Double Trouble with Prim and Harrier - Poker, Sports, Cooking, Gardening, Mixed Drinks and more

Getting back on track, tying up some loose ends... it seems like things are slowly starting to come together.

This would be a good moment to finally get my registration for the marathon in. One problem:

While I was waiting to see if I can make it through the training in one piece, the marathon has been completely booked up! Last year, it was fine to reg at around this time (I did it on May 14th last year, and if I remember correctly, there was still plenty of time left at that point), but as the text above points out, the large amount of participants in last year's edition led to the organizers limiting the amount of open spots this time - and those spots are all gone now.

No need to panic, this doesn't mean that all my training went to waste - I can still run a marathon and fully intend to do so, but I will have to look for another race now. This is a bit of a hassle, because I really liked the track of the marathon I was trying to register, I would have loved to be back.

Now I will need to get lucky finding something similarly suitable in the area, and ideally at around a similar time. I originally scheduled my training to fit with the date of the race, after all.

I will keep you posted, and stick to the plan while this is getting sorted out.

Best of luck finding a new race!

Oh man! This sucks!

It really is quite inconvenient. The marathon has been booked up since May 8th, the half-marathon even since April 14th already, shortly after Easter. That's quite excessive for a race in July. It would have been nice if they had added a note from the start, along the lines of "spots are going to be very limited this year, please register early".

Anyway, to give you guys an update, I have had a look at similar events in my state. There would be an event called the "Strong Viking" near Frankfurt, which features a marathon distance, but there is a big caveat: It is an obstacle run. Here's a sample of some of those obstacles, found on their website:

Honestly... it does look fun, and it totally looks like something I would do. Or possibly something I would try to drag Prim to. Anyone remember Takeshi's Castle? It reminds me a lot of it.

But all that on a marathon distance? I don't think so. And regardless, that's not what I trained for. I could do it for fun at a lower distance, sure, but that would be something else entirely. Besides, it's expensive:

What else do we have? I'm afraid the next marathon after that in my state won't take place until August 30th, almost two months after my originally intended race. It appears to be some kind of fairy tale themed marathon, which I guess is cute, and it even comes in a 52 km "Ultra" version, and oddly enough a 3/4-marathon too. There is even a special 3 km race for people in costumes.

I could do that, but it's not ideal, as it would require me to almost start over with my training, and it also kind of messes up my plans for the summer. The Trollympics are supposed to start soon too, after all. Is there nothing else?

There technically is, on June 20th already. It's in my state's capital, and close to where my brother currently lives, and it also happens to take place on the weekend after my nephew's 8th birthday. It is likely that we will come for a visit, and depending on when exactly that would be, it could certainly be arranged that I stay for the night, assuming I would have time for the race at all. We are going to discuss it over the next few days.

The downside is that I would have to cut my training short, so I wouldn't be ideally prepared, possibly leaving me wondering about what could have been.

We will see. A couple of options, none of them ideal, but we will have to make the most of them.

Coming up this Sunday .........

TROLL OPEN: Mixed doubles 40 plus! Homer and I will compete in mixed doubles 40 plus again! We don´t know yet, who is gonna be our Villains, let´s see. Some interesting matches coming up .....

I have some news to share - let's get to the exciting part right away:

The Race is On!

Since spots are limited in that one too, I just cut the crap and regged for the "Fairy Tale Marathon" on August 30th.

Let's have a look at this race, then. The map below includes several of the races at that event, I believe the red line is for the marathon. Looks like a nice area with much of the track going through woodlands, as opposed to the largely urban marathon I originally had in mind.

Also - and this will certainly be an obstacle - the track is going to be hilly. This is the route profile:

Again, big contrast to the pleasantly flat track at the other marathon, which is now booked up.

The fairy tale theme is cute, and seems to reflect the romantic landscape, which I believe also includes a few castles. They even seem to have age groups based on the theme, as opposed to the more traditional 5 year steps. Instead, they got "Little Red Riding Hood" up to age 34, "Big Bad Wolf" for ages 35 to 59, and "Cinderella" for ages 60 and up.

What still confuses me is their statement on the website that they are going to use paper cups instead of plastic at the supply stations for environmental reason, while encouraging runners to bring their own re-usable vessels. So far so good, paper cups are fine (unlike paper straws, which are terrible), but another statement on the registration form instead warned runners that there won't be any drinking cups at all anymore, to avoid waste, so you would have to bring your own.

First of all, I think that's excessive and going beyond reasonable concern for the environment. Second, it would be inconvenient, as I wouldn't want to carry some bulky drinking vessel throughout the entire marathon, which brings plenty of discomfort already (I'm aware that there are belts of sorts to hold bottles while running, but I imagine they would still get in the way). Third, how on earth are they supposed to be running an effective supply station this way? Single-use cups can be easily prepared in advance, even for large groups, but are we seriously expected to line up in a timed race with likely over one thousand runners until some guy has filled up everyone's re-usable cup?

Most importantly, I would need some clarification on this, since the two texts on the website are in contradiction to each other. So I guess I will get in contact with the organizers.

Either way, Harrier is in, with plenty of time to prepare. Now all that's left to see is whether this Fairy Tale Marathon will have a "Happily Ever After".

Okay, so this new race leaves us with over three months to prepare. What to do in the meantime? I would hate to just start over with the entire marathon training schedule again.

Let's just do something else until then. I mentioned that other event on June 20th, close to my brother's home, and it has already been cleared up with him that both the race and a stay at his place would be no problem. But let's face it, there is no way I would be ready for a marathon at that point. I'm just not there yet, I haven't even entered the tough part of the plan, and you would need several weeks to gradually cool down after that.

No, this is not an option, but a shorter distance may be. I could run a half marathon, but what for? I'm happy with my time from last year. A 5K run would be new, though probably too much of a departure from the long-distance marathon training up to this point.

How about a 10K instead? I ran one at some rural race as part of the 2024 Trollympics, with a decent but not great time of 1h 00m 01s. Wouldn't it be nice to shoot for an improvement?

I think that's what I will be trying to do, so I plan to do a timed 10K run on my usual jogging track tomorrow, to see where I stand, what a realistic goal could be, and which training plans might be feasible. The 10K training should then keep me in decent shape so I can pick the marathon training back up at a later point in the program, finishing it in time for the race on August 30th.

Oh, and I mentioned the Trollympics. They are going to start soon too, with scheduled track and field meetups every Monday from June 8th to June 29th, and then resuming on August 10th after a break, and lasting until September 21st. Originally, I was going to focus on my intended marathon in July first, but now that my plans have changed, I suppose I should aim to put some scores on the board early on, as there wouldn't be much time for improvements later. So I think we can officially open the 2026 Trollympics at the beginning of June, and maybe get some swimming events in before the first track and field meetup.

As you can see, it is going to be an extremely sporty summer for us once again, all the way from start to finish. I'm excited for it, but yes, I am also starting to miss the poker tables, as I mentioned the other day. We should be back really soon, with tons of other stuff to hold you until then and beyond.

I think good start, even if you run like 9km and then quit, is very good effort and day very well spent!

I finished my 10K run earlier today, on the first day of the year I'm aware of with a temperature of over 30°C, finishing with a time of 56:41 minutes.

For reference, the Gold time at the German Sports Badge (or Trollympics) would be 56:50 minutes for men my age, and my time at the public race two years ago was 60:01, as I mentioned yesterday. According to RunningLevel.com, however, it would still be considered a "Beginner" time for my age group, the next level would start at 55:09.

It would still be a considerable improvement over my time from the race back then, but the two runs obviously had different conditions. The 2024 run had difficult hilly terrain, and the temperature was probably even a fair bit hotter. At the same time, that event had supply stations in regular intervals, while I had to run today without even a drop of water, and the track was also slightly longer, I measured about 10,400m using satellite images.

My split at about the halfway point was around 27:38 minutes, so I slowed down a little during the second half, which I guess is to be expected. I also started my "final sprint" much too soon and couldn't keep it up, so there definitely were some pacing issues.

This was only to get a feel for my current situation anyway. I should probably be ready for a race on June 20th, if I chose to participate and if I can still find some open spots. In this case, I could start looking for some suitable training plans already. Sub 55 could be a decent goal, but with about four weeks left to train, maybe I could even aim for something better.

Originally posted by Harrier88
Okay, so this new race leaves us with over three months to prepare. What to do in the meantime? I would hate to just start over with the entire marathon training schedule again.

Is there a "maintenance mode" you could use to keep your performance level at it peak?

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Is there a "maintenance mode" you could use to keep your performance level at it peak?

Sure, I could just repeat previous weeks in the program, as I have done before. With so much time left until the marathon, however, I think I'm better off going for a "sub-goal" of sorts until then.

I'm already looking into possible training plans for a good 10K time, and maybe we will finally see some poker again tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some of the other sports updates:

Dragons lost again... I believe they were trailing 00-22 at an earlier point in the game, according to live scores on the GFL2 website.

The were facing the team in the #1 spot, so they had some tough opponents. I'm afraid it's not looking good anymore for their dreams of reaching the playoffs, however.

New standings:

Pre-Match Analysis

Primrose and her husband will be on the tennis court tomorrow again, for two more matches of mixed doubles. From what I could gather, one of the "villain couples" is ranked a little lower than them, while the other one is ranked about the same, but several years older. This might make it seem like Team Primrose has a slight advantage against them, but Prim warned me that it's wise not to underestimate those "old foxes", who often have some clever tricks up their sleeves.

My prediction is still two clean wins for Primrose and her hubby.

Let´s see. Really never ever underestimated those "old foxes", they are more experienced and they can do a lot with good technique and just outsmart you. So, let´s see, the woman was once even higher ranked than I am at the moment, so that match could be tough. Let´s see what the man can do. The second couple should be beatable, but who knows. We will find out tomorrow.

Sip some vodka and relax... your feet will know what to do when the 42km race starts.

Originally posted by taavi1337
Sip some vodka and relax... your feet will know what to do when the 42km race starts.

Still more than three months time until that one...

The (other) Race is On!

All right, plenty of time until the marathon, so yes, I will do another race until then. I will go to the "City Marathon" in Wiesbaden, my state's capital, on June 20th - but I will obviously not run in the actual marathon yet, it will be a 10K run.

Since this will be a public race with officially published results, this event will even be eligible for the Trollympics. Yesterday's time of 56:41 would be enough for Gold, but with four more weeks to practice, I am going to aim for an even better time.

For this, I consulted our friends at Runner's World again, using their Intermediate 10K plan for reference. It is meant for six weeks, and I only have four, not to mention that a few appointments will get in the way, so I shifted a few days around. Here's the adjusted plan:

The flame symbols on the last two Mondays represent Trollympics meetups, but only the first of them will likely include track events, which is why I made sure to include a rest day before it. Some of the other workouts may need some explanation too, as unlike the marathon training plan, this one will include some speed work, since it's a much shorter distance.

Basically, the program distinguishes between race intervals (your goal pace), speed intervals (half a minute faster per mile than your goal pace) and tempo intervals (half a minute slower per mile than your goal pace). Days with speed or tempo intervals will include several sections where you are required to keep those paces over certain distances, which is explained in the full PDF. There are also "strides", where you are supposed to gradually build up your speed until you are at about 90% of all-out effort, hold that pace for about five seconds, and then smoothly slow down again.

All that's required now is a goal time. It's a lofty goal, but... let's shoot for 50 minutes. I will be happy with anything that beats yesterday's time, but if I do set myself a target, I figured it should be one that's pushing me, even if I won't crack it in the end.

This pace would require me to run 400m in two minutes, 800 in four, and so on. "Speed" intervals would have to be about 7-8 seconds faster on 400m, while "Tempo" intervals could be 7-8 seconds slower.

That oughta keep my body busy, so maybe my mind can now finally focus on poker and maybe some chess again.

Yes 10km run and then 3-tabling plo cash with one table on Unibet 👍 i hope to do that one day

No poker yet. I wanted to play, but I didn't feel up to it yet. I suppose it is wise not to play when you don't feel like you're on top of your game, but... let's hope I will feel that way again soon, right? The break has lasted long enough.

The Saturday run took a lot out of me, it seems, despite a full rest day following it. Over-exercising appears to be a genuine risk at the moment. I should keep listening to my body as I embark on this new running schedule, without being afraid to pulling the emergency brakes if need be. So far, things seem to be under control.

With two more short work weeks ahead, maybe I can get the rest I need to be ready to dominate the tables some time again.

Whew... we've been hit by a bit of a pre-summer heat wave over here. Combined with the running - which obviously doesn't get any easier under these conditions - it makes it difficult to find the energy for a lot of stuff.

No return to poker yet... on Stars, that is. I decided that it might be a good time to join that weekly crypto Badugi, to get some feel for it again. We've had a good result, finishing 2nd in the end. Congrats to Oldrgooner, who had no trouble converting his chip lead heads-up.

Best of all, it was technically free, as I won a giveaway for the buy-in on Tony's stream, along with some other players. Want to give it a try yourself? Check in next Wednesday, there might be more free Badugi tickets up for grabs.

I also noticed that this brings my bankroll to over 3K µBTC again. I'm a little out of the loop when it comes to my own bankroll there, as I haven't played a lot recently on that site - or at all. So while I'm pretty sure I have been above this at one point before, it's still another good milestone to take.

Maybe a decent morale boost for the "real" games too, but I will probably be a little busy until Sunday.

I Googled "3K µBTC" it says it is worth $219 but the price of BTC is "fluctuating". These can be really difficult decisions to make whether to withdraw to EUR or keep growing the BTC, as that offshore bank share is going up and down constantly? I have never tried stockmarket trading but some people love it.

Honestly - I have no idea about any of that. I never invested in cryptos and I have no idea how to buy, sell or even use them for payments. I heard a certain kind of "wallet" would be required for withdrawals, and I have a basic understanding of what a cryptocurrency is, but that's about it.

My bankroll on that site was funded entirely through freeroll winnings before grinding it up to its current level, so I never bought any BTC to deposit. I would have to read up quite a bit before I could make any withdrawals or conversions. Until then, I consider those funds mostly "play money", except that I know that they technically do have value once I could access them.

Some people who are into investing like to have some of their assets in cryptos as a long-term investment anyway, so I guess it can't hurt to have a minor poker bankroll in BTC lying around somewhere.