Cav's Place

When someone makes a comment about moving to a post-work future, you get the usual reactions. Some mention laziness, even though on the one hand that has nothing to do with it and on the other many, many people who currently work cause more harm that way than if they’d just sit at home and not do much of anything. Some lash out against even the current welfare programs, even if those are almost always demeaning for those who use them and embarrassing for the societies that consider them in any way adequate. Some ask why should they work for others who don’t, even though if nobody’d be required to “earn a living” then normally people would only do what they’d truly want to do, if anything, while if the question is asked by some who simply can’t see themselves without what’s currently understood as a job even if they have to force themselves to do it, it actually means that instead of striving to escape that conditioning, they want all those who did escape it to be forced to suffer in the same manner in which they’re making themselves suffer.
But particularly infuriating are those who ask who would do the jobs that nobody wants to do if nobody’d need to “earn their living” in that manner. Of course, the first questions are how many of those jobs are actually required and how many of those couldn’t be automated, and by that I mean that it just can’t be done now or in the near future, not that it’d be more expensive to automate them than to exploit people who have no other choice, paying them low wages or not even that. But, for those truly undesirable but still absolutely necessary jobs, a better question should be who shouldn’t be doing them. For one, everyone, from individuals to authorities to society as a whole, should first do their part to reduce the need for such work, for example by reducing the amount of trash and cleaning up after themselves, picking up instead of requesting deliveries for everything, preparing their own food, making small repairs, taking care of gardens or public spaces, not causing damage or degradation, being more helpful and friendly in general, or on the other hand by improving public health. And then, if they’re so necessary, those jobs should be well rewarded and respected, not passed off to those seen as a lower caste, if I may use the term, while the rest see themselves as too good to perform them. On the one hand, that would mean that some people may choose to perform such jobs, probably temporarily, for the additional benefits, be they material or not, despite not needing to “earn their living”. On the other, it would mean that, if that won’t be enough, people should take turns performing those jobs for brief periods, because the only ones who could actually be seen as too good to perform jobs that are truly necessary are those who’d already be indispensable in other necessary fields.

This post should start with what I did after the September 17 run, then include that series of three runs in five days and finish with the October 3 run, but I started writing this last part first, since I didn’t want to waste time with notes… And ended up putting off even finishing that and therefore just having my memory to go on at the end. But now it’s Sunday evening, I just ran the marathon and I need to post the week’s second post, so I’ll just add what I have and edit it in order to add the earlier parts at some later time… Which later time was the early hours of Thursday, just before going to bed, for the parts about the first two of those three runs, at which point I also changed the time to 11:59 PM, while the part about the third run was added in the early hours of Friday, while I ate, with that part about the rest of September 17 finally being added Friday evening. It initially resulted in the second longest post I ever wrote, but after going over it again and making a few more changes, it actually became the longest one, containing 7663 words, or 7670 if you include the title.

After the run on September 17, I put on the mask when I crossed the road and went to Carrefour, getting some cat food and a bag of cat litter, since dad wants it to be scented again and what we have a stock of isn’t, and pet products were one of the categories that resulted in those vouchers those days, though what was somewhat annoying was that they could only be used starting from the next day, so you couldn’t go right back anymore, to get some other things and feel like you actually received the discount right away. Either way, I got back a little after 4:50 PM, had watermelon and something sweet, and while after cooling down there was some more pain from the right ankle, after going to the toilet one more time I even did the day’s squats.
I left again at 7:15 PM, going to Obor and only putting on the mask as I was reaching that mall. And I first checked a bookstore and found Rhythm of War, in the same edition that I have the rest of the series in, for a surprisingly low price for a book with such a number of pages. And I had enough money for it, so I thought about it a little, checked a few other books, then picked it up again, sat down and leafed through the pages, looking for any obvious problems, and then bought it. And then I also had a quick look in a sports store, though I obviously couldn’t get anything from there at the time.
Buying that book had actually left me with too little even for what I was planning to buy from Carrefour, but that assumed that I was going to find that pack of four Pepsi bottles again, for dad, those vouchers also being granted for all soft drinks those days, so I’d say that it was rather fortunate that I didn’t and just got a small apple and carrot juice for myself. Then I saw that the eggs sold by piece were even discounted, finding eight bio (organic) ones after looking through all of them and getting those. Then I got to the bakery area right at 9 PM and first grabbed one discounted product and then the one bread of another kind that I can get from there that was discounted, even though the bag was a little torn, since the other two that were left weren’t discounted. Then I got one more thing for dad, returned to check on those two breads again and, when I saw that they still weren’t discounted, went to the self-checkout, only one of the two that accept cash being functional. But there was just one couple using it, without anyone else waiting, and nobody else came even while I had to step away, since dad called me just then and I couldn’t hear him there. However, after that first discounted bakery product scanned as a different one but I shrugged it off because the price was the same, the bread wouldn’t scan at all, the machine telling me to wait for an employee, and the employee who was there was feeding cash into the other machine and said that she couldn’t step away, calling the guard instead, but she still had to quickly step over and log on before he could manually enter the bread and the 50% discount.
Then I continued to Kaufland, had to try a few cabinets before I found one that locked to put the purchases in, peed and washed my hands, needing to dash to the women’s bathroom for soap, walked in the store at 9:35 PM… And saw neither bakery discounts nor evening discounts for fruits or vegetables, and also couldn’t find refrigerated expiring products with the exception of some yeast, in another spot, so a little after 9:50 PM I asked an employee whether they really closed at 10 PM or it was in fact 11 PM, since there hadn’t been any announcements either, and she confirmed that it was 10 PM, adding that there are no announcements that closing time is approaching at that location, but only the one made when the store actually closes. So I returned to the bakery area, seeing another employee starting to throw away the piles of pastries that were left and asking him about evening discounts, and when he said that there won’t be any and walked away I asked if they’ll never have those discounts again and he threw “not tonight” over his shoulder. So I also checked on a self-checkout machine, entering a bun and seeing that it was indeed showing up at full price, then canceled that and asked the employee to let me out, a couple of minutes before closing time. Then I retrieved my things from the cabinet and took some time to get everything except the bakery products, which were in the bag around my neck, in the backpack, being careful because of the eggs, so it was past closing time when I left, and a little later I stopped one more time, to arrange things differently in the backpack, in order to protect the eggs better.
When I got here, I decided to enter this nearby store, seeing that it was 10:50 PM and knowing that it closed at 11 PM, and the cabbage still had that price and it still looked good enough, so I got one, having to ask for the receipt, the cashier probably starting the closing procedures at the time. So it was a couple of minutes before 11 PM when I got back, and dad had just gotten back as well, having brought quite a number of things, so I had to also put those in their place, along with what I had brought, and wash some things as well. It was 12:30 AM when I started eating lunch, but I finished in 15 minutes and went to shower, being done at 1:15 AM. There were more things to do, however, so I started eating dinner at 3:10 AM, but still managed to finish at 3:40 AM. I got in bed at 5:20 AM.

Moving on to September 22, the bathroom light was on when I woke up the second time, at 12:35 PM, so I assumed that dad was there and got back in my room to wait, but then I heard him in his bedroom, so I looked again and he said that he had forgotten it on, so I went to pee… And then had a hard time getting back to sleep, and after a while a pretty sharp pain above my right ear also started, continuing on and off after I got up. Probably managed to nap just a little more, slept poorly even during that brief time, and was definitely awake again for at least a few minutes before the alarm rang, at 2 PM, at which point I got up. Then I had the usual stuff plus almonds, starting another bag of those and the yogurt being a nicer one, and the sweet thing was a slice of something brought by dad, probably also some chec, with added honey. I left at 4:20 PM, wearing the full running gear and one of those armbands, with my ID card and that slip of paper with the emergency information in the pocket of my tights, and after reaching the park I stopped on a bench to take off the left shoe and work a little more on that part that was scraping my heel again. The reported temperature was about 19°C, dropping to 17-18°C by the time I finished.
The time was 1:16:48, with sector times of 4:17, 5:06, 5:55, 4:24, 5:00, 5:48, 4:23, 5:01, 5:54, 4:28, 5:04, 5:54, 4:32, 5:05 and 5:57, making for lap times of 15:18, 15:12, 15:18, 15:26 and 15:34. I somehow pressed next to the button after sector one of lap three, having to try again and deducting a second from the time that ended up being listed, which I’m sure was correct. At first I hoped to stay under 1:18 but didn’t think that I had any chance, so the realistic goal seemed to be to at least get back under 1:20. But after seeing how the first lap was going, I did hope to complete it in less than 15:20, so I pushed and just made it, and then was surprised by how fast I was on each sector of lap two, and that the lap was faster than the first. After being surprised by lap three as well, I realized that I’d stay under 1:18 with 16 minutes on each of the next two laps and started thinking that the target was 1:17:30. But after sector two of lap four I tried to calculate what I’d need on sector three in order to give myself a small chance of staying under 1:17 and at the end of the lap I realized that I might have just done enough, so I calculated what I needed on each sector of lap five and pushed, continuing to do so on sector three despite being safe after the first two, so all laps would be under the pace for 1:18 and have sector three in less than six minutes, which I managed as well. That definitely marked a recovery.
The back of my left thigh gave warnings from the start, but as time passed just about every part of my legs, with the possible exception of the right hip, joined it, and while it wasn’t too bad, the right knee and left hip actually hurt on laps four and five. And I did feel like I couldn’t quite sustain the sprints all the way to the end of the long straights, but I was obviously attempting very fast sprints. Otherwise, the lane was wet in many places, and increasingly uneven, so I was avoiding what I could, but there weren’t many people and with the exception of a brief silly dance on sector three of lap one they didn’t cause notable problems. It was windy at first, however, most notably in the early part of that same sector three of lap one, but the wind died down after the brief episode of light rain that came as I was on sector one of lap two, not even lasting until I finished that sector, only picking up again on sector two of lap four and not returning to the level it had been at on lap one even then.

I wanted to get back before 6 PM, so I jogged, at times even actually running, and just made it, then just drank some more of the tea, not eating anything since I wasn’t sure what I wanted, and went out again at 7:15 PM, first going to Tei and getting the iron pills, which still had that 15% discount, though a small annoyance was that the cashier rounded up to the next 0.10 RON, taking 0.06 RON more. I also asked about the iodine, but they said that they’re not part of the program, so I just had the iron to put in the jacket’s pocket, though before walking out I took some time to move some more things in that same pocket. Then, after a quick look in Supeco, I went to Carrefour, getting what I wanted and also using the voucher received for that juice, the receipt being taken away again. I had also considered going to Penny, to get some more things for dad, and/or looking for some recyclables on the way to Kaufland, to get one or two vouchers granting a 10% discount on an item of pet food, to use on some of those treats for Liza, since they don’t usually get discounted and dad gives her a lot, but I was late and wanted to still find some vegetables, so I rushed straight to the newer Kaufland.
After putting the purchases in a cabinet, peeing and washing my hands, I entered the store just after 9:25 PM and grabbed the two remaining green onions, which had an evening discount, on my way to the bakery area, where I just saw one remaining sweet pastry that I’d care to get, so I reached for it… Just when another man, who had been opening another bag when I got there, did the same, so I pulled back and told him to take it, since he had been there first, but he said no and that he had already taken a few. I still stepped aside, but so did he, so after hesitating for a moment I thanked him and took it. Then I returned to the vegetables and got carrots and cucumbers, both having evening discounts, apparently getting there just in time, an employee having just stacked the crates of cucumbers and probably being about to take them away, so I reached in to take some and he walked away, though he walked past me a couple more times as I took my time to select, a couple of other customers also taking some while I was there. And I also grabbed some lemons that were among the spoiling products, discounted by 60% even though just one was partially moldy, the other four being completely fine. In addition, after taking my time to keep looking while the employees were rushing to clean the area but not spotting anything else, before walking away I also grabbed a bundle containing an unusually large green onion and a few other torn pieces that were in a crate containing parts of vegetables that were likely considered trash.
Well, just that bundle caused a problem at the self-checkout, since after my turn to use a machine came just when it was announced that the store had closed, I selected three bundles of green onions, placed them on the scales and it kept telling me to place all of the selected items, so I took them off and meant to put them back one by one, but I started with that one and it immediately allowed me to continue, so it probably weighed about as much as it expected all three to weigh. So I just kept the others off the scales and continued, then retrieved my things from the cabinet and went outside to use a bench from one of those tables in order to arrange everything in the backpack and bag, walking away a little after 10:10 PM and being back 40 minutes later.
After putting some of the purchases in their place, I ate that sweet pastry and lunch, with one of the bags of bagels, and finally went to shower at 12:45 AM. The water was warm enough to use, but I’d have wanted it to be hot and it wasn’t. Either way, after the shower I also clipped my toenails and got back in the kitchen at 1:35 AM, but I still had the cucumbers and carrots to put in their place and a few other things to do, and I also ate a few plums. I started eating dinner at 3:15 AM, finishing at 4 AM and getting in bed at 5:20 AM despite not even flossing… And Liza went to the litter box pretty much right away, so after a couple of minutes I decided to check, saw that she had crapped and took it away before returning to bed.

In the early hours of September 24, I started eating dinner at 3:05 AM and only finished at 4:15 AM, that pain around my appendix returning as I ate. But it had first returned around midnight, when I got in bed to read a little more, after eating popcorn during the second half of the match, so while the most probable explanation remains that gas tends to get stuck there, it may also be radiating from my lower back or even from my hip, or on the other hand it could come from that kidney. Either way, I was also determined to write a quick post that night, so I only got in bed at 5:30 AM.
Since it was Saturday and I was only going to run ten kilometers, I could leave later and didn’t set an alarm… But that didn’t make much of a difference, since a couple of minutes before 2 PM I was woken up by an SMS announcing that I could pick up the order from the pharmacy, and while I did get back in bed and only got up a few minutes after 2:30 PM, I don’t think I managed to fall asleep again during that time. Either way, I then had the usual stuff plus almonds, with the sweet thing being the last slice of that thing brought by dad that’s probably also some chec, with added honey. I left at 5:10 PM, wearing the full running gear, with a few things in the pocket of my tights. The reported temperature was 19-20°C, maybe dropping by 1-2°C by the time I’ll finish.
The time was 48:09.23, with sector times of 4:27.19, 5:07.12, 6:00 (5:59.88), 4:34.41, 5:00 (4:59.63), 5:50.56, 4:29.06, 5:04.03, 5:46 (5:45.60) and 1:52 (1:51.75), making for lap times of 15:34.19, 15:24.60 and 15:19 (15:18.69). I hoped to finally get back under 48 minutes, especially after having done so well two days earlier, but it was so crowded and the first sector was slow, the problems caused by people costing me quite a few seconds. And those problems continued, the first lap’s time not even allowing me to hope to stay under 48:30. But from sector two of lap two it started to become less crowded and my times improved, so after the end of the lap I could actually aim to stay under 48:30, hoping, and managing, to be safe at the end of lap three, since I didn’t know whether I’ll stay under two minutes on the final sector, considering how crowded it had been when I got to the park. But by the time I got there that area was also far less crowded, so I ended up closer to 48 minutes than to 48:30… But on top of still not managing to get back under 48 minutes, I was also slower, albeit by just 38 hundredths, than I had been on the previous run over this distance. Yes, the conditions made quite a difference, but the fact remains.
It was really crowded on lap one and sector one of lap two, so on top of a lot of weaving and going the long way around, I had to stop for a couple of seconds on the long straight of sector one of lap one because of a complete roadblock, took to the grass and slowed a lot on the long straight of sector two of lap one, again briefly stopped because I was blocked by someone on sector three of lap one, slowed a lot on sector one of lap two, under the bridge, in order to reach other people just after some kids on scooters passed them, and there were a few other occasions over those four sectors when I had to take to the grass, slow or squeeze through. But the crowds cleared quite quickly and quite noticeably after that, so while I still had to weave and go the long way around, and a couple of times also slow or take to the grass, there was nothing else that was nearly as bad as what I had to deal with during those first four sectors. On the other hand, I still felt like I couldn’t quite sustain the sprints all the way to the end of the long straights, but it was hard to really know for sure, seeing as they kept being broken up by people. Otherwise, a certain pressing need started to make itself known early on and it got worse as time passed, so while it was never that bad, it was more noticeable than anything I had to deal with in quite some time. And on the second half of sector three of lap three I noticed that my right shoe was unlaced, but I continued without stopping to retie it, though being careful to avoid tripping likely cost me a little time. As for the weather, there was a little wind, but it wasn’t much of a problem.

Since a sports fair was taking place there those days, after the run I turned back and went to the gazebo that’s near that entrance, seeing bottles and cans of vitamin and mineral drinks and meaning to ask whether I could grab one. Not that anybody seemed to pay any attention as I paced around and even took a can and read the ingredients, but I was pacing because I was trying to get myself to say something and after a while I went to a guy and asked who organized things there and he said that he was one of the organizers, pointing to his badge which actually said “organizer” and which I obviously hadn’t noticed. So I then asked what the event was all about and he explained a few things, but the day’s schedule seemed to be ending, and then someone else came and he had to talk to her, so I wished him a good day and stepped away. At that point he said that they’ll welcome me to come the next day as well, but I said that I was running every other day, having already mentioned that I was getting ready for the marathon, and that the following day I was going to rest, and then I did walk away, not managing to get myself to ask about taking a bottle, or to try to simply grab one.
Then I went to Park Lake, putting on the mask after I got in, picking up the order from that pharmacy, along with the iodine pills… And then finding two boxes of one of the products when I checked the bag! I had ordered and paid for one, and when I later checked I found no mention of any special deal on their site, so I guess somebody made a nice mistake? Either way, I then also went to Carrefour, got what I wanted, some of the products again resulting in a voucher on the receipt, took a little time to arrange everything in the flimsy bags which I had taken with me and got back just after 7:45 PM.
It was quite hard to fit the frozen vegetables in the freezer, eventually having to take out the peas which I meant to cook the next day in the Slow Cooker in order to make room, but in the end I did put the purchases in their place, then went to the toilet and showered, after which I even did the day’s squats. Only after that did I have something sweet, the last piece of watermelon for this year and lunch. As for dinner, I started eating it at 3:05 AM and only finished at 4:05 AM, since I was paying more attention on-line.

It was still September 25, minutes before midnight, when I managed to finish The Steel Remains, so the only way to have a second post for that week was to initially just post the title and the rating, and even that required editing the time, since I was waiting to post it at 11:59 PM, got logged off just at that moment and was unable to log back on quickly enough. So that quick review was written that night and I edited the post after I ate. And I finished eating at 3:55 AM, after starting at 3:15 AM, since I had something else to do first, only went to the kitchen at 1:25 AM, and even then first washed the glass tray and a large pot. And that pain around my appendix had again returned while I was reading in bed and continued at night, but it wasn’t hurting worse if I pressed in that spot, so it did seem like it was either radiating from somewhere else or gas. Either way, I went to bed at 5:25 AM.
The alarm was set to ring at 2 PM, but I had just gone to pee a little before 1 PM and minutes later dad got back, so while I did eventually manage to get back to sleep, I did so very briefly, waking up again when he made some more noise, at which point I saw that it was 1:53 PM and got up, turning off the alarm. Then I had the usual stuff, and the sweet thing was some more of the older chec from my mother, with added honey, but I’m not sure about the almonds, since I didn’t mention them in the notes and, while I should probably stop doing so, since they’ve been part of “the usual stuff” for a long time, that day I might have decided to skip them because the apple was a huge one brought by dad, apparently from the garden of a friend of my mother’s. And I had started taking the other supplements as well, so before leaving I took one iron pill and the one with magnesium and potassium, alongside the one for joints which I had been taking for a while. I left at 4:15 PM, wearing the full running gear and one of those armbands, with the ID card and emergency information in the pocket of my tights. The reported temperature was 24-25°C, rising to 26°C by the time I finished.
The time was 1:15:40, with sector times of 4:29, 4:56, 5:46, 4:22, 4:54, 5:41, 4:24, 4:59, 5:44, 4:26, 5:01, 5:52, 4:26, 4:56 and 5:44, making for lap times of 15:11, 14:57, 15:07, 15:19 and 15:06. At first I hoped to stay under 1:18 but was willing to settle for staying under 1:20, and after that poor first sector I was thinking that I’ll have to push to stay under 16 minutes on lap one and then give up even on 1:20. But that made me push from sector two of lap one and that resulted in really good times, so on sector three I was hoping to complete the lap in 15:20 and ended up doing even better. Still, after sector one of lap two I was thinking that I had one good lap, from sector two of lap one to sector one of lap two, but that was it. However, after sector two I wondered whether I could be a couple of seconds faster on lap two than I had been on lap one, and ended up being 14 seconds faster, and completing the lap in less than 15 minutes! And I just kept pushing and lap three was also great, so I was thinking that even if I’ll get slower I should aim to stay under 1:17. But I didn’t slow nearly as much as I thought I would, so after lap four I realized that I might just have a chance to stay under 1:16 and gave it everything on lap five, ending up easily under that target, and in fact a mere three seconds from the third best time over this distance.
It felt rather hot at first, but it stopped bothering me after a while. However, on sectors two and three it was windy, though on lap three I also felt some wind on sector one but less of it on sector three, and on lap five I didn’t really notice it anywhere, though I was pushing so hard that I wasn’t really aware of much of anything anymore. Otherwise, the park wasn’t crowded, so I of course had to occasionally weave and go the long way around but there were no notable problems caused by people. However, some parts of the lane were still wet, and many were uneven, and a new spot was seriously damaged, in a way that could really trip runners, though it was a bigger problem for those coming from the opposite direction, and I saw it on lap one and knew to avoid it after that. As for physical issues, I started feeling a certain pressing need almost from the beginning and by the end of sector one of lap two it was quite noticeable and only got worse after that, so it was something that I had to manage. And while the fact that I felt like I couldn’t quite sustain the sprints all the way to the end of the long straights isn’t that relevant, considering how fast I obviously was even so, I have to mention that I started feeling out of it, exhausted, from sector two of lap two, and by the long straight of sector two of lap three I rather seemed to be in runner’s high, which I feared would go away after that, and on lap five I did feel that I was just about running on empty, though I could somehow just keep pushing in spite of that, probably thanks to those supplements. But my hands were going numb from sector two of lap five and my feet were starting to burn on the last half of sector three of lap five.

I got back a few minutes before 6 PM, just drank that juice, having saved it for that day, changed and went out again a little before 7:15 PM, going to Auchan and wanting to be back in time to use the toilet and have a quick shower before the match. I was mainly looking for bread for dad, ending up getting six, but I also wanted to reward myself with something sweet and actually found something I liked, so I grabbed a small piece that was already packaged, plus a pack of yogurt. However, that sweet thing wouldn’t scan at the self-checkout, the bar code not being straight, and the employee who came as I was struggling with it logged on and then had to type the code three times before it finally worked. But then she left me to scan the other products and there were no more problems. However, it was still 8:30 PM when I walked out, which meant that I wasn’t going to get back by 9 PM, as planned, and trying to rush resulted in getting drenched in sweat, since I was wearing the jacket. It had made sense to wear it on the way there, despite the warm evening, since I was sweaty and weak after the run, but I should have taken it off on the way back… But at least I still managed to throw the yogurt in the fridge and use the toilet and shower in time, despite getting back a little after 9:05 PM. And after dad left I ate that sweet thing and some walnuts and made mamaliga, with a lot of things in it. My nose was a little irritated, but it wasn’t too bad, and my right calf kept seeming to want to contract but didn’t quite do it.

On October 3, after making the tea for the morning while slicing bread, I managed to start eating dinner just before 2 AM and finish at 3 AM, also having peanut butter on some of the slices, to once again make sure that it was still good. As I was planning that night, I was wondering whether I’ll manage to get in bed at 3:30 AM, but that ended up being the time when I started shaving… And I cut myself right at the end, pretty much on the last move, which was annoying. Either way, I got in bed at 4:10 AM.
I was really sleepy when the alarm rang, at 8:30 AM, the fact that I had even managed to fall asleep again after happening to wake up and check the time only a quarter of an hour earlier also being proof of that, but in order to start running at 10:30 AM, so an hour after the start time of the marathon, I had to get up, so I did. After having a bio (organic) apple and yogurt mixed with muesli, raisins in dark chocolate and almonds, plus two of those thinner wheat things, with added honey, and taking the supplements, it was almost 10:20 AM when I managed to leave, and seconds after 10:20 AM when I actually walked out of the building, so I hurried to the park. I was wearing the full running gear plus one of those armbands, and also the running belt, with some things in it, since I was going to be wearing it during the marathon. The reported temperature was about 13°C, increasing by a couple of degrees by the time I finished.
The time was 46:49.80, with sector times of 4:16.29, 4:59.41, 5:52.00, 4:26 (4:25.87), 4:55 (4:54.72), 5:45.12, 4:22.29, 4:51 (4:50.87), 5:35.38 and 1:48 (1:47.85), making for lap times of 15:07.70, 15:06 (15:05.71) and 14:48.54. I was really hoping to finally get back under 48 minutes on a run over this distance, and after being uncertain how much I should push on the first sector and seeing a time that was pretty much what I expected under those circumstances, I pushed harder from sector two of lap one and at the end of the lap it looked like I had a pretty good chance. So I kept pushing, being surprised by the times on sectors two and three of lap two, and the fact that the lap was faster than the first one, so I started thinking of staying under 47:30. But after sector one of lap three it looked like I could just about make sure of that after sector two, so I pushed even harder and obtained that great time, which made me briefly wonder about getting under 47 minutes. At the time, after calculating what I’ll need in order to manage that, it seemed impossible and I was thinking of something around 47:15, but I nevertheless kept pushing and was amazed by that sector three, and by the lap, which pretty much ensured that I’ll get under 47 minutes after all, which I managed by quite some margin despite no longer thinking too well at that point and losing some time by not taking the proper path up those stairs.
A muscle was sending warnings from the start, but I’m not entirely sure which one it was anymore, my notes stating that it was the bottom part of the back of my left calf, which seems unlikely, the bottom of the left thigh or the top of the left calf being more likely. Either way, those warnings soon got worse, making me worry for a while, but I was able to manage it and it eventually became less of a concern, though the warnings remained all the way to the end. Otherwise, the lane was again wet in many areas, since it had rained the night before, and I avoided what I could, but that was somewhat easier because there weren’t that many people, and I’d actually say that there were no notable problems caused by them. However, it was windy in some areas, and while I also noticed it a little on sector one of lap two and sector two of lap three, the main problems were on some parts of sector three, and in fact it was only a small area, at the start of it, where I felt that I was fighting it, and on lap three it didn’t seem to be that noticeable there either, though I’m not sure how well I was still able to notice much of anything at that point. But I probably was, because I definitely noticed that by far the worst headwind was at the end, on the final sector’s straight.

Then I put on the mask and went to Carrefour, though I first washed my hands and had a quick look through that Media Galaxy, then entered Carrefour and got a few things, also using the voucher received on September 24, that cashier actually handing back the receipt. And it could be said that my day was only starting when I got back, a little before 12:50 PM, so I changed and a couple of minutes after 1:30 PM I left again, going to the Treasury and jogging much of the way. Actually, probably most of the way, but I’m not entirely certain. And I didn’t need to do that, since between Monday and Thursday they end cash operations at 2:30 PM, but I was uncertain about the hour and wanted to be there before 2 PM, just in case. So it only took me a quarter of an hour to get there and ten minutes later, so still a little before 2 PM, I was actually walking out. And then, since at that hour I could enter that branch of my bank, I did so and used the ATM that’s inside in order to deposit the money, even if that one requires the bills to be put in one by one.
I still needed bread, however, and wanted that one from Carrefour, so after once again only finding it sliced at Park Lake, I decided to go to Unirii as well, also having a look in a Mega Image on the way and being surprised to see that the snacks which I had considered getting from Carrefour after the run were cheaper there. But I didn’t buy them from there, and also didn’t find that bread at that Carrefour. Not that I really expected to, since I haven’t seen it there since they modified the bakery area, so I just grabbed the one bio (organic) egg I found among the few that were sold by piece and some expiring Tic Tacs for dad, then also had a look in that Mega Image, confirming that lower price for those snacks but still not buying them.
As I was making my way back, on the other side, it started raining, and by the time I reached Decebal it was raining heavily, so I first had a quick look in that Profi as well, mainly to get out of the rain for a few minutes. But that’s a really small store, so I then rushed to that Penny and wandered around, eventually just buying a bottle of ketchup for dad but waiting out the rain… And when it did seem to have stopped and I went to the checkout, the one cashier who was working said that she was only there for other employees, and indeed the guard was buying some things then, so I had to wait until the other one got back from wherever she had been… And then she gave me less change, including a 0.05 RON coin instead of another 0.10 RON one, and while that’s a tiny amount I pointed it out and she said that the coins are mixed in her register, started looking around for a discarded one, couldn’t find any, and despite saying that she’ll sort it out right away left me to wait until the next customer was about to pay, and when he said that he had exact change she told him to give me a coin first.
After initially passing by it, I turned around and had a look in that Mega Image as well, putting the ketchup in a cabinet but keeping the egg and Tic Tacs in my jacket’s inner pocket, where I had placed them after purchasing them. But that’s a small location and I couldn’t find those snacks there, and after retrieving the ketchup and walking back out I realized that I had time to go to Kaufland as well, so I did just that, in fact even having a quick look in another store when I reached that area, then again putting only the ketchup in a cabinet, washing my hands and getting some toothpaste for dad and a few more onions. Then I put the purchases, along with the ketchup, in the backpack and rushed back, jogging at times because I had also decided to check the Mega Image that’s next to Tei, since I wanted one of those bags of snacks.
Well, the good thing is that I did find them in that location and bought one, but the bad is that I lost that egg. After realizing that I had forgotten that it was in that pocket while digging through the crates of onions in Kaufland and worrying that I’ll hit or press against something and crack it if that will happen again, I decided to put it in the cabinet when I reached that Mega Image, along with the backpack… Only for it to roll out when I was trying to get the coin needed to lock those cabinets out of my pocket, falling on the floor and cracking, leaving me with nothing to do but curse, pick it up and throw it in the garbage, leaving what had spilled for someone to clean up. Then, after getting those snacks and stuffing them in the backpack, I pretty much ran back, just managing to walk in at exactly 6 PM, as planned.
After eating those snacks and also doing the day’s squats, since the previous day I had kept putting it off until I forgot to do them at all and I really didn’t want to skip and need to make up for two consecutive days, a little before 7:15 I went out again, still needing bread and not knowing where I wanted to go. If I’d have gone to Mega Mall, I was pretty much certain to find some of that other kind left at 9 PM, when the prices are halved in that location, but I was also absolutely certain to not find the kind that I actually wanted, since that’s not available in that location. On the other hand, since I had already checked Park Lake and all of the bread of that kind was sliced there, going back at an even later hour seemed unlikely to result in finding some unsliced ones, and in that location they don’t have evening discounts… But I did it anyway, and it somehow proved to be the correct choice, since I did find some of that bread, still warm and unsliced, so I got one.
After that, I continued to that newer Kaufland, but also stopped at that Penny on the way, spotting a discount on beets which I hadn’t been aware of and getting a few… After a loud alarm rang and then a voice shouted to evacuate, but I glanced around and the guard didn’t seem alarmed and when I had a look I saw other customers still waiting patiently in the queue, so I wandered around a little more and then also went calmly to the checkout… Where the cashier asked for 0.50 RON when the listed price was 0.57 RON, but I had a bunch of change ready and meant to give her that exact amount, though I ended up giving her 0.58 RON and she took it. Either way, I then did also get to that Kaufland, put the purchases in a cabinet, peed and washed my hands and then ended up getting two spoiling quinces and a number of bakery products, including two of those breads that I get from there and a few sweet pastries for my mother, the discounts increasing to 70% as I wandered around… Or at least they increased to 70% for everything but a sweet pastry which I had bought for myself, which was left with a 50% discount, and that was quite likely because I grabbed the last one just before the employee who was scanning the labels got to it, and him scanning them was probably what entered the additional discount into the system for the products that weren’t yet sold out.
After retrieving the other purchases from the cabinet and arranging them, I walked away a couple of minutes before 10 PM and got back a little before 10:45 PM. However, it was just after 12:05 AM when I got to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, a couple of minutes past 1 AM when I finished, a couple of minutes past 2 AM when I took the first bite of lunch, barely finishing eating it at 3 AM, since I was working on dinner during that time, and 3:25 AM when I started eating dinner, finishing at 4:05 AM and getting in bed at 5:25 AM.

Since Putin turns 70 today, apparently choosing to “celebrate” with an informal summit of former Soviet republics, probably as a laughable attempt to counter the first meeting of the European Political Community, since otherwise the festivities were unusually muted, may I take the opportunity to wish for it to be his last as a free man? Yes, I guess the more obvious option would be to wish for it to be his last, period, but on the one hand one has to wonder who’d replace him if he’d actually die, especially if it won’t be natural causes, and on the other being convicted of his crimes and needing to spend his remaining years in prison would hurt and demean him far more, and also send a powerful message, possibly powerful enough to stop not only his inner circle but also other “leaders” taking after his example, from following a similar path in the foreseeable future. That more obvious option remains much preferable to the current situation, of course, but if I can choose between the two I’ll definitely stick to this wish, so may this be Putin last birthday, and most preferably one of his very last days, as a free man.

To add to the reasons for being depressed, last evening I just found out that Carrefour’s campaign that offers fruits and vegetables in exchange for PET bottles was extended this year to also include glass bottles and aluminum cans, so I’d have probably had several hundred stored, considering that large box of cans, but it was at Orhideea right at the beginning, only for five days instead of a week and those days were between September 22 and 26, so exactly when I did that series of three runs in five days and I didn’t check. I had been checking since August, but when I knew that I won’t be able to go I set that aside for a while, and they apparently made the announcement on pretty short notice and the two sources that I was relying on to pick it up haven’t mentioned it either, not even by now. And it’d have been so nice to have a lot of nice vegetables and also some nicer apples before the marathon, plus that Carrefour Orhideea is next to a metro station and therefore dad could have brought some as well, at least on some of the days, so we could have made use of more of the recyclables. As it is, it will also be at Vulcan again, but between October 29 and November 2, so again only for five days and dad definitely won’t go there, so on top of having stored all of the bottles and cans used by him, fighting with him over it at times, and not being able to get the benefits when I actually needed them, I’ll also be limited to a total of 100, assuming I’ll go every day… Though the first question is whether I will be able to use what I have at all, since this year it says that they’re using machines, which won’t take flattened bottles or cans, and I obviously flatten them in order to be able to store so many, so I can only hope that they’ll change things and also allow them to be received by their employees, as it always was before, by then.
Otherwise, my provider just removed Eurosport 2 from the channels on the analog list, so I can’t watch it normally anymore, in my room or in the kitchen, and getting the new TV tuner is starting to look like even more of a mistake, since still being able to watch TV on the computer when I’ll finally get a new one is more and more questionable. And even though I haven’t been using that tuner at all after the initial tests, I just noticed that DOSBox doesn’t register the right Shift anymore and after glancing at some discussions about the problem I’m thinking that the drivers which were installed for its remote are the cause.
Unrelated to any of these, I’m getting worried about dad, noticing signs of health problems that he won’t admit to, or may well make a point of not believing, following his idea about the power of the mind. He always had problems with one ear, but now I’m wondering whether he’s losing his hearing in general or what’s going is his ability to comprehend, which would be a sign of worse things. And also a sign of worse things would be his memory, which was always poor but seems to be getting quite noticeably worse… Even if he is very involved in those theater groups and seems to be able to learn and play his parts well enough despite most likely rehearsing less than he should, which makes me wonder whether it’s not still more about not paying attention, in which case the question becomes whether he just doesn’t care to or he’s no longer able to. And since, unlike everything else, he actually admitted to being bothered by one eye and actually scheduled an appointment to have it checked out, I wonder how bad that actually is as well.

But this post was supposed to be about runs, and it won’t even get to those three that I mentioned above, being limited to the two that came before them, the main one obviously being the 35.2 km one, on September 6. I should probably start with September 5, however, and say that it was past midnight, so during that day’s first moments, when I started making pasta, and 3:05 AM when I started to eat a combined lunch and dinner, though that was after licking a few things earlier, while I was still in the kitchen. I finished a little after 3:45 AM.
I was woken up by the SMS received at 8:52 AM, letting me know that the Slow Cooker which I had ordered, after discussing it with dad, was going to be delivered that day, and after that I had a hard time getting back to sleep and was quickly waking up if I did, so I just had a few naps before 12:22 PM, when the delivery guy called. I asked whether I’ll be able to check the package and he said that I will after paying, so when he arrived I paid, then just pulled the box into the hallway and did my best to open it quickly while he stood at the door, having a very quick look and not noticing anything wrong at that moment. Later, when I could take a closer look, I did spot a tiny problem on the bowl, but it’s obviously like that from manufacturing, not a crack, and it’s on the outside, so it seems fine.
Otherwise, I was worried about the left calf muscle, which had been troubling me and seemed to be getting worse at the time, which was definitely not what I wanted before such a run. And I couldn’t get much more sleep that evening either, getting back in bed at one point, napping for no more than an hour, and in fact probably less, then getting up to pee and being unable to get back to sleep despite spending another hour and a half in bed, then turning on the monitor, since there was a match, but getting back in bed yet again and staying there until the end of the first half, so for more than 20 more minutes, just looking at the screen when there were goals. That did mean four times, however.

To finally get to September 6, I’ll again start with the day’s first moments, when I was eating lunch. Then I shaved and, after getting to the kitchen, did a few things that could have waited, but I can’t really say when I started eating dinner. It was 3:25 AM when I had the first bite in my room, but by then I had gone beyond just licking a few things in the kitchen, while on the other hand it was actually 3:30 AM when I finished bringing everything to my room and sat down to eat here, but I grabbed some more bites during those five minutes as well. And yes, I had peanut butter again, but only on some of the slices. Either way, I finished eating at 4:20 AM and got in bed at 5:20 AM.
I woke up multiple times, sometimes to pee, after that big salad, but not just because of that. It was the need to pee that woke me up the last time, however, since I hadn’t set an alarm, and when I saw that it was 2:07 PM I decided to get up. The problem was that there had been an announcement stating that gas would be off until 1 PM, yet it was still off, so I first went to the toilet, where I only left a small part of what I felt was there, after putting off going the day before until I ended up not going at all. But the gas was still off when I checked again, so I ended up microwaving two mugs of tea, which I drank. Otherwise, ate a nicer apple and a bio (organic) yogurt with muesli, raisins in dark chocolate and almonds, then went to the toilet a second time, managing to get way more out but still feeling like it wasn’t everything. And if the gas finally seemed to have returned after that and I tried to make the tea for the evening, it then seemed to have been turned off again, though something was coming through and it had that smell, so I was thinking that they were testing, using a substance that wasn’t flammable, but it’s possible that the burner had somehow gotten clogged and too little gas was coming through. So I gave up on making that tea and also ate a banana and some of those wheat things, with honey and jam. I had found a different kind in the hypermarkets, also eight in a package, but 56 grams instead of 80, so seven grams each, so I had three instead of two, as a “sandwich”, with the honey and jam between them.
After also backing up the “safe” partition, I decided to take the running belt after all, putting in it the remaining gel from this summer’s Dream Trek, which had also expired back then, in June, this probably explaining how they had managed to afford to give away so many, and also a protein bar, also from then, plus some garlic and napkins. Otherwise, I was wearing the full running gear plus one of those armbands, only putting my ID card and the slip of paper with the emergency information in the pocket of my tights. The napkins and garlic should have gone there as well, and possibly also the gel, to leave the belt free for the first emptied bottle, which was the main reason why I had decided to take it in the first place, but for some reason I didn’t put them there. Either way, after taking a little more time to remove what had gathered at the back of my shoes, I took a bottle of tea, fortunately made the previous day, in each hand, and left at 5:50 PM, when the reported temperature was 23-24°C, dropping to about 17°C when I finished. But something still seemed to be hurting my left heel, so after reaching the park I sat on a bench and took care of that.
The time was 3:23:09, with lap times of 16:02, 16:39, 16:58, 17:26, 18:27, 18:17, 18:32, 18:55, 19:43, 20:36 and 21:34. When I wanted to hit the light button at the start of lap seven, since that was when it became too dark, I accidentally hit the start/stop one, so I added a second to the times that were actually displayed after that, affecting that lap’s time and the total. It’s possible that it took me closer to two seconds to react, but one second seems good enough, plus that I was standing still at that moment. Either way, the ideal target was to stay under 3:15, but I’d have been pretty content with “only” a new personal best, preferably by at least eight seconds, to stay under 3:18 and average less than 18 minutes per lap. And I did push too hard at first, finding myself aiming for 16 minutes on the first lap and just missing that target, and then wanting to stay under 17 minutes on laps two and three and managing to do so, plus that the actual running time was about 17 minutes on laps four and five as well, so after five laps I was 3:56 ahead of the previous time, but then I started losing time. I calculated after seven laps and saw that I had just gone over the time that’d have allowed me to stay under 3:18 with 19-minute laps from then on, already having almost 19 minutes on lap eight confirmed that 3:18 was a lost cause, and lap nine made it quite clear that I won’t even stay under 3:20, so from then on I just tried to get to the end and stay under 3:25, on the last lap actually being worried that I won’t even manage that. It wasn’t quite as bad in the end, but I was 5:02 slower than last year, with 5:35 lost over those last two laps, since after nine laps I was still 33 seconds ahead. In fact, on the last two laps, and also on the eighth, I was even slower than the first time…
While my heels weren’t getting scraped anymore, I felt quite clearly that the left shoe pretty much no longer cushions at all at the front. Otherwise, it was quite crowded, only getting better towards the end, but I wasn’t aiming for speed, so there were few notable issues. I recall having to go off the path and around a couple of benches on lap seven, but cutting a turn in the process, and the one potentially dangerous moment was on the long sector one straight, I think on lap six, though there’s a small chance that it was also on lap seven, when I was weaving and squeezing through, a cyclist coming from the opposite direction was doing the same and we ended up face to face, so he slammed on the brakes, I also managed to stop and we just avoided crashing. Some damaged spots on the lane could have been hazardous in the dark, but I avoided them, though on lap six I again somehow ended up stepping in that hole that’s under the lane. I thought that I had avoided it but obviously didn’t, so it was again my left heel that went in it, which might have caused the sharp pain I felt in my left ankle on lap seven. But that went away after a while, as did the pain which at one point I was feeling in my right knee. My hips and thighs were giving warnings from the start, seemed to get better on lap two but got back to that level on lap three, at which point that right knee also joined them, at first with warnings but then, I’m not sure if almost right away or on lap four, with a pain that was quite worrying before it went away.
I drank at the start of laps four, six, eight and eleven, since at the start of lap ten I decided to wait a little longer and then didn’t want to stop again during the lap, knowing that it’ll be hard to get going again. I know that drinking caused me to lose about 35 seconds on each of the first two occasions, but on the other two I didn’t check. I lost over a minute, and maybe closer to one and a half, at the start of lap five, however, when I ate that bar, struggling a little to open the wrapping and then stopping at a bench to set down the bottles, only recalling after that how to hold them and still have enough free fingers to deal with the bar. I lost much less time when I had the gel, at the start of lap nine, but I didn’t try to actually calculate how much. And, despite not drinking or eating, there were brief stops at the start of laps seven and ten as well, to check the time. But what surprised me was that there was no pressing need at any point. Or maybe a faint feeling appeared some time after eating the bar, but it wasn’t notable and later there really wasn’t anything at all. On the other hand, the feeling that I had to pee, which I had from the beginning, was only starting to ease by the time I drank the first time, and that caused it to return, only finally going away for good some time after that.
But there was so much pain… I knew about halfway through lap eight that I was going to be in trouble, towards the end of lap nine my legs were really hurting and starting to burn, on lap ten that got even worse and my arms were also going numb, and on the last lap my feet seemed to be going numb as well, my hands were so numb that I almost dropped the bottles a few times, and I also had that odd feeling, of partial numbness or something of the sort, in my upper abdomen. Interestingly, I never felt out of breath, but it was so hard to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I did realize at the end of lap ten that I’ll be able to at least jog, and likely actually run to some extent, all the way to the end, but the last two, or in fact two and a half, laps were really hard.
It obviously wasn’t any easier after I finished either. I was in so much pain and could barely even stay on my feet, so it was so hard to go up those stairs. Still, I stopped at a bench for a little stretching, then struggled to get back here, probably looking really drunk, since I was having such a hard time walking, not to mention going in a straight line. But I got back just before 10 PM and when I mentioned wanting cheese from this nearby store, since I meant to make mamaliga, dad offered to rush there and get some before leaving for work, which he did, so I didn’t have to go out again. But before he went out the door I had already started crying because of the pain, and while I was probably only able to do so because I wasn’t alone at that moment, I then found myself crying harder for a few minutes, while he was away, and that seemed to help a fair bit.
The stove still didn’t seem to work, however, but at that point I decided to try all of the burners and noticed that the problem was just with the front ones, and even those eventually lit, but only partially and with small flames, so I made tea on one from the back, which worked normally. But after eating watermelon and most of a bag of bagels and going to the bathroom at 11:15 PM, to use the toilet and take a pretty quick bath, finishing at 12:10 AM, I decided to have a regular lunch, with the rest of those bagels instead of bread, since it was too late to start making mamaliga, even though I cleaned those burners from the front and they worked well after that. Even so, it was 12:50 AM when I started eating that lunch and 1:15 AM when I finished, then spent 20 more minutes on-line and after that I also put a few more things brought by dad in their place, so the fact that I started eating dinner at 3:05 AM actually meant that I was fast, and it was even better that I still finished at 3:40 AM.

Sleeping after that run was quite a problem, however. I guess it was close to 7 AM when I finally managed to fall asleep, but at 7:55 AM I got up to pee again, at which point I also washed what dad had left in the kitchen, and after that I was again unable to get back to sleep, so a little after 8:40 AM I got up, tightened the case screws a little more, since something had been vibrating, and then got on the computer. After having for some reason decided to reinstall it a few days earlier, that morning I completed the tutorial of Fate of the World: Tipping Point, which was the only scenario which I had managed to complete the first time around as well, being easy and not taking long. And then I also finally finished the post about the runs on August 15 and 19 and edited it in order to add those parts, getting back in bed at 9:45 AM.
On the other hand, despite not having such problems that day, nor when I went to the toilet right after the run, the blood that I saw the following day was probably a delayed effect of that run after all. I had only held it for a few minutes and everything seemed fine at first, but it felt like there was a little more, so I tried to push it out and at that point I heard drops, looked in the toilet and saw blood dripping out of me. It’s apparently the first time that happened since November, and so far it didn’t happen again, which is a relief. However, that day I also confirmed that I had lost a filling, though I’m pretty sure that at least parts of it had fallen out quite some time earlier, so I don’t know whether what was left of it also fell out at that point, making it more noticeable, or I was just paying more attention.

Moving on to the next run, which was on September 17, I’ll again start with the day’s the early hours, when I finished eating dinner at 3:45 AM. At that point, despite setting the alarm to ring at 2 PM, I was thinking to try to get up if I’ll wake up when dad will leave, which was supposed to be around 10:30 AM, and won’t be awfully sleepy, since there was a risk of storms later and the sites that I check disagreed on the hours. But I was first woken up at 7:10 AM, by a call, and I even answered, but they hung up, so I switched the phone to silent, went to pee and then got back in bed, seeing later that after a few minutes they tried one more time. Either way, I woke up twice more after that, but managed to get back to sleep quickly, and after waking yet again when dad left I took a little time to determine whether I could try to get up, got on the computer and checked the forecast again, seeing that the sites were closer to agreeing over a risk of rain after 4-5 PM. However, one just listed a window with a lower risk of rain, before those hours, so even though all agreed that the wind was going to cause the most problems exactly during that window, I moved the alarm to noon and got back in bed, again falling asleep quickly and getting up when it rang.
The forecast had again changed by then, the sites stating either that there should be no more rain that day or that it’ll only return in the evening. But, despite having something of a headache, the risks of getting back in bed yet again seemed to outweigh the benefits, so I had the usual stuff plus the last of the old almonds, with some chec, which Wikipedia says is a version of pound cake, with added honey, as the sweet thing, and left at 2:30 PM, wearing the full running gear and one of those armbands, with some things in the pocket of my tights. The reported temperature was 24-25°C, which seemed to have pretty much held steady, even though when I left the forecasts stated that it was going to increase by a couple of degrees by the time I’ll finish. Also, even though it was cloudy, the risk of rain had just about vanished from the forecasts, and that of more troublesome wind had moved a little later.
The time was 48:08.85, with sector times of 4:20.35, 5:06.47, 6:01 (6:00.97), 4:30 (4:29.22), 5:06.10, 5:55.18, 4:26 (4:25.75), 5:03.35, 5:49.34 and 1:52.12, making for lap times of 15:27.79, 15:31 (15:30.50) and 15:18.44. I wanted to be less slow than the previous time but didn’t dare to hope to get back under 48 minutes and felt slow on the first sector. Still, that first sector’s time was pretty much what I expected and the second sector wasn’t bad either, but over six minutes on sector three meant that I was already tiring and the lap time didn’t seem to even give me a chance to stay under 48:30. However, sector two of lap two being fractions of a second faster than sector two of lap one got my attention, and being clearly under six minutes on sector three made it seem that I could at least stay under 48:30 after all, if I’ll really push. So I did, and each sector of lap three was better than expected, so I ended up much closer to 48 minutes, though still too far to have been able to get back under that time.
The lane was wet in a number of places, so I avoided what I could, but in terms of precipitation there were only some drops at the end of sector one of lap one, becoming a light drizzle on sector two but stopping by the end of that sector. There might have been a few more drops on the second half of sector three of lap three, but that was barely noticeable. And I can’t say that I noticed the wind at all, which was a pleasant surprise. But the weather, and likely also the uncertain forecast, probably helped to make the park less crowded than I feared it’d be, so while I did have to weave and go the long way around plenty of times, the notable problems were only on sector three of lap one, when I slowed a lot and maybe stopped for just an instant when a woman who was checking her phone and insulting the child she was with walked in front of me, and on sector one of laps two and three, when I slowed to catch the moment when I could squeeze through roadblocks. However, I probably ruined some wedding photos as I went up the stairs at the start of the final sector just when a couple, so I guess the bride and groom, were walking up slowly with the photographer behind them, taking shots, and after squeezing past them I banged my elbow against the railing, making me think that they had probably cursed me out under their breath.
In terms of physical problems, at the beginning I felt tired, a muscle bothered me a little, though in my notes I wrote that it was the bottom part of the back of my left calf, which seems unlikely, the bottom of the left thigh or the top of the left calf being more likely, and I also had some abdominal pain, but all of these issues lessened in time. And the warnings that came from my left ankle on sector two of lap two also went away after a while, other warnings, that time from my knees, or mainly from the left one, and possibly some faint ones from the right hip as well, only appearing on sector three of lap three. Otherwise, on sector two of lap one and sector three of lap two there was a feeling that I hadn’t left everything in the toilet, but it never got to the level of a pressing need and when it possibly returned, on sector three of lap three, it was even fainter.

I still have the rest of that day to write about, but since I’m going to do the morning run tomorrow I decided to start making the salad some time after dad left, so I worked on that until 11:30 PM or so, then finished the part about the run and now I have something else to do as well, so I’m posting this as it is… And the plan was to edit it in order to add that part after I’ll manage to write it, but I eventually decided to include that in the next post.

2022 is a milestone year, but for us meeting, not for Andra leaving, so the important post was the July 12 one, while now I’ll just quickly throw something together, just to mark the moment and actually manage to post it at 4 AM, without just posting what I have at that time and then editing to add more later, even if that’s pretty much the rule lately, and I also did it last year.

Not that there’s anything new to say… Which also means that, at least on this quick search, I didn’t find anything new, which in turn also means that I didn’t find anything to say that my worst fears have become reality, so there’s still room for that entirely false hope that I need to keep manufacturing and somehow hold on to despite still somehow being sane enough to know that I’m doing that. Then again, while losing that shred of sanity might make getting through each day somewhat more manageable, it’d most likely also mean everything becoming even less clear in my mind and losing even more of the memories and the “reality” of the emotions, if that may be an appropriate term.

What I’m still not entirely sure right now is how I’ll end up spending the day, however. I just finished that series of three runs in five days and the plan for this week would be to walk the route of the marathon, but I also have another thing to do on Wednesday, and while I initially meant to go out today as well, in part in order to get something that I won’t be able to get later and in part because I wasn’t sure that I wanted to stay in on this day, I’m now thinking that I actually don’t want to go out today. Also don’t want to go out on three consecutive days, after those runs and before such long walks, but I just don’t want to go out today in particular. So, unless I change my mind, I guess I’ll just stay here, remembering what I still can of the one time when life seemed to be worth living and the future, at least on a personal level, was something other than this bleak, hopeless, terrifying source of constant anxiety, depression and even actual horror.