and off, between 3 AM and 3:40 AM and dinner between 4:20 AM and 5:05 AM. And I got in bed at 6:15 AM.

I’ll also mention here that in the evening of December 24 I started Milo and the Christmas Gift, just poking around for a few moments, but the game skipped the intro when I started it again, so I guess it counts. And there were no visits that day. And then, on December 25, I surprisingly won a giveaway on the GOG.com forums despite having a single entry and two others having six each, making me feel the need to apologize for that luck. But, with the prize being a free choice and seeing as I don’t want to be the reason why games that have regional price hikes are purchased, my options were very limited and I picked Balrum, which I then installed just to check that it started up. And later I actually played Milo and the Christmas Gift, in one sitting, also writing a quick review for it that night. And on December 26 I finished The Lost Metal, though I only wrote the quick review two days later, before starting Henry Halifax and the Tutori’s Cloak, which I finished two more days later, once again postponing writing the quick review, albeit for just one day in that case. And after posting that quick review I also finished the tutorial campaign in Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom. And I’ll also mention here that there were no visits recorded on December 31, and then I yet again ended up taking too long and got in bed at 5:20 AM. And on January 1 I also started Chains of Satinav.

To move on to the next run, in the early hours of January 2 I ate dinner between 3:20 AM and 3:50 AM. Then I got up when the alarm rang, at 1 PM, and had the usual stuff, though in case of the cereals I added some oats on top of what was mostly cereal dust left at the bottom of the bag of whole grains, while the sweet thing consisted of a slice of cozonac, with added honey. On the other hand, it took a long time to only leave a little in the toilet. But I had to run, so I left at 3:30 PM, wearing the full running gear, with some things in the pocket of my tights, plus that thing on my neck, and the jacket on the way, tied around my waist as I ran. The reported temperature was 11-12°C, dropping by what was most probably a couple of degrees by the time I finished, though I couldn’t actually check at that point.
The time was 49:49.70, with sector times of 4:31, 5:24, 6:11, 4:48, 5:21, 5:59, 4:40, 5:16, 5:45 and 1:54.00, making for lap times of 16:06, 16:08 and 15:41. I realized from the beginning that there was no point in looking at the exact times, so I didn’t, though sector three of lap three would have deserved it. But it was clear that even staying under 50 minutes was going to be difficult, after sector two of lap one it seemed next to impossible, and after the first lap I was wondering whether I’ll even squeeze under 51 minutes. That passable sector three of lap two, when I took advantage of the clearer lane to push more, changed things a little, the target becoming to stay under 50:30, and after sector one of lap three the thought of perhaps having the slimmest chance of staying under 50 minutes after all crossed my mind again, even though at that point it seemed purely theoretical. But after the following sector I realized that I might just have that chance, if sector three of lap three will also be clearer, and it was, so I really gave everything, being really surprised by the time. Not that merely being safely under 50 minutes wouldn’t be bad, but I was ready to accept it under those conditions… Though when I checked and found that the only worse times since the hospitalization were obtained under special circumstances, not conditions, I felt worse.
The main problem was that it was awfully crowded, one potentially dangerous moment being on what I believe was sector three of lap one, though there is some chance that it was on sector two of lap one, when I was weaving a path through the crowd when a cyclist who was coming from the opposite direction was doing the same and we barely managed to stop in time to avoid crashing into each other. But otherwise I kept having to find ways through, squeeze, go on the grass, slow or even briefly stop, the only exceptions being those that are obvious from the times, sector three of lap two, where I only had to deal with a couple of roadblocks, and sector three of lap three, where the lane was pretty much clear. The rest of the path was crowded on those sectors as well, but most people stayed off the running lane, so I had to use it way more than I normally would, but I could run. And I used the lane way more than I normally would throughout the run, to at least be able to claim some right of way, not that it did much good. So, compared to all of that, the fact that it was somewhat windy as well didn’t make much of a difference… But having fallen in Kaufland several days earlier did, and as I started running I realized that the pain that I thought was from my backbone was most probably from a muscle that I had done something to at that point, and at first it was quite a problem. It lessened after a while, but it still prevented me from sprinting to take advantage of any clearer areas, though it’s possible that the good time from sector three of lap three was also thanks to the fact that by then I had warmed up enough to not really feel it anymore.

After the run I went to Kaufland, since it closed at 6 PM that day, though I also had a quick look in the Mega Image that’s next to the farmers’ market on the way. And I picked up a recyclable with the deposit symbol, so I put it in the machine from Kaufland, then washed my hands and entered the store a little after 5:10 PM, once again finding few products left in the bakery area and a woman who was just about to reach for the nicer buns, but that time around I was there just in time and reached over to grab two of those, even if they were still quite expensive, only being discounted by 51%. And I also saw one last bun of a cheaper kind, which was smaller and worse than those cheap ones that I tend to get and almost as much as their full price at half price, but I took it anyway, since I was going to use the three buns instead of bread for two days. On the other hand, there were no evening discounts for fruits or vegetables, but I eventually grabbed a few apples of a kind I hadn’t tried before that were among the spoiling products, even if they were expensive even with the discount. And then, after looking around a little longer, I took my place in the long line for the self-checkouts, using the voucher received for that recyclable when my turn came and then arranging the purchases.
I then jogged to another Mega Image, putting my things in cabinet, without locking it, and getting one of those apple pastries, two breads for dad and one more thing for myself, all of these products being at half price. And, after retrieving what I had in the cabinet and arranging everything properly, I wondered which other Mega Image to check next, since those closed at 7 PM that day, and while I initially walked, meaning to go to that one that’s next to Tei, after a little while I decided to come straight back, once again jogging, since I wanted to make sure that I had time to at least check the nearby one without being rushed out in case I’ll somehow find something else to buy. But I didn’t, so I just put my things in a cabinet that didn’t lock and then retrieved them again.
There was nothing new in the litter box, but dad had forgotten the bag which I had left in the morning, so after getting back I went to drop it down the chute. Then I put the purchases in their place, ate one of those apples from Kaufland and the apple pastry, did the day’s squats, took a bath, ate lunch, with some expired salty pretzels instead of bread, and easily stuck to the dinner schedule at night. And I’ll also mention here that no visits were recorded on January 3.

I didn’t have green onions for the salad made in the early hours of January 9, so I used a red one. Then, after getting up when the alarm rang, at 1 PM, I had the usual stuff, though I didn’t open a new bag of whole grains, so I just put regular oats in the yogurt, which was a smaller but nicer one, “creamy” and with 4.6% protein and 5% fat, while the sweet thing once again consisted of a slice of cozonac, with added honey. On the other hand, I just wasted time on the toilet, despite feeling that I had something to leave there. Either way, I left at 3:30 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was 16-17°C, only dropping by about 1°C by the time I finished.
The time was 48:23.01, with sector times of 4:19.01, 5:08.69, 5:58 (5:57.81), 4:34 (4:33.68), 5:07.70, 5:54.06, 4:30 (4:29.59), 5:05 (5:04.81), 5:53.00 and 1:55 (1:54.66), making for lap times of 15:25.51, 15:35.44 and 15:28 (15:27.40). I was hoping to get back under 48 minutes, but that muscle, if that’s what it was, made it unlikely, and after the first two sectors I wondered whether I’ll even complete the first lap in less than the 15:20 that’s the target lap time for 48 minutes… And I didn’t, which made me think that even staying under 49 minutes won’t be easy, the first sector of lap two making that even clearer. However, after the end of the lap I wondered whether I could squeeze under 48:30, even if that required no worse than the exact same time on lap three as on lap two. So I pushed from the start of lap three, to at least know that I did my best, thinking that I was going to have that chance after two sectors and already being safe at the end of the lap. But that’s still a poor time, and while that muscle offers something of an excuse, I should have still done better.
As I already mentioned, what I guess was that muscle which I hurt after falling in Kaufland was still hurting, being a problem from the start, and while the pain gradually lessened, it shot through that area when I put my left foot sideways on the long straight of sector one of lap two, to avoid stepping on a damaged spot of the lane, once again being worse for some time before lessening again… Until it shot through that area once more right at the end of sector two of lap three, when I wasn’t aware of having done anything which might have caused it. It wasn’t as bad as the first time, but then my left hip was giving warnings, so I tried to be careful on sector three of lap three. And there was pain in my abdomen as well, along with the need to snap my back, at least since sector three of lap one, only lessening on lap three and never actually going away. Otherwise, the lane continued to be damaged in all sorts of ways and a number of areas were also wet, what struck me as strange being that a couple of sizable areas of the path around the lake were wet as well. But at least the people weren’t much of a problem, still requiring me to weave and go the long way around plenty of times but only causing one notable problem, on sector one of lap one, when I slowed and hesitated because a kid on a bicycle moved to pass someone on the inside just as I was catching him and almost moved right in front of me. I also had to take to the grass right at the end of lap three, slowing while doing so, but since I cut that turn in the process, it probably didn’t make a difference in terms of time.

On the way back, I had a quick look in the nearby Mega Image, leaving the recyclable with the deposit symbol which I had picked up by then outside and then retrieving it. Then I ate lunch, did the day’s squats, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and left again at 8:10 PM, with the plastic and metal, which I dropped off in a recycling bin on the way, and a few more recyclables with the deposit symbol, which I put in the machine from Kaufland. Then I washed my hands, and it was a little after 8:40 PM when I entered the store, seeing that bakery discounts of 50% had already been made and some of those nicer cheap buns were left, so I took three of them. Then I asked another employee who seemed to be getting some things for herself and then started talking to another customer whether she could tell me what a kind of bread was, but she said that she couldn’t, so I waited until I could more easily get the attention of the one from that area and asked her, which made her come out, find the proper label for that product and place it there. But that label didn’t list any discount, and I didn’t see anything else to get, so I then had a look at the fruits and vegetables, not seeing good evening discounts but eventually getting some bananas, which got an evening discount after 9 PM, even if it wasn’t that good. Otherwise, I also got some salt and some expiring beer for dad, and when I got back to the bakery area I scanned a couple of labels, but there were no new or increased discounts, so I eventually made my way to the self-checkout, accidentally entering four buns at first and needing to call the employee to remove one. Then, after needing to call him again to authorize the sale of beer, I also used the voucher received for the recyclables, and the closing announcement came while I was arranging the purchases.
I walked out at 10:05 PM and initially just meant to check the non-stop Mega Image on the way back, but I had dad’s metro card and when I got to the metro station I decided to take the metro to Carrefour Unirii, putting my things in a cabinet when I got there. Then, even if I hadn’t washed my hands again and they aren’t as wasteful as those from Obor in that location, so they don’t bag the bakery products when they make the discounts, I took a sweet pastry with the 50% evening discount, plus an expiring bread and some expiring bean spread for dad. Then I retrieved my things, added the pastry and the spread in the backpack and walked away with the bread in my hand, grabbing a recyclable with the deposit symbol on the way back to the metro station. And, since I wouldn’t have been able to switch at Dristor anyway, since it was past 11 PM, I got off there and checked that non-stop Mega Image as well, putting my things in a cabinet and then just retrieving them.
I got back at 11:55 PM, then I went to drop a bag of trash down the chute, put the purchases in their place, ate a banana and a cake which had been brought by dad some days before, washed what was in the kitchen, and it was 1:15 AM when I went to wash myself, being done at 1:55 AM. The problem was that my other training suit had only been washed the previous night and it had been on the rack for just under 24 hours at that point, so it was far from dry, but I put it on anyway, then I sliced dad’s bread, and I ate dinner between 3:45 AM and 4:40 AM, with the last several minutes spent getting what was stuck on the plate. And, while they were much better than the training suit, my pajamas weren’t quite dry either, the shirt being more or less fine but the pants a fair bit less so, yet before getting in bed I put those on as they were as well.