The first few kilometers were spent taking over some really slow people. I wonder what the point is in starting in the front when you know you'll be much slower than those behind.
I had the worst time somewhere after the 4th kilometer, when we were running on the embankment of the Danube without even a little cooling breeze and the scorching sun right in front of us. I had doubts if I could keep up the speed I wanted to the end.
After the turn, however, the slight headwind was a welcome refreshment. I managed to take over the pacemakers even and soldiered on.
The last challenge came around the 16th kilometer in the form of a foot cramp. At that point I was resolute: no stopping to compromise the time. So I tried to step differently and think of something else but the sole of my foot to finally finish with a 1:44'05" official time.
This is about half a minute improvement compared to the Spring half-marathon, which is - considering the heat - quite satisfactory.
Now the question is, do I dare sign up for the marathon in just four weeks?
Despite the fact that I spent almost six years in Japan I've never grown fond of anime or manga. Sure there are a few I've seen or read, but I'm no way a fan. When it becomes more than simple fandom however...
I've been liking Vera for a while now, especially her electronic project called Bin-Jip. Also this summer I had the opportunity to listen to this song from Quimby live at EFOTT. Now I wish it was a collaboration like this:
I suppose the moral would be: nothing is as critical and potentially life-changing as it might seem for the first time. Need to let oneself go.
I think I was first really disappointed when I didn't get into the program of my first choice at university. I applied for International Relations and ended up having to major in Economics. This took a considerable amount of time to live down, even though in retrospect it was probably for the better.
Then there was the fiasco in Kobe of not getting enough credits to graduate. It wasn't much fun coming back to Hungary afterwards.
To contradict all the melancholic and sorrowful content of these past... weeks (?), here's a post that is bound to make anyone at least smile a little bit. There will be cake as well.
Rocky and Balls are two girls from Leeds who sing sweet ditties about the most mundane things and still manage to be funny. They are also known to bake, watch this:
This May they released a 10-track full-length album titled We Like Cake And Beards And Stuff which costs only ₤6 on Bandcamp to own. Alternatively you can listen to the witty lyrics and ukulele here. (If you buy the whole album you get an ultra special otherwise impossible to acquire version of Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" called "Spit Spot".)
For me the best act of this year's Sziget Festival was definitely Marina & The Diamonds. On her 2010 tour she covered 3OH!3's Starstrukk and subsequently offered it as a free download as a little present.
[audio:http://sesam.hu/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Marina-The-Diamonds-Starstrukk-Live-In-Norwich.mp3|titles=Starstrukk (Live In Norwich)]
