Cav's Place

Since I finished the previous personal post right at the start of the marathon, I’ll begin this one by saying that I seem to have managed to press the button on the stopwatch just at the right time, seeing as the official time was only one second more than what I had at the end, which may not even indicate a difference of some fractions of a second, because the official time may be rounded up. However, that means that I somehow pressed the interval button before actually crossing the start line, or at least before the spot where the time was recorded. That seems pretty much impossible, but the start time displayed by my stopwatch was 1:39, while the official one is 1:42. And what makes it even stranger is that when I first passed by the finish line, after a little over one kilometer, the timer above the gate was nine or ten seconds behind mine, the delay seeming to have dropped to seven or eight seconds when I passed by that spot the second time, at the halfway point, but at the end the two seemed to just about match. It’s possible that a small difference remained, since I obviously couldn’t look at that timer just when I crossed the line, but the difference couldn’t have been greater than a couple of seconds, at least from what I seem to recall seeing as I got close.
Getting back to the beginning, I wasn’t even sure that I’ll be able to finish, so the thought of staying under four hours, which had been the goal for this year, was quite far from my mind, but I did know that in order to stay under four hours I had to average 5:40 per kilometer and recover that start time, or at least a minute from it, so I did mean to see how long I’ll manage to be faster than that, actually aiming to stay under 5:20 per kilometer early on. That didn’t include the first kilometer, since it was so crowded and I expected to cover it in about six minutes, but I ended up covering it in what I initially thought was 5:39, which was a nice surprise… And that surprise became even nicer when I realized that I had miscalculated, having in fact covered it in 5:29… Or maybe 5:26, if the start time was actually 1:42. Either way, I seem to remember that I covered the second kilometer in 5:11 and then could get even faster.
What I don’t know is whether the fastest kilometer was the fourth, fifth or 12th, because I covered the 12th kilometer in 4:54 but missed the sign for four kilometers, that being the only one that I missed, and the total for the fourth and fifth kilometers was 9:55, so if I covered one of them in 5:02 or more, then the other one was actually the fastest. And it is quite likely that there was a difference between those two, since on the fourth kilometer I was just pushing to catch the 1:50 half marathon pacemakers, which was probably why I missed that sign as well, probably passing it just when I overtook them, while on the fifth I passed Radu and his group and actually tried to look behind me a few times in order to see how many I recognized and which race they were taking part in, and then there was the first refreshment point. I’m quite sure that it came just after the sign, otherwise it’d have been clear that the fifth kilometer was significantly slower, but getting ready for it might have caused me to slow just a little bit as well.
Since the goal was to finish, at each refreshment point I took two drinks and a piece of fruit, and it was only twice that I didn’t take two cups of that other drink and a piece of banana. The first such moment was when I missed the first table with that other drink and ended up taking a cup of water first, only the second one being of that other drink, either at about 25 km or close to 31 km, the fact that those two points were almost across the road from each other making me mix them up. And the second was at the last point, close to 40 km, when I took a piece of orange instead of banana. I had managed to stick to the bananas for far longer than I thought I would, but the piece taken from the previous refreshment point had made me too nauseous, so I didn’t risk it one more time, and decided that the orange would help somewhat more than the apple at that point, even though trying and failing to peel it and then struggling to pull it off the peel with my teeth and eat it that way made me lose quite a number of seconds. And, again, the goal was to finish, so I slowed to a walk while drinking, so I won’t spill the drink on me, and that meant losing time at each refreshment point, possibly even more so after the one from Cismigiu Park, on the 15th kilometer, when I also swallowed air while drinking and that bubble seemed to have ended up being stuck somewhere, so for quite a few kilometers I felt like I had to burp and couldn’t quite manage to do so. I did eventually get rid of that air, but very gradually and after quite a long time.
It was a little before that refreshment point, right at the start of that same 15th kilometer, when I had the “jelly” bar, containing caffeine, which had been in the race kit. The initial plan had been to eat it at the end of the 14th kilometer, on that steep climb, but when I saw that the sign was right at the top, I decided to first get there and then catch my breath while getting that bar… Which is apparently made quite well and intended to be eaten without being touched with the hands, the wrapping coming off right away and the bar itself being very easy to eat while running. But I didn’t expect that, so I took it out of the wrapping and held it in my hands, which made my hands quite sticky. Either way, it was also on that 15th kilometer when those 1:50 half marathon pacemakers overtook me and pulled away. I first overtook them at four kilometers, as I already mentioned, they went ahead again at the refreshment point that followed, I overtook them again after that, they overtook me one more time at the following refreshment point, then I overtook them one last time, and after they overtook me again at that refreshment point I couldn’t keep up anymore, since I was already starting to get slower, and that air bubble definitely wasn’t helping either.
Seeing those pacemakers pulling away slowly but surely was rather disheartening, so I had to keep telling myself that they weren’t my target, even though that also meant that I was really giving up on even the thought of finishing in less than four hours, knowing that I was going to get significantly slower in the second half. But, again, the main goal was to finish, so I was doing what I could, and that meant staying under six minutes per kilometer for the first 22 kilometers, so not losing too much time at the fourth refreshment point either, but eventually getting over six minutes on the 23rd, which I seem to remember covering in 6:11. I also had the first gel on that kilometer, but the difference may actually be bigger than the time I lost because of that.
That also marked the point when I started tiring noticeably, and I think the 3:45 pacemakers overtook me at about 23.5 km, so after 24 km I started calculating, aiming to allow myself an average of seven minutes per kilometer over the last 15 km without ending up with a worse time than the first one… Even if at that point it was hard to make any really useful calculations, since I had only covered about 6.5 km before starting to feel that I had to let something out and, especially considering the problems which I had been having that week, I was quite sure that I was going to go to the toilet again, probably at the same gas station which I had used last year. However, that expired Smecta which I had taken before leaving definitely did its job, because the feeling remained entirely manageable almost all the way to the end, and even on those final kilometers, when it got worse, it wasn’t quite that bad. So I first decided to keep going when I first passed by that gas station, at 26 km, then once again continued when I passed by it again, on the way back, at just about 29.5 km, at which point I was starting to think that I won’t be stopping after all, especially since I had also taken that Smecta Go with me. Maybe knowing that there was another gas station that I was going to pass by twice, at about 34 km and 38 km, and that it actually was right on the route, unlike that one, also helped me reach that decision, since I knew that I had options if it’ll become an emergency, but in the end, as I already said, it wasn’t needed. And I didn’t take that Smecta Go either.
Back to those calculations, after entering those final 15 km I noticed that, assuming that average of seven minutes per kilometer from then on, I was actually looking at 4:15… And at some point after 30 km, possibly around the time when the route returned to Unirii, which would be at about 31.5 km, I realized that I might actually aim for 4:10. But, even though the feeling of hitting the wall made itself known around 30 km, I kept assuming that it was going to get worse and there will come a point after which I’ll lose a lot of time, so I was still thinking that I was only building a buffer, in order to allow for that loss, continuing to do so even when I realized that the target time actually worked out to 4:07 pretty much ever since I had started calculating. That moment came at about 34 km, so just about when I was passing by that other gas station the first time, and it took into account the rate at which I had been slowing pretty much ever since I had started calculating. But, again, I couldn’t believe that it wasn’t going to get much worse before the end.
Then again, that would have most probably been the case if I wouldn’t have had that shot of liquid magnesium which had been in the race kit for this year’s half marathon. After all, that feeling of hitting the wall and the refreshment point meant that I had already struggled to stay under seven minutes on the 31st kilometer, pushing to cover it in what I recall being 6:54 and leaving eating that bar with a high salt content for the following kilometer. That was another thing which had been in that race kit and which I had kept for the marathon, even though it had expired by then, and it was also easy to eat… Easier than I wanted it to be, in fact, since I was hoping to use that moment to regain my breath a little, after that push, so I ended up taking more time with it than it’d have actually required. And it might have helped a little as well, but far from enough, so it was getting harder to continue, and at about 32.5 km, a little before turning on Burebista, I was overtaken by Radu’s group, and I heard him encourage the others and tell them the target times, which clearly meant that they were aiming to finish in less than four hours, at which point one of them said that his personal best was 4:13 and they shouldn’t expect him to keep up with that, so I also found myself saying out loud, as they were going past me, that mine was 4:11… Even though that was actually the real time, not the official one.
Since watching them pull away was disheartening, I was struggling even more, and while the fact that I just kept running meant that I wasn’t in danger of going over seven minutes per kilometer just then, when a first aid volunteer cheered me on and said that I could do it, I found myself saying that I wasn’t so sure of that… And that made me decide to take that shot of magnesium after all. I had been uncertain about it, since it had no listed expiration date and it seemed riskier to take if it actually was expired than that bar had been, but I was on the 36th kilometer, had just passed this street that would have taken me back here, which for pretty obvious reasons tends to be the point where I think the most about giving up, so I decided to go for it and see what would happen… And what happened was that, over the next ten or so minutes, the pain pretty much went away. I was still exhausted, still getting slower, but I didn’t have to push through that pain anymore, which made it so much easier to keep going, especially mentally. And, even if the effect seemed to be wearing off some ten more minutes after fully kicking in, so probably around the time when I reached 39 km, it wasn’t as bad as it had been… Or at least it didn’t seem like it, probably because my mind had been given that chance to rest, to some extent, and I had regained some amount of willpower, helping me push through my body’s complaints more easily.
Actually, the times prove that it just seemed easier, because just those kilometers when the pain seemed to have gone away were the slowest ones. I might have just managed to stay under seven minutes on the 37th as well, despite the refreshment point, but I was no longer certain of that even shortly after finishing, that message which I recorded for myself first stating 7:09 and then 6:57 on it. This second option seems more likely, however, since 7:09 is a probable time for the following kilometer, if the sign was correct and not the painted mark, since the mark was before the intersection and the sign after it, and I clearly remember checking both times and reaching the mark in 6:51 and the sign 18 seconds later, so in 7:09. And that obviously adds that uncertainty for the 39th kilometer as well, but that one was definitely slow, because the 4:00 pacemakers passed me right at the start of it and that made me take it easy. I had actually been hoping to stay ahead of them for 40 km and really didn’t expect them to catch up so soon, so it was an unpleasant surprise, especially since I had also delayed eating that second gel until then, just so I won’t lose even more time. Either way, when they went past me it was clear that any chance of staying under four hours, even only as real time, was gone, but it also happened late enough to make me quite certain that I will be faster than last year, so for a while I lost any motivation to push, took it easy while eating that gel, and didn’t push too hard on the following, 40th, kilometer either, when I lost some more time because of the refreshment point as well, and because I struggled to eat that piece of orange, so I quite clearly recall covering it in a little over seven minutes.
That was the last kilometer that was so slow, however, since when I reached the sign marking 40 km I realized that, if I could somehow push again, I just had a chance to stay under 4:05, so I did my best and that 41st kilometer was the fastest in quite some time, and in that recorded message I was saying that I thought that I had covered it in 6:31, though that could be a few seconds off. But then the 42nd was far better, since I really gave everything and covered it in well under six minutes. In that message I was saying that the time had probably been 5:41, 5:42 or 5:43, but by that point I didn’t exactly have energy to think or memorize anymore, so that could also be a few seconds off. What’s clear is that it was the fastest kilometer in a very long time, and it wouldn’t be impossible for it to have been the fastest in the second half of the race, since I can’t recall how much below six minutes the 22nd had been, and while I know that, after going over six minutes on the 23rd, I got back below six minutes on the 24th, I again don’t recall by how much, and whether the 25th was also below six minutes or not depends on whether the refreshment point was just before or just after the sign. Admittedly, it is possible that I got back under six minutes on the 27th or, less likely, 28th kilometer as well, but the sign for either 26 or 27 km was hundreds of meters away from where it should have been, so while I seem to recall spotting the painted mark, which seemed to be in the right place, the situation confused me and I didn’t really try to keep those times in mind. But I seem to have been left with the impression that I didn’t get back under six minutes after that refreshment point.
Either way, what I can clearly say, since that time remained listed on my stopwatch at the end, is that I covered that final portion, between the 42 km sign and the finish line, in 1:03. And the official time was 4:03:56, with a real time of 4:02:14, so I didn’t just get under 4:05, but even under 4:04. On the other hand, that means that the actual running time was pretty much the same as last year, or maybe mere seconds faster, the real time being 9:14 lower and the total time required for that “pit stop” I made last year, between leaving the route and returning to it, being 8:50, and then I lost a few more seconds because I walked while putting the mask, which I had worn inside that gas station, back in its place.
What’s more important, however, is that failing to stay under four hours by less than four minutes means that I might have just made it if I’d have believed that it was possible. Four minutes means 15 seconds per kilometer for 16 kilometers, and while that might not have been possible for each of the last 16 km, and quite clearly wouldn’t have been possible for the 41st and 42nd, I’m quite sure that I could have gained at least a minute and a half, and maybe about two minutes, by optimizing the way I dealt with the refreshment points and how I ate the bars and gels and took that shot of magnesium. And I could have also improved my start time by about half a minute or so by advancing more boldly through the start area, plus that getting rid of trash right away instead of trying to aim for garbage cans or, later, holding on to it until the next refreshment point would have saved a little time as well. And just these things might have been enough to keep me ahead of the 1:50 half marathon pacemakers, or at least allow me to just about keep up with them until they finished their race, which would have been motivating, while seeing them pass me was disheartening, as I already mentioned. And maybe Radu’s group wouldn’t have passed me either, or they’d have only done so towards the end and I’d have tried to stay among them, with the 4:00 pacemakers probably on our heels, making me push instead of take it rather easy over the 39th and 40th kilometers, after being passed by them. And, of course, setting target times that added up to four hours instead of 4:20, and the very fact of having my mind set on that target instead of thinking, at least during the first part of the race, that even finishing at all was in doubt, would have made quite a difference. And I’m not getting any younger, so I don’t know whether I’ll get another chance… But I quite clearly intend to try again next year.

I only managed to get as far as the paragraph about the calculations, ending with what I realized at about 34 km, before midnight, the rest of what’s above this point, starting with the paragraph that begins by mentioning the liquid magnesium, being added Monday evening, with an addition made in the last paragraph that night, while I ate. And, while it might have made sense to end this post here, so it’ll only cover the actual race, I did edit it again later, adding everything I did before getting back for good in the early hours of Friday, before going to bed, and the final section on Friday afternoon.

I actually posed for a photographer right after crossing the finish line, but I wasn’t sure whether he was still paying attention, and the angle of the picture that I found makes me wonder whether it wasn’t actually another one who took it. But at least I have that shot. There were previous races when all of the photographers seemed to have missed me at the finish, and since this time around I wasn’t exactly going to be able to have a good picture taken later, with the medal, it seemed pretty important to have a better one taken at the finish.
Either way, I was rather stumbling as I made my way to those who were handing out the medals, but it was definitely less bad than after the long practice run. So I received the medal, then grabbed a bottle of water and one of juice, drank a glass of water and ate a piece of banana and eventually two pieces of apple. However, I think I just had one piece of apple at first, probably waiting for a while before I even grabbed that, because I was looking for full fruits and there were none within reach… And when a guy took a crate of mixed fruits to another table and I was trying to work up the courage to just grab something from it, the competition’s medical director came to me and asked how I felt, and when I said that I was quite finished, he said that it showed and asked whether I wanted some salty soup, pointing out the salt residue on my t-shirt and saying that I needed to recover the salt as well, especially if I had just drank water. I didn’t tell him that I had only drank plain water once, but asked whether they just gave that soup away and he said that they gave it to those looking like they needed it, so I accepted his offer and chose chicken when he asked whether I preferred beef, chicken or vegetables. It was just the liquid, however, nothing solid in the bowl, and I wasn’t given a spoon anyway, so I drank it… And it really was awfully salty. But by then that crate was no longer in view, so I had to give up on the idea of taking any fruits for later and I think that was when I grabbed that second piece of apple. And I definitely drank a cup of that other drink before finally leaving that area.
Just a few steps away, massages were being offered, and this time around I decided to have one. But they were actually using order numbers, not making people stand in line, so I asked for a number and, after realizing that it’ll be a while until my turn will come, went to retrieve my bag, also passing by the Zuzu Fit tent and taking a protein milk and a protein yogurt, since they were offering products directly again. Then, after managing to somehow stuff most of what I had into the bag, I decided to also try to use the place where pictures seemed to be taken automatically, but I didn’t know how or even whether it worked, so I stepped on that plate and posed for a few seconds, but the only click I heard was just when I stepped on that plate, which would have made for a particularly poor picture, and it’s not like I knew how to see it later, and I didn’t ask, so I shrugged off the idea of getting a picture that way, returned to the massage area and waited for my turn… Or a little more, since a bunch of numbers were called, the people who were just ahead of me apparently no longer being there, and while I raised my hand when my number was called, I wasn’t noticed, the guy who actually said that he was there when his number was called, a little later, being taken instead. It was only then that I actually said that I was also there, and ended up being taken once another table became available, having a leg massage, plus a little on my back as well, albeit over t-shirt. The person doing the massage commented when she saw the bandages on my heels, since I removed my socks and tights, but I said that they were only there for protection.
After that, I made my way to those who were watching those who were still arriving at the finish, went straight to a guy and, after standing next to him for a little while, until the next finisher seemed to be far enough away, I asked him to take a picture. However, dad called right when I was handing him my phone, after he agreed and I told him that the camera was bad, so the phone should be kept steady, so I excused myself and then got back to him after talking to dad. At that point, he offered to take a picture with his phone and send it to me by Whatsapp, but since I don’t have that, I was left with the picture that my phone could take. The quality is pretty bad, but at least I have one with the medal as well. And then I went behind some other tents, changed out of the t-shirt, took quite a long time to move everything into the other backpack, since I had taken it with me, and finally put on the headphones and jacket and left Constitution Square a little before 3:10 PM.

I walked to Unirii and spotted a fair in that park, so I had a look, then quickly checked that Mega Image, went into that shopping center to pee and wash my hands, face and mouth, only put the mask back on before entering that Carrefour, and walked out of there without having purchased anything either. Then I went to the metro station, showed the card directly, without even trying to use it again, and decided to just get back to Dristor, finally finding something to buy, an expiring bottle of apple juice, at the Mega Image that’s next to that farmers’ market. And, while they didn’t say anything about the full backpack, which I never bothered to put in a cabinet while checking those stores, either, when I entered that Supeco, through the exit door, since the entrance wasn’t working, I was advised to leave that bottle somewhere. But it was clearly from Mega Image, being one of their store brands, so I refused, had a quick look and then entered with it when I checked that Carrefour as well, showing it in passing to the guard when I left, again without finding anything else to get. And then, even though it was terribly crowded, I wasted a little more time checking out the Turkish Festival which I noticed was taking place in the park, before making my way to the newer bakery from this area, also having a quick look in this Mega Image from across the road when I passed by here. And, while they didn’t have what I was actually looking for, at least I did buy one thing from that bakery, obviously still not getting any receipt.
I got back here at 6:20 PM, dropped everything off… And that pressing need which had, as expected, pretty much evaporated after I finished the marathon suddenly reappeared, so I rushed to the toilet, then munched on something while spending some time on the computer and was just leaving again when dad got back… At which point I realized that I had forgotten to lock the door… And then I also forgot to take the mask again, realizing it after I went out the door and coming back for it, so it was at least 7:35 PM when I left again, if not a little later.
After crossing the road, I realized that I had taken the running shoes again, but didn’t have the time to get back and change them, since Penny stores usually close at 8 PM on Sunday and that was my first destination… Though I did quickly check that Mega Image that’s on the way, seeing one of those apple pastries but deciding against buying it, just keeping in mind to have another look on the way back, in case it’ll still be there and discounted at that point… And then, when I got to Penny, I saw that this location closed at 9 PM, so I could get the mozzarella that I wanted and a couple of other things without rushing.
Still, Kaufland closed at 9 PM, so after arranging the purchases in the backpack I rushed there, peed and washed my hands and walked in just after 8:30 PM, without bothering to put the purchases in a cabinet. But nothing interesting was left in the bakery area and, despite noticing a discount that was a little higher than the announced one and meaning to grab a few bananas after having a look around, I forgot to do so, so I just got carrots, which had an evening discount, and a bag of arpacas… Which I initially thought was leaking, but since nothing fell out of it when I tried to check, I shrugged it off and took it. Then I had no problems with the self-checkout and was just finishing when it was announced that the store had closed.
After that, I also went to that Carrefour, put the purchases in a cabinet and bought a few things, needing to call an employee to apply the evening discount at the self-checkout for the bread which I had grabbed for dad. Then I retrieved my things from the cabinet and arranged everything, but I was in a hurry… And at some point I ended up losing the 5 RON bill which I had received as change. But I only realized that two days later, so at that point I just kept going, rushing to also check that Mega Image, I think entering with all of the purchases and grabbing a discounted bread for dad from there as well. I also wanted to get some snacks for him, but I thought that I was going to find them at this other location as well, so I didn’t get them from there… And ended up not getting them at all, since I just managed to get back to this other location at 9:55 PM, obviously once again didn’t take the time to put anything in a cabinet… And had to go back out without any purchases, since those snacks don’t seem to be available at that location, and that apple pastry was no longer there either.

I was back for good a little after 10:10 PM… And when I put some of the purchases in their place, I realized that the bag of arpacas really was leaking, so I put some sticky tape on that area. Then I finished the part about October 3 of the post about the last runs before the marathon and posted it as it was, ate the remaining half of that raisins and nuts mix, talked to dad, and finally went to the bathroom, to use the toilet one more time and take a bath, when it was close to midnight. I still finished a little before 1 AM, but after talking with dad some more, washing and cleaning some of what was in kitchen, and actually making dinner, I only started eating it at 4:45 AM, and took it easy, finishing at 6:15 AM. I used the electric oven to make that pizza and it seemed cooked very unevenly, but it’d have probably been good if I wouldn’t have piled on way too many ingredients, since it was really good around the edge, but rather uncooked towards the middle, where everything was piled on.
I only got in bed at 7:50 AM, but at least that meant that, instead of tossing and turning and possibly giving up and getting back on the computer for a while, as it tends to happen after exhausting runs, it was probably just a little after 8 AM when I fell asleep and I only woke up around 1:15 PM. And, while I got up at that point, around 4 PM I got back in bed and slept for almost one more hour, waking up just after 5 PM, though it was a little after 5:30 PM when I actually got up again.

At the start of 2012 I was wondering whether we’ll lose ski jumping to climate change, and what I saw in today’s season opener struck me as a desperate attempt to prevent or, more likely, delay that for a while longer, at least when it comes to the lack of snow, since it doesn’t do anything to tackle the increasingly unstable weather. Yes, they found other justifications for a plastic landing area, like the season starting earlier than ever, and it’s also true that the increasingly heavy reliance on artificial snow or on transporting “real” snow can’t in any way be seen as sustainable, more and more effort being required in order to present what was quite clearly a lie, but the problem is that it’s necessary. Or at least it was, because even though they say that this will only happen this one time this season, it’s intended to set a precent and allow for more such events in the future.
Such a surface may actually make it easier for jumpers to land properly, but I wouldn’t care and, either way, being at the highest level of a sport isn’t supposed to be easy. What I care about is that it blurs the line between the summer competition, which I still don’t see as “real” ski jumping, and the “proper” one, and the very fact that this one round took place, even if it will indeed prove to be the only one of its kind this season, is likely to make my interest in the sport drop significantly… Not that this is anything new, seeing as my interest in other sports that I used to enjoy watching has been plummeting for quite a number of years because of the direction that they’re being steered in. It probably makes it even sadder, however.

If last year it was pretty much the only reason why I went to bed at all before the marathon, the clock going back is proving quite useful for me for the second year in a row, this time because it provides me both the topic for this week’s second post and the time to write it, rushed as it is, while also still letting me get ready for the morning, since I mean to get up pretty early and hope to manage to leave before noon. But that doesn’t mean that the practice doesn’t still need to go away, though I hope that when it finally will go away, the decision will be to stay on the summer time and not follow in the footsteps of Mexico and stay on the winter time, even though this is actually the standard one, since winter time means that sunset comes too early when the days are short and that sunrise would come too early when they’re long.
Of course, the European Parliament already voted to end the practice, the vote taking place in 2019 and the decision being supposed to come into effect in 2021, but it was left to each country to decide whether they’ll stay on the summer or the winter time, and countries also had to agree on how to coordinate the change, which never happened. In fact, with crisis after crisis hitting since then, the matter wasn’t even brought up again since 2019, and there seem to be no plans to do so in the foreseeable future… Which also seems to be the case in the United States, even though the Senate approved the proposal in March, so at a time when all of the current crises were already being felt, and that proposal actually did refer to sticking to the summer time, though it was apparently left to the House to actually decide which to pick, and that’s yet to happen because the matter was set aside there as well.
Sure, while things should be simpler after such a decision, it will create quite a mess if not implemented all over the world at once, so it requires planning and negotiations and it’s not hard to agree that there are much more important matters to deal with at the moment. But maybe someday the decision makers will get around to sorting this matter out as well. And, as I said, when that time will come, I certainly hope that they’ll decide to stick to the summer time, at least in this part of the world.

After The Steel Remains, I expected to struggle through The Cold Commands, but I’m glad to say that it’s so much better. It’s still harsh, uncompromising, pulling no punches, but the author is no longer trying too hard, neither to shock nor to go through some third grade creative writing checklist. The characters are much more developed and no longer striving to be crass, unlikable and hard to support. The world is more fleshed out, making more sense, little by little, if you snatch the pieces when they appear. The thrilling combat scenes remain, but the graphic brutality is used more sparingly and skillfully. And that may be even more true for the sex scenes, which this time around are meaningful and convey emotion. As for the walks through the Grey Places, while the following ones make much more sense, something like that disjointed plague fever dream that is chapter 19 definitely takes skill to pull off.
There is still plenty of room for improvement, however. The fact that many names remain too strange or complicated for me to be able to properly keep track of who’s who is probably my problem more than the author’s, but I wouldn’t say that the same holds true for still feeling like I’m grasping at smoke too often for this point in the story, that in certain cases no, or at least no better, explanations will be provided. On the other hand, while this takes the story to what I gather is much more familiar territory for the author, and I must admit that the much greater magnitude and impact of the fantasy elements compensates for it, I’m still not keen on the increased amount of science fiction elements that are introduced. And, albeit as a far less important aspect, there are still moments, and probably one in particular, when that overuse of f-words remains grating.

Rating: 4/5

I’ll start this post with October 6, when I left just before 4:15 PM, taking the metro to Izvor and getting the race kit and t-shirt quickly and without problems. However, if back in spring I was particularly pleased with the contents of the kit, now I was rather disappointed, even wondering whether everything had actually been included, and about the lack of any magazines. But I just tried on the t-shirt, then went to the tent of that NGO that encourages blood donations and exchanged a few words with them, actually saying that I couldn’t recall whether I had selected to support them back when I registered, but that I still had their t-shirt from last year and might just wear it, since I don’t like the official one, being black. And they also had apples and something else, maybe biscuits, but I can’t quite recall anymore, since I just took an apple.
The plan had been to check how long it took me to reach Constitution Square from Izvor, and then to go from there to Unirii, to see where to get off on the day of the marathon, but I forgot to check the time both when I got to Izvor and when I left Constitution Square, so I gave up on that idea and had a quick look in the Mega Image that’s on the way to Unirii, then checked the one from Unirii as well, wanting to get two of those apple pastries, since those days there was a 60% discount for the second identical product from that category, but at that time I hadn’t yet noticed that the store card was required, so when I got to the checkout I was asked for the full price, and when I pointed to the sign the cashier just tried again and showed me that the discount didn’t apply, so I left them there and walked away, also deciding to give up on the idea of returning for one of the nicer yogurts which I had seen among the expiring products if I won’t find something better at that Carrefour. And I didn’t find anything better, just getting five eggs, four of them being the uncracked bio (organic) ones which I had found, and an expiring cake that still had the 50% discount, even though the other expiring products had returned to the low discounts that they used to have at that location, and I later noticed those lower discounts in other locations as well. Then I arranged everything in the backpack and, on the way to the metro station, I saw that the place which I had purchased some sweets from back in November had returned, in a better location, albeit with higher prices and, at least for the moment, no more meringues.
After having worked earlier, when I meant to use the metro card again, at that station, the machines kept saying that they couldn’t read it, and I tried a few different ones, so I eventually showed it to the cashier and she opened the gate for me, and then I went to Dristor, having a quick look through the farmers’ market, which was close to being deserted at that hour, before going to Park Lake and asking about charging with just 1 EUR, to activate my existing phone credit for a few days, at that store as well. I had tried it the day before, at another location, and had been told that it couldn’t be done, so when I was told the same thing again I mentioned that I had been doing it before, at which point the guy explained that things had changed a month earlier and, at least in stores, the minimum value was 5 EUR, so I gave up on that idea. Then I checked that Carrefour as well, but didn’t get anything.
I got back just before 7:45 PM… And the headphones fell out of my hands as I was taking them off, though that doesn’t seem to have caused any problems, at least so far. Then I ate a small apple and that cake, showered, did my best to clean and wash what dad had left and started working on the pasta. I hadn’t yet finished when the previous day’s problems suddenly returned, but I even did the day’s squats before rushing to the toilet when I found a somewhat suitable moment and being relieved that, after seeing a few drops the previous evening, at least there was no more blood. But otherwise it was once again quite bad, and if I initially returned to the kitchen when it didn’t seem like anything else was going to come out at that moment, even though more seemed to be there, I almost immediately had to rush back, the total time spent there ending up being close to one hour. And I also made too much pasta, so I had to use two pots. But I was eventually done, also made a tea that should have helped with the stomach problems, had some of the pasta as lunch while making dinner, eventually just managed to stuff all of the remaining pasta into one pot, and finally started eating dinner 3:50 AM, albeit after mixing what I meant to put on the bread and licking a fair bit of it in the kitchen. I finished at 4:25 AM.

Something was obviously still wrong the following day, and I was weak and shaking and even lightheaded, and weighed less than 46 kg. And, after having felt my legs burning the previous day as well, the feeling got worse that day, mainly in case of the left one. As for the rear end, just a few pieces came out after lunch, floating and seeming hard, so I actually picked one up and found that it was brittle, which seemed even stranger. Even so, later I finally took a Smecta, even though it was expired.
Nevertheless, I went out again, at 7:45 PM, and after quickly checking a Shop & Go I went to Mega Image, grabbed some bread and zacusca for dad… And again received no discount on the second bread, so I pointed to the sign, the cashier called someone else, that other employee said that the discount was for another kind of bread, I said that it should be for the entire category, she asked whether I wanted her to bring me some of the kind that was discounted, I said that I didn’t want any of it anymore, and she took back the bread. However, the cashier had been suggesting that the discount required the store card and then actually tried it with one, showing that it did indeed apply in that case, so she asked her coworker to bring that bread back and they used one of their cards in order to give me the discount even though I didn’t have dad’s card with me while I kept apologizing for the trouble.
Then I went to Carrefour, walking in with those purchases, not finding anything to get and showing the bag to the guard when I walked out again. Then, after buying some Smecta Go from that large location of that pharmacy, in order to also be able to take one with me during the marathon, I also went to Kaufland, put my things in a cabinet, peed and washed my hands, and got a number of things, even though I forgot that I also wanted a banana. After having seen expiring protein yogurt, and much of it, two days earlier and deciding that the discount was too low to buy it then, I was hoping that some would still be left and have a higher discount, but that was not the case and the nicer yogurts that had by then appeared among the expiring products had an even lower discount, of only 15%, so I just got a slightly nicer but otherwise regular one, paying too much for it, since it was at full price. And, since I also bought some olives, I confirmed that they do also charge for what they put them in.
At the self-checkout, the machine told me to scan the product first after placing the sweet pastries on the scales, removing them didn’t allow me to continue and no employees were around, so I had wait for a while until one finally came and cleared the error… But then another one decided to stand right next to me, seeming to want to use the machine to purchase something, and it was moments before closing time and that made me unable to focus anymore, so I ended up forgetting to retrieve the coins received as change, and we’re talking about 0.80 RON. So I retrieved my things from the cabinet, arranged the purchases in the bags and backpack, went to pee one more time, again had my brain pretty much disconnect when another man walked in while I was buttoning my pants back up, resulting in forgetting to even wash my hands… But somehow remembering the change, so I hesitantly returned to the gate of the self-checkout area, but then just turned around again, without saying anything, since it’d have been pointless anyway. But at that point I was yet to realize that I hadn’t washed my hands, only doing so after going down the escalator, so I then went back up and did that before finally walking out. And I felt utterly crushed on the way back, walking slowly and with my mind definitely elsewhere, and I also wasted some time by checking that Mega Image, putting the bags in a cabinet but not locking it, since I had no 0.50 RON coin, not finding anything to get, retrieving everything and walking back out.
It was just before 11:05 PM when I was finally back, eventually had a small apple and a sweet pastry, just wasted some time on the toilet, washed… And as I finished washing, when I leaned over in the bathtub, I again felt something in that spot from the bottom of the back of the left thigh muscle, a burning sensation remaining there after that… Even though, when I later tried to feel around that area, I seemed to feel some pain at the top of the back of the calf muscle instead. Either way, I was done a little before 1:15 AM, but still had things to do, purchases to put in their place, also sliced the one unsliced bread purchased for dad and dealt with one of mine which I hadn’t dealt with yet, so I had a few bites in the kitchen, but only finally started eating dinner in my room at 3:45 AM, finishing a little after 4:35 AM, and then also washing the marathon t-shirt a little, by hand.
Well, the big problem came after that, when I meant to take the jar with what I had mixed the previous night back to the fridge and ended up shattering it! It was on a small plate, I hit that plate against the wall or doorjamb and the jar fell off, so that food which I had saved for months, just in order to have it available right before the marathon, was gone! Admittedly, the plan was to put peanut butter on most of the slices of bread the following night, but I still wanted to have some of that as well, and plenty of it had been left, for the following week, and I had planned and saved it for all that time… And the noise also woke dad, and there was broken glass everywhere, so I vacuumed a little despite the hour, and then swept and washed the floor to some extent, though some tiny pieces were quite certainly still left. I might have hit myself a little as well, when that jar fell, or maybe even cut myself a little, since I felt something in my left foot, though I didn’t see anything and there were no problems later. Either way, I finally got in bed at 5:55 AM, without even flossing.

On October 8, I first got up at 2:45 PM, made tea, washed a few things from the kitchen and vacuumed better. Felt something of a burning sensation at the top of the back of my left calf muscle and pain in my hips, but I couldn’t exactly do much about that anymore. So I ate a small apple, a sweet pastry and yogurt mixed with oats, and just after 5 PM I got back in bed… Not that I could also get back to sleep. I might have just napped for a mere moment once or twice, but even that is unlikely, and I got up again just after 6:25 PM, when dad got back.
I was back in the kitchen at 7 PM, but after putting the beets in the oven and the carrots on the stove I went to the toilet and what came out wasn’t soft, though there actually wasn’t much of it at all and it felt like there was more to come. Then I talked to dad a little as well and made the entire large salad at once, but I had lunch separately, starting to eat it at 11 PM and finishing around 11:40 PM, after which I had something else to do, also did the day’s squats… And cut myself while washing the knife. But I had to keep going, so I sliced bread, moved some sour cream in a jar, had dinner between 1 AM and 1:30 AM, obviously putting only peanut butter on the bread, and also took one of those pills against gas that dad takes. Then, after putting the water for the tea on the stove, I went to the toilet one more time, still not feeling like I had gotten everything out but knowing that anything was going to help, and being relieved that it still wasn’t soft again. And after that I got ready for the morning, also writing the number on a slip of paper and using safety pins to put it on the bag, since they hadn’t given us those stickers anymore, then struggling for 30 minutes with the number, the first five because I wanted to write the emergency information on the back of it, as you should do, and none of the pens seemed to work, and the following 25 in order to properly pin it on the t-shirt, also pricking my fingers three times with the safety pins while doing that. And yes, I did choose to wear the official t-shirt after all, since it had a much better structure than the one from that NGO. So it was 3:15 AM when I went to floss, brush my teeth and shave, but managed to do that unusually quickly, so I got in bed at 3:45 AM.

I woke up at one point, saw that it was 5:05 AM and went to pee, just in case, then managed to get back to sleep, but when I woke up again my right shoulder was hurting quite badly. But it was also 6:29 AM and the alarm was set to ring at 6:30 AM, so I turned it off, got up, had an apple, yogurt with muesli, raisins in dark chocolate and almonds mixed in, also took the supplements… And, as expected, just wasted time on the toilet, even though it felt like I had quite a lot to pass out. But I just had to hope that it won’t prove to be too much of a problem, also ate the last three of those smaller wheat things, with honey and jam between them, as a “sandwich”, and before leaving took the last Smecta that we had, even though it was also expired and actually looked worse than the first one, drinking most of the tea. I was pretty much in “headless chicken” mode at that point, panicking more and more and thinking less and less, so it was a good thing that I had bandaged my heels, to protect them, before reaching that level, and I also remembered to bandage that cut finger before we left. It was only then, just as we were about to walk out the door, a couple of minutes before 8:30 AM, that I realized that I had forgotten to take garlic, but there was no time for it anymore, so I just left without any, wearing the running gear and one of those armbands and taking the running belt, with what I had placed in it, but not putting or even trying it on before leaving.
Since I told dad to just drive me to the metro, he did so, I again had to show the card to the cashier in order to be allowed through the gate, and it was only when I was on the metro that I finally tried to put on the belt… And realized that I couldn’t, since it would end up over the number if placed in any reasonable position, above it would be too high and, either way, it slipped and messed up the number, and below it would be too low, since it’d mean wearing it around my hips. Still, even though I also tried to put it under the t-shirt, before getting off at Izvor I had placed it above the number again. Then, after exiting the metro station, I took off the mask.
I reached Constitution Square right at 9 AM… And realized that I had forgotten the camera! Yes, I had the phone, but its poor camera was going to be quite a problem. Still, it meant that I still had a way to get some sort of picture taken at the end, and it wasn’t like there was anything I could still do about it at that point… And I also thought that I won’t manage to fix the fact that the bandage on my right heel didn’t feel right in one spot, so I left it as it was despite knowing that it was going to cause some discomfort, trying to change anything being likely to make it worse. However, I could do something about the fact that something seemed to be in the left shoe, so I sat down in front of the Zuzu Fit stand, took off that shoe and solved that problem. Then I wandered around a little, albeit without entering the Sport Expo area, not seeing anyone handing anything out to the participants, before making just a few simple moves on my own, at the edge of the crowd doing the warmup. And when I put the jacket in the bag and took the bag to the wardrobe I saw that the lack of those stickers had been intentional, quite clearly as a result of them not sticking to the material that those bags have been made of more recently, and the volunteers were just using markers to write the numbers on the bags.
I had kept the belt above the number while I was in Constitution Square, but it was clear that I won’t be able to run with it in that position, and it had already messed up the top part of the number, so on the way to the start area I resorted to the only remaining option, which was to put it under the t-shirt, even if that was going to make taking things out of it somewhat trickier. Otherwise, I decided to use one of the toilets that are close to the start area, thinking that the lines would be shorter than at those from Constitution Square, but it seemed that plenty of others had the same idea, so they were probably a little shorter, but not by much. Still, I was done with enough time to spare, but since the start area wasn’t separated into sectors this time around either and I had to enter from the back, advancing through the increasingly packed crowd was difficult. But I just reached the 4:00 pacemakers and stopped there, also eating the protein bar which I had taken. The temperature at the start should have been 14-15°C, probably reaching 22-23°C when I finished, at least according to the forecast, since I obviously couldn’t check what was actually reported.

What I managed to post before midnight ended with the first paragraph of the section above, the rest of it being added before going to bed in the morning, to get to the actual start of the race. At that point, I was planning to at least add what I did after the actual race as well, the question being whether to also add the part about the race itself, as I had initially intended, or leave this as a “before and after” post, with that part probably ending up in a later one that will also include the next couple of runs. But I eventually decided to end this post here and leave everything else for a later one, even though the problem caused by the fact that I have no notes about the run, but only a recording made on the way back, which mostly focused on times, remains. I mean, I wrote some of the notes about this part which I added at night about a week later and noticed that my memory was quite unreliable when it came to some details, so it’s obvious that I’ll be forgetting or misremembering more and more if I keep putting off writing about the actual race… And that’s important, unlike the large majority of the personal things that I otherwise write about.