Cav's Place

This is a collection of short stories with fantasy elements that generally take place during the current invasion of Ukraine. The one exception, in terms of setting, is the first one, which is still presented from the point of view of a Ukrainian, but takes place in an alternate, dystopian reality, where Russia seems to pretty much rule the world. And that’s also one of the better ones in the book, and it makes a good point as well. And the same can be said about the third, though it probably overdoes the effect of state propaganda on Russians, at least at this point. On the other hand, I’m not quite sure what to say about the fifth, since it’s basically Doctor Who fan fiction and those familiar with that universe would be much better placed to comment, but it does look like quite a lot of effort was put into it… Though somebody “managed” to lose count of its chapters…
All but one of the rest are little bits of imagination that don’t aim too high, but at least the fourth and the seventh are good enough overall, at least for such short stories. The sixth is less so, and I wouldn’t even consider it as having a fantasy element, plus that “managing” to misspell National Geographic made me raise an eyebrow, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it bad either. I will do so when it comes to the second and the eighth, however, and while that eighth one is just a little thing that might not have really been meant to make much sense anyway, the second one seems to have aimed higher but failed, dragging on for a while without saying much, being written in a style that I’m not fond of, and having fantasy aspects that hardly make any sense whatsoever.

Rating: 3/5

On October 30, I got up when the alarm rang, at 2 PM, but it was hard to sleep after 9:30 AM. I saw 9:29 AM when I went to pee and heard workers shouting at each other, and while I initially managed to quickly get back to sleep, it was only 9:51 AM when I woke up again. After once again getting back to sleep, I was woken up one more time around 11:40 AM, when things were being thrown down from the top of the building, and when, a couple of minutes later, I decided to pee one more time, dad was in the bathroom, so I waited until he was done before going, and then it took me longer to get back to sleep… Only to wake up yet again and see that it was 1:37 PM, so I decided to pee once more, hoping to improve my chances of at least getting a little more sleep, but then somebody was at the door, just ringing and knocking briefly, and other noises continued, so I just waited for the alarm. Then I had the usual stuff, with the sweet thing being a slice of cozonac, with added honey, and left at 4:10 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was 26°C, dropping to 23-24°C by the time I finished, but it felt like it was less than that, maybe because the hour had changed and evening was coming.
The time was 47:51.45, with sector times of 4:20.64, 5:01.06, 5:52.25, 4:29 (4:28.25), 5:07.44, 5:56.34, 4:29 (4:28.22), 5:06.69, 5:46.06 and 1:45 (1:44.50), making for lap times of 15:13.95, 15:32.03 and 15:21 (15:20.97). I doubted that I’ll stay under 48 minutes again, but tried to push from the start and that first sector time seemed a little slower than it should have been. So I kept pushing and the second sector seemed better, but I was thinking that if I won’t get under 5:50 on sector three I quite clearly won’t stay under 48 minutes, and I didn’t stay under 5:50. And after sector one of lap two I was thinking that I had already lost more than I could afford to over the entire lap, and then sector two wasn’t that good either, so I was wondering about at least staying under 48:30, though after the end of the lap I decided to just give everything from the beginning of lap three, go as far as I could while pushing, and maybe end up no more than a minute slower than the previous run, so 48:10, and the first two sectors of lap three seemed to get me more or less there. But then I told myself that I’ll just use every last shred of energy, still having a faint thought of getting under 48 minutes and not wanting to fail because of lack of trying, so I really pushed on sector three and was amazed by the time, though I worried that I’ll still just miss the target because I’ll be too tired for that necessary 1:53 on the final sector. But I just kept pushing and the final sector time amazed me just as well.
I had abdominal pain from sector two of lap one, probably reflected from my back at first, but by the end of the lap it probably wasn’t just that anymore, and it continued, even getting worse at times. Otherwise, a pressing need appeared at some point, maybe on sector two of lap two, but then it went away, maybe returning on sectors two and three of lap three, but it was faint at that point and it didn’t matter. And people didn’t cause notable problems, though I did weave and go the long way around a fair number of times. As for the lane, there was one damaged spot that created a risk of tripping, but otherwise I’d say that it was better than it tends to be. And maybe there were a few moments when I slowed a little in order to make sure that I saw the time properly, but that shouldn’t have caused a significant loss. I definitely wouldn’t have managed to stay under 48 minutes if there would have been any notable problems, as it took everything even so and I was utterly exhausted when I finished, rather falling forward for the last few steps and then having to stop and regain my breath, and even my bearings to some extent.

I checked the garbage room when I got back and spotted one of those bottles that granted two products in Carrefour’s campaign, so I took it, then ate a pumpkin pie brought by dad and lunch, changed, and went back out a little after 7:30 PM. It was the commemoration of the Colectiv fire and, while I was going to walk there, since dad was back by then I did take the metro card, hoping to be able to use it to also check Kaufland before it closed. And I also took the mask received three years before, when the human chain was formed, which I had kept just because I was planning to use it again on such days, but I didn’t put it on until after I walked away from that area. Either way, I also took the new camera, that being the first event that I attended with it, and in fact the first event that I attended at all since losing the old one. And I got there at 8:15 PM, took some pictures, lit a candle, and that was about it. In fact, people already seemed to be starting to leave when I got there. I saw after I got back that there had been a march, but I hadn’t seen any announcement about it, so I guess that it had just finished and the participants had returned there by the time I arrived.
It was 8:50 PM when I walked away, putting on that mask while walking and grabbing another one of those bottles on the way to Carrefour Unirii. But I didn’t find anything to get from there, and the guard asked whether I had purchased anything when I walked out, so I showed him that I had the camera in the jacket and he didn’t ask about the backpack. Then, after initially walking, I ended up jogging to the metro station, getting off at Dristor and then jogging to Kaufland, even so only managing to enter the store when it was already past 9:45 PM, after washing my hands. There was no bread left in the bakery area, but the discounts where of 75% and I did find something that I could use as bread for one day. I also got a bundle of green onions at what I’d call a regular evening discount and some green olives that were already packaged, though the price was a little bit more than what it should have been, according to the catalog. Either way, I was almost done at the self-checkout at closing time, then I arranged everything more carefully and walked out at 10:05 PM.
On the way back, I checked the Mega Image that closes at 11 PM, entering with everything, and got an apple pastry, taking a little time to check what I had in my pockets before leaving. I then also checked the non-stop Mega Image, putting the bag that hangs from my neck in a cabinet, but then I just walked back out and retrieved it. And that evening I also spotted the newest Penny location from this area, but even though I saw products when I looked inside, it hadn’t actually opened yet. Either way, I also explored that area a little, and when I got here I also entered the nearby Mega Image, once again with everything, but while I did spot something that I thought dad might have been interested in among the expiring products, I wasn’t sure, so I didn’t get it.
I got back just before 11:15 PM and meant to ask dad about that product, but he was taking a bath, so I only told him when he came out, and while he said that he would have wanted it, I was already undressed. I also washed some of what was in the kitchen, talked with dad a little more, got some things that he wanted to use out of the fridge and freezer, put the few purchases in their place, with the exception of those things that I was going to use as bread, ate an old orange that I had kept for a very long time, and it was past 12:40 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash. It was almost 1:45 AM when I was back in the kitchen, and there was a lot to clean, and I also had to rearrange what was in the fridge, since dad had cooked and wanted to cook more the next day, so an hour and a half passed before I even started working on the salad. I also moved something, and licked some of it in the kitchen, but I actually started eating dinner at 4:20 AM and was otherwise done at 4:55 AM, but I had used those other things instead of bread, there were a lot of breadcrumbs stuck on the plate, and I only finished getting those as well, in the kitchen, at 5:10 AM. I got in bed at 5:40 AM.

In between these days when I ran, on November 1, I cleaned my room a little, also changing the sheets and starting to use the blanket again, the last time I had cleaned having been on September 21. Then, on November 3, I got up when the alarm rang, at 2 PM, after actually being able to sleep better. I have no idea whether the drilling was only brief and I mostly slept through it or it only happened at those moments, possibly being what caused me to wake up, but I did hear drilling for a few seconds the first two times I got up to pee, around 8:45 AM and 11:20 AM. But I quickly got back to sleep both times, waking up again around 1:15 PM and once again needing to pee, so I eventually got up to do that again. Still, while I feared that I won’t get back to sleep after that, a little before the alarm rang I did manage to, so I got at least another brief nap. Then I had the usual stuff, with the sweet thing being a slice of cozonac, with added honey. I left at 4:05 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was about 19°C and it was very cloudy, just about overcast. I forgot to check the temperature after getting back, but since it was 16°C at 6 PM, when it was dark, it probably wasn’t less than 18°C or so when I finished running.
The time was 46:51.83, with sector times of 4:20.67, 5:04.28, 5:48 (5:47.72), 4:20 (4:19.49), 4:50.57, 5:43 (5:42.75), 4:20.47, 4:54 (4:53.81), 5:45 (5:44.97) and 1:47.10, making for lap times of 15:12.67, 14:53 (14:52.81) and 14:59.25. At that point, it was the best time since March, and the first under 47 minutes since then, and it was also the first time I had two laps in less than 15 minutes since that same run. And those were also the first laps covered in less than 15 minutes since July, and lap two was the fastest lap since then as well, and it included a great sector two. And to think that I was initially quite sure that I won’t even stay under 48 minutes…
The first two sectors were just all right, but then I pushed more and the third sector was better than I thought it’d be, and the lap was just a little faster than the previous run’s first one. So I started wondering about what I’ll manage and kept pushing, the good sector one of lap two giving me hope, but it was that shockingly fast sector two of lap two that really made things look good. I couldn’t even believe that time, wondering whether I had misremembered or miscalculated something, but it was quite clearly correct, so instead of just giving everything towards the end of that sector, for a reason that I’ll mention below, and then lowering the pace, I did my best to keep it up, wondering about covering the lap in less than 15 minutes and managing it. And it was then that I started wondering about getting under 47 minutes, knowing that I’ll likely need to get under 15 minutes on lap three as well and really not thinking that it was possible, but just going for it, and pushing even more on sector three of lap three, managing to just squeeze under 15 minutes on that lap as well. And then I also had a very good time on the final sector. But I was still slightly disappointed at the end, because I missed beating the previous run’s time by a full minute by mere tenths and I had noticed myself slowing down towards the end of the final straight, so I wished to have forced myself to do just a little better on those final steps.
Other than weaving and going the long way around, on the first sector I first slowed in order to squeeze through what was almost a roadblock, which included a dog off the leash and I wasn’t sure which way it was going, and then, on the long straight, there was just an opening through a roadblock, and a dog was once again there, and a cyclist came through that space from the opposite direction and had to avoid the dog, so I had to go off the path. It’s a good thing that I could do so in that spot, but I was on the grass for a few seconds. And on the long straight of sector one of lap two I once again slowed a little, when another woman with a dog cut me off. But when, on sector two of lap two, I had to go very wide because a man, yet again with a dog, was right on the lane in a turn, I wanted to show him that he had slowed me and pushed hard, which didn’t just result in that great sector time, but also gave me the confidence that I could push that hard, so the overall impact was clearly positive. Otherwise, there was a little wind, but after the first lap I no longer felt it. And there was a little abdominal pain, quite clearly reflected from my back, on sector three of lap one, but I didn’t really notice anything else after that, just pushing and being able to do so. And I used the lane more than I usually do, even in some areas where it was wet.

After getting back, I cleaned the litter box and also put a few other things in a bag which I then went to throw down the chute. Then I ate the apple pastry that I already had and also drank the protein milk that I still had, changed, and eventually left again at 7:30 PM, also taking a torn cable and dad’s old headphones, which I had forgotten to throw away until then, and grabbing two more of those bottles on the way to Obor, since I needed bread and thought that I’ll certainly find some discounted one that I could get for myself from that Carrefour after 9 PM, if not also at least something that I could use as bread at that Kaufland.
However, I first went straight to Penny… Only to waste some time, since I couldn’t find anything to get from there. So I then went back to Carrefour, peed, washed my hands, put on the mask that I had taken with me, and initially grabbed a few expiring products, including two breads that’d normally be for dad, but under those circumstances I was thinking that I could use one myself if necessary, despite being white and containing some ingredients that I wouldn’t really want. I also got the toothpaste for dad, and then I checked the bakery area… But I only saw a few discounted products and no bread among them, everything else being bagged but with labels listing the full price, and I took a bread to a price checker and confirmed that price. On the other hand, I found a nice sweet thing with October 21 listed as the expiration date, so I handed it to an employee and told her that it was long expired and she took it away. And I saw another one of those products that was expiring the next day, and it wasn’t discounted either, but I didn’t ask that employee whether she could discount it. So I just bought those things, using two of the three vouchers that I had, from previous purchases.
Then I went to Kaufland, with the expiring bread in my hand and the other things in a pocket. I put the purchases in a cabinet, dropped the cable and headphones into the proper bin, washed my hands again, and entered the store a couple of minutes before 9:30 PM, when not much was left in the bakery area. Two breads were left, but those had a regular discount those days and when I scanned the label I confirmed that they had no additional one, so I moved on and only got some yogurt, plus a lettuce with root that had a good evening discount which stacked with a regular discount that applied if you used the store card, so I did. And, on the topic of expired products, I saw some walnuts with chili that were listed as having expired back in July, so I handed them to an employee, but when I passed by that spot again I saw that she had put them back, even though the date was clear and listed as the expiration date, and the other similar products from the same brand clearly had the expiration date, which was in the future, listed in that spot, so it couldn’t have been the production date. Either way, I was arranging everything in the backpack, deciding to put the bread there as well and taking out the bag with those two bottles which I had picked up, when the closing announcement came, but it was close to 10:10 PM when I finally walked out.
Instead of coming right back, I then went to that Mega Image that closes at midnight, hoping to find some discounted bread there. So I put that bag with the bottles in a cabinet, without locking, and entered with the backpack, but there was no discounted bread of that kind, so I just got some spoiling peppers and another expiring bread for dad. The total should have been 2.01 RON and I handed the cashier 2 RON, but on the receipt I saw that I had, in theory, also been charged for the bag that those peppers were in, even though that hadn’t happened since they started listing the price on expiring and spoiling products. But it didn’t matter, since the cashier didn’t ask me to add that amount, just taking what I had given her.
After retrieving the bag, I made my way back, stopping on a bench in the park to add those purchases into the backpack and then using the older route and making the small detour to another Mega Image. However, even though the lights were still on and there were employees inside, it was past 10:40 PM when I got there and the listed closing time was 10 PM, so I didn’t try to enter. But I did enter the one from Iancului, which closes later, leaving the bag on the cabinets and then just retrieving it. And I also checked this nearby one, leaving the bag on a bench, outside, and then retrieving it.
I got back at 11:25 PM, put what had to be refrigerated into the fridge, ate an apple and lunch, with an entire large bag of corn puffs instead of bread, while staying in the living room in order to watch the recorded broadcast of the qualifying for the race, and only went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, at 1:25 AM. I was done at 2:20 AM, then I cleaned up in the kitchen, put the remaining purchases in their place, only started working on the salad around 3:25 AM, and ate dinner between 4:50 AM and 5:25 AM, using the last piece of that bread which I had made back in August, and which had been in the freezer since then. I didn’t get on-line that night, and got in bed at 6:15 AM.

The previous day, the drilling had started just after 7 AM, but on November 7 it was strangely quiet, so I got up to pee three times, but otherwise slept well until the alarm rang, at 2 PM. Then I got up and had the usual stuff, with the sweet thing once again being a slice of cozonac, with added honey. It felt like I had more to leave in the toilet, but I had no time to wait for it, and there was also a mosquito in the bathroom, so I did what I could and left at 4 PM, wearing the full running gear. The reported temperature was 20-21°C, dropping by 2°C by the time I finished.
The time was 46:48.01, with sector times of 4:19.95, 4:59 (4:58.81), 5:50 (5:49.29), 4:23.46, 4:56 (4:55.50), 5:43.35, 4:21.06, 4:51 (4:50.84), 5:36.60 and 1:50 (1:49.15), making for lap times of 15:08.05, 15:02.31 and 14:48.50. I mixed some numbers during the run, ending up calculating 5:00.84 for sector two of lap three, but I sorted things out when I checked, at night. So this is now the best time since March, and these runs marked the first time I got under 47 minutes twice in a row since last November. And lap three is now the fastest one since July. And it’s not just that the initial goal was just to stay under 48 minutes, but I once again doubted it, being prepared to allow myself to just stay under 49 minutes. However, that nice sector two of lap one got my attention, and after the first lap I was thinking that I had better chances to stay under 48 minutes and even gave a passing thought to getting under 47 minutes. That seemed pretty much impossible at that point, but sector two of lap two once again got my attention, and the lap made me wonder whether I could actually do that. It required less than 15 minutes for lap three as well and therefore still seemed impossible, but I gave it everything. If I’d have calculated sector two of lap three correctly, I’d have had more hope, but even so, I was thinking that if I could keep pushing like that I might just have the slightest chance… Only to be surprised to already be safe at the end of the lap, and end up a little faster than I had been the previous time in the end.
There weren’t many people and they didn’t cause notable problems, though there were a few annoyances, at least two of them done on purpose, one being on the long straight of sector one of lap two, when I headed towards a couple and she moved off the lane and pulled him along but he stepped back on it, in front of me, and pretended to run in place, and the other being just before the end of lap three, when a kid stretched out his hand as if he wanted to high five me and then jerked it away just when I reached him, so it’s a good thing that I ignore these things. On the other hand, there was also a moment that stood out in a good way, on sector one of lap three, under the bridge, when I was catching a mother and her daughter, I guess, each of them having a dog, the one the girl was leading probably being bigger than her, and I didn’t hear what the mother said but they obviously had an agreed signal, since they both immediately stopped, pulled the dogs towards them and held them between their legs as I ran past, which was outstandingly thoughtful. Otherwise, some warnings appeared in my right leg on the long straight of sector two of lap one, but they were too diffuse to pinpoint the actual source, and then they faded anyway. On the long straight of sector two of lap two, however, they were clearly from that calf muscle, and towards the end of lap two there were some from that knee as well, but then they went away. As for the lane, on top of the areas that were wet or too uneven, a few tiny patches were repaired, with bands just placed on them, held down by rocks, so I avoided what I could.

After getting back, I ate some koliva and lunch, with those bio (organic) snacks taken after the Dream Trek instead of bread. Then I changed and left again a little after 7:35 PM, first checking Carrefour and considering some cozonac that seemed all right, according to the ingredients, and had a really good price, but eventually deciding against getting any, since dad had brought plenty of sweet things that I had to get through quickly. After walking out, I realized that I could have frozen it, but I didn’t go back, continuing to Penny and deciding to get something for dad from there, then stuffing that product in the jacket’s inside pocket and, after washing my hands, entering Kaufland with it just before 8:50 PM. And I finally found a discounted bread that I could get for myself, so I got one, plus a number of other bakery products, also gathering some sunflower seeds along with the pretzels that I was getting for my mother. And I did check the labels, to confirm the discounted prices, even though I had to look for a functioning price checker in order to do so, the three that were closer to the bakery area being off. Either way, I got some expiring products as well… Or expiring and expired products, since the garlic sauce was already expired, having probably been forgotten under everything else that was in that pile, but the price was low enough that I didn’t comment and still got some for dad. I noticed the next day that the one that was left, since dad had used one right away, was slightly open, but he wasn’t bothered by that either. Either way, I carefully calculated the total, not wanting to have to break the large bill which I had taken, so not buying that cozonac from Carrefour ended up being a good thing from that point of view. And I used one of those tables that are outside to arrange the purchases, walking away a little after 10 PM.
I got back at 10:45 PM, ate some walnuts, spread out the bakery products and put the few other purchases in the fridge, and it was a little after 12:15 AM when I went to the bathroom, basically wasting time on the toilet and then washing. I was done after an hour, then I washed what I had to wash and cleaned up in the kitchen, sliced dad’s breads and also dealt with mine. I started eating dinner at 4:25 AM and otherwise finished a little after 5 AM, but there were once again many breadcrumbs on the plate, those being from dad’s breads, and I only finished getting those as well, in the kitchen, ten minutes later. Once again, I didn’t get on-line, and finally got in bed at 6:20 AM, after struggling for a long time to stop the toilet from the small bathroom from leaking, after dad had obviously used it without even letting me know. In the end, the only way to do it was to leave the tank open, with a bottle of laundry disinfectant holding down the plug, or whatever that thing is called. And I felt soiled, even if I had just worked on the tank, especially since I had done that just before bed and in my pajamas…

After getting up, I updated Emsisoft Anti-Malware and it once again asked for a reboot, since they had apparently consolidated their own definitions one more time, so EAM was once again the reason why I couldn’t have a longer uptime. Now the streak had to end at 86 days, so at least it didn’t prevent me from extending the record, like it did the previous time it asked for a reboot, but since I didn’t have to reboot again since then, I would have extended it by now. Either way, Comodo Firewall also forgot its HIPS settings once again after that, and I needed to import them a few times before it worked, despite waiting for over five minutes before the first attempt.

This is quite certainly this year’s last post in this series, and it’s the 11th, so I won’t get to 2021’s record of 14, but I did also have one that included five bands, which was also the case in 2021. This one will just include three, and it’s once again rushed, which should unfortunately go without saying, but at least all three bands are from the same country, Switzerland, they all have recent releases, and one is even an actual new find, since I had to search for a third band to add after finding myself discarding the third Swiss band that was on the list and had new material for good despite the interesting sound of their old songs, since the new releases had a lot of growls.

I’ll start with Illumishade, since happening to spot their recent release, Here We Are, among the recommendations, led to starting to write this post and look for other bands from the same country. Even if the voice itself could be better, there is something that I find particularly appealing in the vocal part, mainly in the chorus, and the instrumental part is nice enough as well, with the exception of those harsher moments, which really don’t seem to fit. So it’s unfortunate that those harsher sounds appear on many of their other songs as well, but Rise, which is my second pick, isn’t marred by them. They have some ballads as well, but I preferred Rise because the vocals seem to break on those. Either way, the part about the harsher sounds is a matter of preference and some may like those parts as well, and I found things to like in spite of them.

Next is Deep Sun, and they actually released another song earlier today, but I’ll stick with Eternal Love as my first pick, while For Eternity is my pick of an older song. Some may find that they don’t really stand out, but this is the sort of sound that I tend to be drawn to and in this case I definitely have no complaints about the vocals, nor about elements that don’t seem to fit with the rest. They’re a solid, competent band who seem to know just what they want to do and keep doing it well over the years.

As for the new find, that’s Green Labyrinth, who seem to have returned after a change of vocalist, their second album, released this summer, following no less than eight and a half years after their first one. I’ll go with Haunted as my first pick, since it seems to be put together better. The two other recent songs that I listened to gave me the impression of being made up of disjointed elements, even more so than in case of Illumishade, but that one shows some real promise, and the vocals are also quite good. On the other hand, if I’m to pick an older song, I guess I’ll go with the one that’s almost self-titled, The Green Labyrinth. That first album was obviously recorded in poor conditions and the quality of the songs also varies quite a lot, but you can notice the potential there as well, in spite of that.

Since I couldn’t get myself to write about the actual run in the previous personal post, I’m forcing myself to do so in this one by including the next run in it and writing that part first, so I will need to edit the post and complete this part as well over the coming days. But I am going to write something before midnight as well, somehow, beginning with the fact that I had 1:37 as the start time, but the official one was 1:39. Either way, I then had 5:32 for each of the first two kilometers, which was better than expected, especially in case of the first one, which I thought was going to take me some six minutes, considering how crowded it was and the fact that I tried to avoid weaving too much, so I won’t add to the distance.
I obviously pushed more once the crowd started to clear, but I had the distinct impression that the marker for three kilometers was placed too early, so I have serious doubts that I really covered that kilometer in 4:45, especially since I then appeared to have a significantly worse time on the following kilometer. I didn’t write down exactly what it was, I probably didn’t even remember by the time I got back, but I remember that much. Either way, it is still possible that the marker was placed correctly or at least that the error resulted in a difference of less than ten seconds, which would make the third kilometer the fastest one. Otherwise, the fastest would be the fifth, which I covered in 4:55, pushing in order to gain a few seconds before the refreshment point, where I slowed to a walk, grabbed a cup of water and one of that other drink, drinking a little of the water first, then pouring the rest into the other cup and drinking it like that, plus a piece of banana, which I ate after I resumed running. And that was the rule for the regular refreshment points, at least until I was in too much trouble.
What followed was a period of getting my head down and covering the distance, with my eyes on the 3:45 pacemakers, whom I had been closing on before that first refreshment point and then found myself needing to do so all over again. And, despite that bad slope from the end of the seventh kilometer, where I actually lost less time than I thought I would, I arrived at the second refreshment point, which was on the 11th kilometer, pretty much with them… Only to obviously fall back once again, so I pushed to catch up and covered the 12th kilometer in less than five minutes. And I think that it was the last time I managed that, because I remember thinking that the 13th kilometer should be the last fast one, the route and the accumulated effort making it quite clear that I was going to get slower after that, but probably finding that it wasn’t quite that fast because I moved from one side of the road to the other a few times over the course of it, most of the others staying on the side that I hadn’t chosen at first because it was shaded, so that probably cost me.
While the 14th kilometer wasn’t that fast overall, since it ended with that short but bad slope, when the route returns on Victoriei, it also included the corresponding slope that goes down, when the route turns off Victoriei, and I made full use of it in order to actually get ahead of the 3:45 pacemakers. Not for long, of course, since on top of how much that slope slowed me, I also dug one of the bars out of the running belt, but if the original plan had been to eat it on that slope, I ended up only losing even more time, since at that point I decided to leave it for later and just moved it to the pocket of my tights. And then there was another refreshment point in Cismigiu Park, and that was when I stopped being able to keep up with those pacemakers, so they pulled ahead and the distance kept increasing after that, and as I was returning on Elisabeta, back past the park and towards Victoriei, so I was climbing another slope that, while not steep, is quite long, they were starting to even get out of sight. And that was also when I started to realize that drinking two cups at each refreshment point wasn’t such a good idea, since I was starting to feel too full and some liquid was even coming back up.
In spite of that, I did the same thing at the following refreshment point, and while the problem didn’t worsen right away, I was thinking about it and decided to delay eating that bar one more time, albeit not for long, since the initial plan was to eat one more thing right after the halfway point and I then meant to eat it after 22 kilometers, also in order to get a better time at that point, remembering that I had managed to get there in less than two hours last year… And this time around I did significantly better, I believe managing to get there in just under 1:57, or something along those lines. It might have even been just under 1:56, I can’t really remember. Either way, the road does climb a little in that area once again, as the route gets back to Constitution Square, so after 22 kilometers I slowed and finally ate that bar… Which I found to be nauseatingly sweet, though I believe that the nausea wasn’t really caused by the bar.
I was surprised to see another refreshment point, albeit offering only water, when I got back to Constitution Square. At the time, I was wondering whether the organizers had given some thought to the question posted by someone who had asked whether they’ll follow the recommendations that apply when the temperatures are expected to exceed 25°C, which was the case for that day’s high, and offer at least water every 2.5 km, at least for the second half of the race, but now that I think about it, I realize that it was probably a point set up by the sponsor that offered the water, since the only other one that was in between the regular ones was set up by the nutrition sponsor. Either way, I did take a cup and drank it, which might have helped with the nausea but probably contributed to the fact that soon after that, as I was reaching 23 km, a certain pressing need started to appear. And that 23rd kilometer was also the first one that I covered in more than six minutes.
I got back under six minutes on the following kilometer, but went over six minutes once again on the 25th, which included another refreshment point. However, that pressing need, which had gone away soon after it had first appeared, didn’t return at that point, and that might not have been such a good thing, because it meant that I continued past that gas station that’s right at 26 kilometers, where I went to the toilet two years ago. In itself, that was just fine, so I returned and stayed under six minutes per kilometer until the 29th kilometer, which was the first one that I covered in more than six minutes without slowing in order to eat or drink. So I guess that my body was sending me a pretty clear message, but that pressing need hadn’t returned, so I just kept going when I then passed by that gas station once again, the route having turned on the 28th kilometer.
It wasn’t long after that when it became painfully, desperately obvious that doing so had been a big mistake. I was starting to feel the need for something that would help me a little more, and I was obviously slowing quite significantly, so at 30 kilometers I took the first liquid magnesium… And my belly rebelled, that pressing need returning suddenly and with a vengeance, which led to awful times on the next two kilometers. There was also a refreshment point on the 31st kilometer and, while I’m tempted to say that I kept doing what I had been doing, since that need had just reappeared and I was hoping to be able to withstand it, if not that it’ll even go away again, I’m not absolutely certain of it. Either way, I know that I didn’t even calculate the times for those two kilometers, but that I went over eight minutes on each of them… And I also passed by a couple of restaurants, thinking about dashing in to use a toilet but not doing it. And Radu and his group, who had been well behind me, also rushed past me at that point, I believe a little before returning to Unirii Boulevard, so at least a kilometer earlier than last year. And, while I then somehow managed to push a little more despite looking around ever more desperately for one of those more proper public toilets and delayed that moment until after I passed that marker, after 33 kilometers the 4:00 pacemakers overtook me as well.
There were some more restaurants on Burebista, but I passed by those as well, since at that point I was feeling somewhat less desperate and also had another gas station in mind, if necessary. And I did gradually recover to some extent, so by the time I reached that gas station, at the end of Decebal, I passed by it as well, especially since I wasn’t even certain that it had toilets. However, it was obvious that, if I wanted to have any chance to keep going, I had to avoid eating or drinking anything else, and that was also a part of the reason why I discarded the bars when I reached the spot where the nutrition sponsor was offering various products. I actually stopped there for a moment and initially reached for the bars, but I still had the one taken during the half marathon which I had taken with me, the one I had eaten being one which I had purchased, and I was obviously going to go back with it, and at that point I wasn’t thinking about taking some more for later use, so I just grabbed a gel and a vial of liquid magnesium… Unfortunately, I only had a better look at the gel after moving on, at which point I saw that it was one with high caffeine content, and while that, in itself, may be useful during such a run, especially when I’m running on next to no sleep, caffeine also has certain side effects that I definitely didn’t need at that point, or in fact at any point, so I put it away then and I’m not sure whether I’ll use it in a future “official” run either, so I may end up using it during the next long practice run.
Still, while I put that gel aside, at 35 km I did have the one which I had taken with me… With the obvious result, my body reacting pretty much instantly and making it absolutely clear that I wasn’t going to be able to even reach that gas station again, much less finish, without going to the toilet. But I was in this area that I know well, on Basarabia, and set my mind on going in a certain restaurant, ignoring a couple of others that are before it even if I had never been to any of them, including that one. However, when I saw that the marker for 36 kilometers was just after that restaurant, I wanted to reach it first, and then I obviously didn’t want to go back, not even a few steps, so I continued to the place where the route turned, which wasn’t far ahead, desperately clenching my butt, and I finally dashed into the restaurant on my way back.
As soon as I approached the door, I was asked whether I needed help, and if I just rushed past the person at the entrance, when I was asked again after stepping inside and having a quick look around, I asked about a toilet, apologizing and saying that I couldn’t make it anymore, and I was pointed to it, so I rushed there, hearing comments behind me along the lines that it’s not surprising, when you run so much. But the pleasant surprise, after holding it in so much and then letting loose in such an explosive manner, was that there was no blood. I was there for several minutes, however, since it just kept coming; there were a couple of moments when I thought that I had gotten rid of enough to be able to get back, only for more “blasts” to suddenly come when I meant to wipe. But I was eventually able to wipe, albeit obviously without taking the time to do it well, and get up, then quickly washed my hands and left. I apologized once again on my way out, but I probably shouldn’t show my face there again, since I have no idea what state I left that toilet in, since I just flushed and walked out, and that’s even without taking the smell into account…
Calculating from the moment when I stepped off the route to the moment when I got back on it, I lost pretty much exactly ten minutes, but I had really recovered, the result being that I returned below six minutes per kilometer and could just keep it up. Of course, there were two more refreshment points, in fact only some three kilometers apart, the one which should have been around 35 kilometers having probably been pushed farther back by that one set up by the nutrition sponsor… Or maybe not, since I think that it was more or less in the same place last year as well. Either way, it came soon after I resumed running, which was a really good thing for me, since I could actually make use of it, though I’m once again not entirely sure that I did the same thing I had been doing before the situation got bad. I believe so, but I do think that I had a piece of orange instead of one of banana at one of the points and I couldn’t say which one it was, and I’m not even absolutely certain that I did so at all or, in that case, whether it really was a piece of orange and not one of apple. Either way, the two kilometers that had refreshment points were obviously slower than the others, but not by much. And I had taken both vials of liquid magnesium with me, so when it seemed that some cramps were once again about to come, as I approached 39 kilometers, I could drink one more and still have one left for later use, since I had also taken that one from the point set up by the nutrition sponsor. And there was enough time for it to kick in before the end, so I covered the 42nd kilometer in 5:43, which is similar to what I managed last year. And then I had 1:03 for that final portion.

I know that there was a small difference between what I had and the official time, but I didn’t even write down what I had, so whether it was one second or two, and whether it was more or less, I can’t say anymore. But it doesn’t really matter, what matters being that the official time was 4:16:18 and the recorded real time was 4:14:40. That’s my second worst time, only the first one, from 2018, being worse, and I was slower than last year even if you deduct those ten minutes, since last year was the only time when I didn’t have such problems. But, with that in mind, if you also take into account the fact that I lost at least six or seven minutes, and likely even more, over the course of the nearly seven kilometers that I covered while struggling not to shit myself, it would mean that I could have been faster than last year if I’d have somehow managed to avoid this problem one more time.
Since I didn’t avoid that problem, those calculations are pretty pointless… Though it is quite obvious that waiting so long and then having that gel and needing to go after all was the worst option, the best having probably been either to anticipate what was going to happen and dash into that gas station when I ran past it the second time or at least go into the first restaurant I passed by after things got really bad. Of course, I wouldn’t have maintained that sort of pace all the way to the end if I’d have gone several kilometers earlier, but I’d have certainly gained quite a few minutes overall. And just digging in and not eating or drinking anything else until the end might have also been a little better, since I’d have probably been slower by one or two minutes per kilometer, but I went some 5.5 kilometers before the end and it wouldn’t have been two minutes on each kilometer, to add up to more than the ten minutes I lost. But, of course, in that case I risked to still end up needing to go, in which case I’d have lost even more time.
What’s clear is that this was, at best, my next to last chance to reach that goal of having an official time of less than four hours for a marathon before I turn 40, and this assumes that the race won’t be pushed back next year as well, since at the moment the date is October 13. However, on top of not getting any younger, next year the Bucharest Marathon will host the World Masters Athletics Marathon Championship, so I’m thinking that start sectors will be reintroduced then, and there may even be a slight delay before the amateur runners will be allowed to start, behind the professional athletes. And these times would get me in sector D, if the thresholds will remain the same, or even worse if they’ll want to offer more space for the faster runners, so my start time will be quite a few minutes worse. And my target is unquestionably the official time, not just the real time, so I won’t just need to be faster than last year, but make up for those lost minutes on top of that… And I don’t see any of that happening.

Before midnight, I only had the first three paragraphs of what’s above, though I also already had the entire part about October 27 as well, as I already mentioned. So I then had to somehow get myself to add the rest as well, even if it’s not just hard to think about those moments, but also quite hard to be sure of the details, or to recall some of them at all, seeing as I don’t have that many notes, and in fact, past a few things about the early part of the race, pretty much all I have is an e-mail I sent to my mother on the evening after the race. But I finally managed to get myself to write the rest of it, editing the post in order to add the rest Saturday evening.

Despite obviously not deserving any break, Carrefour’s campaign meant that I really couldn’t run on the week that followed the marathon, at least not unless I wanted to do so while being exhausted and end up even more depressed because of the result. As such, I only ran again on October 27, when I woke up seconds before the alarm rang, at 2 PM, and got up after it did. Then I had the usual stuff, but once again replaced three almonds with apricot pits, and the sweet thing was a slice of something brought by dad, with added honey. It was probably some chec and had apparently been sent by my mother, but it was bought, not made by her or by that friend of hers. Either way, I left at 4:40 PM, wearing the full running gear, getting back to the old running shoes. The reported temperature was 23°C, but it was overcast and I think I even felt a few drops, and by the end of the run it was about 21°C.
The time was 47:10.54, with sector times of 4:21.26, 4:58.66, 5:49 (5:48.65), 4:22 (4:21.82), 4:59 (4:58.87), 5:44.22, 4:23.06, 4:59.13, 5:44 (5:43.75) and 1:51.12, making for lap times of 15:08.57, 15:05 (15:04.91) and 15:06 (15:05.94). I started at a somewhat controlled pace and the first sector was a little faster than I thought it’d be. Then I pushed, reaching a pace that I didn’t think I was going to maintain even over the course of sector two, and when I saw what pace that was, it was no surprise. However, I did maintain it, the times continuing to be good and, in fact, very steady, with the first lap ending up being the slowest. But I was just aiming to stay under 48 minutes and over the course of the first two laps I kept thinking that it was going to be difficult, only starting to wonder whether 47:30 was possible after finishing lap two. It still seemed really unlikely, but after two sectors I was thinking that I’ll even be safe at the end of the lap. And I wasn’t just safe, but at that point I knew that I should even get under 47:15, which I clearly did. Maybe with a clear track I might have even had a chance to squeeze under 47 minutes, but I’m not sure, since I don’t think that I had any more to give and probably didn’t lose more than ten seconds because of people. But add the fact that I possibly lost a little in order to check the time and maybe it would add up. Either way, at that point it was my best time over this distance since March.
Other than some weaving and going the long way around, whether because of people or in order to avoid some wet or too uneven parts of the lane, over the course of the first two laps I only slowed once, on sector two of lap one, because of a woman with two dogs, one of them and its leash blocking the lane. However, on lap three it suddenly got more crowded and I slowed three or four times only on its first sector, and a few more times after that as well. And then, at the start of the final sector, on the stairs, I had to go to one side and then the other, and then on the outside on the curved part. But the overcast sky definitely made it seem cooler than the reported temperature, and there was hardly any wind to speak of, so that really helped. However, that same overcast sky made it rather dark and I probably slowed a few times in order to see the time properly. But what was really important was that there were no physical problems and I could just keep going.

On the way back, I had a look in the nearby Mega Image, then finished the watermelon. I had wanted to keep a little of it until the end of the month, or at least until October 30, when I was going to run again, but it was going too soft and souring. And the pasta was also clearly going bad, so I finished that as well. Then I did the day’s squats in the bathroom, before washing, and after that I made the salad and ate dinner earlier.

Note: There doesn’t seem to be an English edition, so I listed the Romanian title above and then translated it to English. The original French title is “Bon Pour La Casse: Les déraisons de l’obsolescence programmée”.

The small size of this book makes it clear that it doesn’t go in depth, but it does a good enough job of pointing out not just the problems generated by planned obsolescence, which are all too obvious, but also that the concepts and practices that it’s based on are hardly new, some having existed throughout human civilization and only becoming worse and more widespread as more methods became available to those who stood to gain from them and the general public became more complicit. It also stresses the undeniably harmful role of marketing and advertising in general, points out the impossibility of endless growth and that environmental limits will soon put a stop to humanity’s current production and consumption patterns, and eventually, in the conclusion, presents some solutions.
However, I’m actually tempted to say that the author tried too hard to be balanced when presenting the matter from the point of view of the economy, and even let those economic considerations cloud the attempt to discuss the ethical aspects of these practices, to the point that I found that entire section more or less meaningless. There was also far too little emphasis on the environmental aspects, at least in my view. But perhaps the biggest problem is that the proposed solutions come too late, are presented too briefly and, despite complaining that some of the quoted works and authors don’t go far enough with their proposals, may be guilty of the same thing. Yes, at the end it is stated that the solutions will need to be imposed through regulations and require overhauling the economy and even society, reducing consumption most preferably without reducing the standard or quality of life, but some of the specifics are only briefly mentioned at the very end and the intermediate steps that are presented in more detail tend to bother me, especially when it comes to renting.

Rating: 3/5