Living the dream-life huh?! Good for you!
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Originally posted by Stackoffski
Living the dream-life huh?! Good for you!
Well, it depends on how YOU define "dream life" for yourself. Guess everybody´s life can be a dream or a nightmare, depends on what you make of it. 
Those gardening pics do look dreamy. 
I know it can be hard work, especially after you have been away for a while, but it pays off.
And I think the Feuerküsschen were a birthday present, but... honestly, I'm not completely sure either. 
No poker on my end so far, because frankly... I'm just not all that motivated for it yet. We should be back next week, though, despite my demanding running schedule, in preparation of my 10K run in two weeks.
The Trollympics will be back tomorrow, and my plan is to give the sling ball (coordination) and medicine ball throw (strength) a try, knocking two more categories off the list if all goes well. For the medicine ball throw, the requirements have actually been altered, they got quite a bit tougher compared to last year. Back then, 11.25m were enough for Gold - this year, it will have to be 14 meters, 11.25m won't even be good enough for Silver any longer.
This means that last year's PB of 12.30m won't do anymore... but not to worry, it was the first event I tried back then and I didn't go all out yet, not to mention that all the training with the pushups and all this year should have helped matters. I think I should be able to pull this off. The sling ball throw could be complicated, I needed to try for several weeks last year until I got the Gold. Maybe we can do it sooner this time.
It is true that the weather has not been all that summer-like so far, but hopefully, I will also be able to present a new burger version to celebrate this season, just in time for the solstice.
So yes, I hope we can be back to poker soon and put some FTs in the books, but even if we don't, we should have plenty of material.
Medicine Ball Throw (2kg) (Strength)
Bronze: 9.50m
Silver: 12.50m
Gold: 14.00m
Not an Olympic event.
No known world records.
Trollympic Record: 12.30m by Harrier88 (PS) at the 2023 Trollympics, June 26th, 2023.
Harrier's distance: 14.60m
NEW TROLLYMPIC RECORD!
The requirements have been raised significantly compared to last year, but no problem - after a few tries, and several throws slightly above the 13m mark, I got the required distance. 
I first did several attempts with a shot put style technique, until I was shown a different underhand throwing technique that was supposedly more efficient. I found it more difficult to get a straight shot with it, but it did help me get farther, eventually taking down the Gold. That's another one in the bag.
Sling Ball Throw (1 kg) (Coordination)
Bronze: 28.50m
Silver: 33.50m
Gold: 38.50m
Not an Olympic event.
World Record (2kg): 86.92m by Alwin Wagner (GER) on August 21st, 1982.
Trollympic Record: 39.10m by Harrier88 (PS) at the 2023 Trollympics, July 10th, 2023.
Harrier's distance: 39.00m
I learned a decent technique last year already, where I needed several weeks to get the Gold. Today, it took a few tries until I got a throw that seemed to have the distance, but strayed a little bit to the left. My examiner tried to measure it in an arch compared to the tape measure I put on the ground, and determined that my distance was 39 meters. Good enough for Gold, but I still wanted to try some more, and also get a few throws that land closer to the tape in the center. Got a few good ones, but none that beat my previous best, or last year's record.
So that's all for today - two more Golds in different fields, so only Speed remains. I don't intend to do any 100 meter dash attempts until I'm done with my 10K run, but at least Silver should be pretty much free in the 25m freestyle swimming, so we have Gold overall practically in the bag now.
Nevertheless, just like last year - we are far from done. Why settle for what is considered "Gold" if you can still improve your performance? Citius, Altius, Fortius!
New "Medal Table":
3,000 Meter Run (Stamina): Gold
Medicine Ball Throw (Strength): Gold
Sling Ball Throw (Coordination): Gold
Current Progress
Stamina: Gold (3,000 Meter Run) - 3 points
Strength: Gold (Medicine Ball Throw) - 3 points
Speed: -
Coordination: Gold (Coordination) - 3 points
9 points in total, 11 points are required for Gold.
Just in time for the summer solstice, I am happy to announce our next burger entry in the Four Seasons series.
A good summer burger calls for some tomatoes, I'd say. And while we are at it, let's add some mozzarella cheese and a couple of basil leaves.
For some extra summer heat, we will also spread some hot salsa on the top bun, and add a few red and green jalapeño slices.
Put it back together, and our Summer-burger is ready.
You get a lot of different flavors with that one, but overall, I'd say this is another very good entry. I'm not sure if this or the Winter version would be my favorite so far.
Judge for yourself, here is the lineup:
Winter
Spring
Summer
Fall (coming in September)
Originally posted by VorpalF2F
the burger looks tasty
Yes, it was quite good. The spiciness wasn't overwhelming either, as it was drowned out by the other flavors. Just a pleasant spicy kick.
I wonder what kind of sauce I could use for the Fall version... ah well, I have three more months to think about it.
Well, yes, it's summer... but I can't say I'm in much of a summer mood so far. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the weather - because I have heard plenty of other people doing it ahead of me, even when it was still technically spring. Maybe it's mostly a German thing to whine about the weather in this season. I have often thought that someone should do a study to determine the exact temperature, down to at least the 2nd decimal point, where people over here switch from complaining that "it's way too cold!" to "it's way too hot!" in summer.
Supposedly, it will be hot and sunny next week. I definitely want to explore some more mixed drinks this year, so a few days of sunshine might get me into a mixing mood. One of the main issues, of course, is time and energy, and I hope that things will look a lot better once I am done with my 10K race. If we include all that running training, I think I have only had two days this month where I had nowhere to go in the afternoon, including all weekends - and even on those two days, it was only because my scheduled activities had been cancelled on short notice.
I mentioned to Prim the other day that when I am looking back at spring this year, I can't even think of many memorable things that stand out to me, it's mostly just sports that comes to my mind. She seemed to agree, though she at least fondly looks back on her tennis matches. Even our in-person meetups, while very enjoyable as always, didn't feature a lot of special activities to look back on. Prim has been busy as a bee with work, and my schedule has been no slouch either. We couldn't even meet up as often as we would have liked, and when we did, we often had to restrict ourselves somewhat to stay ready for the challenges of the next day.
Naturally, the lack of energy has been holding back poker too. Those Badugi tournaments would take place late in the evening, and it can already be hard enough to find the time for them if you have to get up early the next day. Add physical exhaustion from your training schedules, and it's no wonder there are so few poker updates to make here.
In general, now that we're almost at the halfway point, we really haven't exactly seen any fireworks this year when it comes to poker, have we? It was mostly sporting achievements for us instead. I apologize to anyone who had clicked on this blog early this year and expected more out of it. I love doing side challenges, but if it accounts for most of our material, it's admittedly not much of a poker blog here.
I am optimistic that things will change soon, though. Like I said, putting that 10K race into the books should be a huge step. I trust that I should be able to "recharge my batteries", start some new projects, and get back to the tables in July. There has been plenty of pressure these days, I could use a bit of a break.
Harrier needs a new car...
I was on my way to visit my nephew for his 6th birthday celebration on Saturday, together with my mother and a friend of my brother who serves as godmother for my nephew, when all of a sudden, we saw a familiar sign on the dashboard:
This sign, normally indicating a problem with the glow plug, had plagued me several times during the colder seasons last year, most notably in December, when it was on pretty much constantly. It activates some kind of emergency mode that limits the car's performance as a safety feature, which means that you might go only 50-60 km/h uphill, and need to use all the gravity you can get on downward slopes to eventually reach 100 km/h. It was an annoyance, but at least I could still drive to work with it.
This time, while the dashboard symbol is identical, the car clearly has a bigger problem. It is constantly rumbling during your drive, as if you were in the wrong gear, and it barely reaches maybe 30 km/h while going downhill. If you're going uphill, you can only hope that you will make it at all. We didn't even make it back home with this thing, we had to call an emergency service. Unfortunately, that also cancelled our visit.
There is no way I will make it to work with this heap of trash. We hope that we can find a replacement soon - luckily, since my mother lives downstairs from me and we share our car, we can also split the bill, making it a bit more affordable. Still, having to buy both a new PC and a new car this year is sure to put a strain on my "rainy day" funds. And I thought the apartment could do with some renovation too... I guess that will have to wait.
For next week, this means that there will be no Trollympics tomorrow, and my planned 10 km run on Saturday could be questionable too, though I hope that we have found a new car by then. Maybe I can do some aquatic events, the local indoor pool is within walking distance.
Also, there will be a lot of hassle until we have found a suitable replacement, of course. So far, we only know that we want a car that runs on gasoline. We are done with diesel after having to deal with those problems, which we heard can be a common occurrence if you only drive short distances. And forget about those electric ones.
Until then, I guess I will have to take the bus...
So, what can we expect from next week?
- A lot of stuff happening behind the scenes.
- Hopefully a new car to present
- Possibly some aquatic Trollympic events
- Probably a big 10 km race on the weekend
- Hopefully a return to the Badugi tables, with a vengeance
And after that, I look forward to putting this crazy month behind me, entering what I hope will be a pleasant summer, with mixed drinks, adventurous cooking and finally some MTT crushing again.
Car Hunting
So I had to take the bus today, and even ran into a fellow karateka who was sitting close to me. She had to get to the same stop to get to work.
While the bus connection is pretty good (at least on the way to my workplace, not necessarily the way back), I was graciously loaned a company car for my way home, which I can keep until at least tomorrow - we will see if I will be allowed to keep it for any longer. It is a Ford Puma:
This will do for a while, but obviously, I should get a car of my own. During a short break at work, I briefly sat in a Toyota Yaris:
It seemed all right... but the space was a little limited. I have pretty long legs, so I would have to put the driver's seat all the way back and then still keep lowering it a little to get some extra space. Trunk space was limited too - it will do for some shopping trips, unless you're going clothes shopping with Prim and she discovered a "Super Sale", but if we are carrying some heavy material, like the debris we had to get rid of recently in the garden, we might have to do more trips than we would like.
Another car we were looking into was a Hyundai I10 after some recommendations, but that one was even smaller:
Yet another recommendation was a Skoda Fabia, which was not available locally, and the ones that were located further away from us were a bit pricier than the other options too.
So, which one did we get? We decided to stick to familiar territory and get VW Polo:
The good old Polo was actually the first car that I was driving on a regular basis, right after getting my license. It took me to school for a year, to all kinds of sports practices and matches, sometimes to university, and on all kinds of other trips. I think it took until 2019 until it finally gave in (it may have been the transmission, or something?), so it had been running for more than 15 years of heavy use.
I trust that this new thing won't let me down either.
As for the old Skoda Octavia, it is realistically beyond repair, the parts alone would cost a four figure sum, and who knows how long they would hold this time... it will be destined for the scrap heap, it also did its service for close to 15 years, I think, though it saw significantly less use overall compared to the Polo.
So yes, that's how the car hunting was going today. Now we just need to wait until the Polo is ready - hopefully by Friday. My 10 km run on Saturday remains questionable, but even if I have to forfeit, I'm sure I will find a way to get a timed run in after all. I would hate to let all this training go to waste.
How about we ship a few Badugis to pay for this fine vehicle?
Working hard!
Hey guys, haven´t been here for a while, cause was VERY busy with working the fields. Well, as already mentioned, we could rent another field:
And that ment planing, sowing, watering, fertilizing.
Had already some plants ready which I put on the new field:
and there´s our "usual" field, which has to be taken care of:
and our beds in the greenhouse with tomatoes and cucumbers:
So, there was A LOT of work to do, but everything is sowed on the new field: beans, pumpkins, spanish salad, radishes, onions, kale, cabbage, carrots, beetroot and snow peas. Lots and lots of good stuff and I had to hurry up with sowing because June is the last chance to sow for many plants. We ordered winter carrots which can be sowed in July but that´s really the VERY last chance to sow! And let´s not forget about killing weed and pests! 
And June is not only pretty much the last chance to sow stuff for fall, but also time to harvest!
Thank you for the "thread saver", Prim. Lovely gardening.
No info yet when the new car will be ready. It is out of our hands, it's mostly just red tape to unravel now. We did all we had to do as early as we could. There is a slim chance that the car will become available some time tomorrow, which is also the only chance for me to participate in that 10K run I regged a while ago. If I won't make it, I will try to time myself on the track whenever I have access.
Honestly, this run is something I would mostly just like to get behind me at this point. I have been training for almost two months for it, it is time to wrap it up. In general, I find it a little difficult to relax these days, and the humid heat doesn't help. The mental stress from the car situation is a bigger issue, however, and there is also some tech trouble here and there... I would just really like to get it all out of my way.
Keep your chin up, guys, we will see brighter days.
It is here!
The new VW Polo is ready, and has been picked up today! 
Finally, the hunt shall come to an end. By now, I almost got used to that Ford Puma I borrowed from work.
Our new Polo seems like a fine vehicle, though it has many of those "modern" features I could do without. All those apps and the like, for example, and I'm not too keen on those digital cockpits in general, which the Ford also had. As long as it gets me from A to B, though, it does its job.
This means that there should be nothing in the way of my 10K run out of town tomorrow. That is, unless the weather puts an end to it - there are thunderstorms expected in the evening. We should be able to dodge them, but you can rarely say for sure in advance.
Like I said earlier, I mostly just want to put this run honorably behind me. Maybe tomorrow is the day already. Either way, I look forward to a good night's sleep ahead of it - and after it. I am going to need it.
Thanks, Vorpal. I trust that this bad boy won't let me down.
Pre-Race Analysis
I will be leaving in a couple of hours. I have little idea what to expect, this is my first ever race of this kind.
Here are the "Trollympic" 10K times again, for reference:
Bronze: 74:10 minutes
Silver: 65:30 minutes
Gold: 56:50 minutes
And those will mostly be the times that I will compare myself to. I have little hope of even getting a somewhat decent placement in the race, I expect. Getting a Trollympic Gold time, however, would be a big success, and Silver would at least be okay too. I will be a little bothered if I can't even make Bronze, though, which should usually be a performance that is quite achievable for the average person.
Apart from that, according to RunningLevel.com, an acceptable "Novice" level running time for male runners my age would be 55:09 minutes, which is slightly better than the Trollympic Gold time. This is the highest goal I would realistically set for myself today. If I beat this time, I will consider my run a huge success, I don't think I can expect anything better than that.
Finishing below one hour could already be a good start for my first ever 10 km race, I suppose. Beating 65:30 minutes for Silver would be fine, beating 56:50 minutes for Gold would be great, and finishing below 55 minutes to be considered at least a "Novice" level runner by RunningLevel's standard would be all I could hope for.
Those are my standards, let's see how I do this evening.
Today was a special day at the Trollympics, because my 10 km run did not take place in the Trollympic Stadium, but on the streets of the beautiful village of Wallernhausen.
10,000 Meter Run (Stamina)
Bronze: 74:10 minutes
Silver: 65:30 minutes
Gold: 56:50 minutes
Olympic Record: 27:01.17 minutes by Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, August 17th, 2008.
World Record: 26:11.00 minutes by Joshua Cheptegei (UGA) at Valencia, October 20th, 2020.
Trollympic Debut!
Harrier's time: 60:01 minutes
I am still waiting for the official results, but from what I could tell from the big LED display at the finish, my time seems to have been ever so slightly above one hour. Man... so close. 
I did my final sprint once again, overtook one runner who previously ran past me, and another older runner was even lapped by me shortly before the finish. I couldn't quite get below one hour, though. I saw the display as I was mobilizing my last reserves under the encouraging words of the announcer. 59:55... 59:56... 59:57... I knew that I wouldn't quite make it. But I got close!
We ran five laps on a predefined track on the edge of the village, including some paths near the agricultural fields outside. This included several relatively steep uphill sections which dragged on for a bit, so I don't think the race times should even be directly compared to the Trollympic times, which seem to be based on standard 10K runs on running tracks.
The finish line, which was passed several times since we were doing laps, was near the village pub, so we had plenty of locals cheering us on... though it didn't necessarily help the "mental game" to fight your way through the summer's heat while other people are sitting down and having a beer right next to you, with the smell of fresh schnitzel lingering in the streets. 
This is the place, our finish line was just around the corner:
I didn't let any of this get to me, though. In fact, I loved to wave and clap towards the spectators whenever I was running by, and since the announcer had a full list of all runners and their starting numbers, he could even announce your name as you were passing through.
An interesting experience for sure. Too bad that I missed sub 1 hour so narrowly, and that I didn't make the Gold time, but Trollympic Silver in my first ever public race is a fine result, I suppose. Especially considering that the terrain wasn't the easiest.
New "Medal Table":
3,000 Meter Run (Stamina): Gold
10,000 Meter Run (Stamina): Silver
Medicine Ball Throw (Strength): Gold
Sling Ball Throw (Coordination): Gold
Current Progress
Stamina: Gold (3,000 Meter Run) - 3 points
Strength: Gold (Medicine Ball Throw) - 3 points
Speed: -
Coordination: Gold (Coordination) - 3 points
9 points in total, 11 points are required for Gold.
Originally posted by Harrier88
Harrier's time: 60:01 minutes
That, sir, is magnificent
Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Originally posted by Harrier88
Harrier's time: 60:01 minutes
That, sir, is magnificent
Cheers, Vorpal. I'm generally happy with my result, though sub 1 hour would have been a cool milestone. Maybe I will do another race some time where I could aim to improve, but almost certainly not in the near future, I think I have done enough running for a while. I expect swimming will be the new main focus, Prim and I have some ambitions there too.
I think I made the classic beginner's mistake of starting out too quickly in today's race. I guess I wanted to take an early lead so that I will have a bit of a cushion when I inevitably slow down later. It probably would have been a lot wiser to start out on a sustainable pace right away.
The splits for each lap reflected that too. I think I saw a time of around 11 minutes after lap 1 out of 5, and that lap was actually slightly longer, because our starting line was a little bit further out there to compensate for the fact that each lap was slightly less than 2 km. I believe the time after the second lap was at around 22 or 23 minutes too, then I noticed some definite slowdown. I knew that the 56:50 time for Gold was out of reach after about the third lap, but I was hoping that I could pick up the pace at the end to still finish under one hour. At least I got close.
To be honest, I already felt the urge to just take the DNF when I made it to the top of the hill on my second lap, knowing that I wasn't even halfway through yet. The heat was pretty intense, and I expect about half of each lap was going uphill. It took some willpower to just persevere at all. I told myself that even if all things fail and I have to end up walking for a while, finishing with a crappy time would still be more honorable than throwing in the towel. Given these circumstances and my lack of experience, I think I have every reason to be satisfied with my finishing time.
By the way, 10 km is just about the distance to my workplace too, so if I ever have car trouble again, at least now we know how long it would take me to get there on foot.
UPDATE: The results are now online, my exact finishing time was indeed 1:00:01.4, my placement was 38th out of 44 runners.
The guy I overtook on the home stretch finished about 25 seconds behind me, so at least my final sprint shaved off a good chunk of time, even though it was not quite enough.
The runner in first place, a 24-year-old man, finished with a time of 33:08.6, which is just insane. 
Remember the RunningLevel times a few posts in? 33:08 is easily Elite level. He was even a fair bit ahead of the runner in 2nd place, a 42-year-old Ukrainian dude who finished in 37:34.9. There are four runners in total who finished sub 40 minutes at the race.
The best female time was 49:46.2, for a 19th place overall finish, which is also very impressive, especially considering that she was over 55 years old. The oldest runner at the race was 83 years old, and he finished with a time of 1:14:40.8 in last place - this still would have only narrowly missed the Bronze time in my age group at the Trollympics by less than a minute. For reference, the Trollympic Gold time for males aged 85 to 89 is 1:36:10.