I still need to get used to it getting dark so early again. My favorite route goes through the park near my apartment, but it's basically a forest for most of the way, and even though I don't really expect wolves to jump out from behind a tree, I did turn off the noise cancellation on my AirPods just in case...
This is so incredibly counterintuitive, but I’ve never had a bad run in the rain. They’re the hardest runs to convince yourself to start, but they end up being the most life-affirming thing ever. It’s refreshing and even kind of fun.
I often think back to me four years ago: someone who was convinced they’d never run in their life, let alone find joy in it. There’s so much you can’t explain to someone who hasn’t invested the time in learning to love running. You can say all the right things, but you have to feel it to really understand it. By now, I’m kind of convinced that everyone who’s physically able can learn to enjoy running. It’s just so very human.
Will this be the year I buy myself a second or even third pair of workout clothes? Will it finally put an end to the constant juggling of my laundry schedule and workout plans? Stay tuned to find out!
I’m still practicing being a good traveler, and while actually being on vacation has gotten easier for me, booking one is still a nightmare. I’m in the very privileged position of being with someone who somehow enjoys planning trips, but a balanced relationship probably requires me to take the lead on that at some point.
But first I have to be anxious about this particular trip, because it’ll be our first vacation that requires a rental car, and I hate driving cars. Still, one must do what helps one grow, so I can’t just not do it because I’m afraid. I’ll persevere. Probably while gripping the steering wheel with both hands and staring straight ahead.
This was only the second time in my life that I brought something to the cleaners, and it always makes me feel like a character in Friends or Seinfeld. Those shows really made me think dry cleaning would be a much bigger part of adult life. Turns out: they lied to us.
I switched to a fountain pen for the previous comic and this one, and I think you can tell. There’s something different about the line quality and, in my opinion, something better. Everything feels so crisp now!
Yet another run where I can hardly stay in Zone 2. I talked to my trainer, ChatGPT, about it, and apparently it might just be accumulated fatigue from training. It recommended taking a week off from pushing myself too hard. That might actually make sense, so I’ll report back on whether it helped.
I love wearing my Apple Watch. Not only does it tell me that I apparently lost the ability to stay in Zone 2 while running, it also tracks everything else, lets me quickly set timers, pause my podcast without fishing my iPhone out of my pocket, and gives me glanceable information about my life.
Unfortunately, it looks like shit. That’s why I invested quite some money (€40) and bought this very pretty Casio watch. I love it! It’s shiny and has much more of a visual opinion than the Apple Watch, which has looked basically the same for the last decade.
Sorry, Pablo, I didn't really think you were weak. ONLY THAT YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT. HOW DARE YOU NOT RUN WITH ME?
Anyway! Anna felt better that night, and instead of celebrating her birthday with all her friends at the party that had been planned for that day but was rescheduled because of her illness, we went to a nice restaurant and had a cozy little evening.
Sunday is long-run day. I love a good yap and run. Later that day, we were invited to Basti’s birthday party in the park. I didn’t know anyone except Anna and still had a fantastic time. Basti and all of his friends were great, and I really enjoyed what might have been the last picnic of the summer.
When Anna and I first met, she told me that her friends Simone and Pastu love cats and would very much like to see as many pictures and videos of mine as possible. Back then, I already invited them to come visit and say hi to Gigabyte and Millimeter.
That finally happened on this day, and at least Gigabyte showed herself from her best side. Milli is a bit shy, but she came around after a while.
The hardest days are the ones when my run is the only usable material for my comic journal. It feels like there are only so many ways I can draw on it (pun intended) without repeating myself. This one was a close call, and I was glad I found a way to tie it to the sweltering heat that shaped the rest of the day.
Every time a long train ride is part of the itinerary, I pack my Switch 2. Every time, I pull it out for maybe ten minutes, if that, before it ends up shoved back into my backpack. You’d think I’d have learned by now and just leave it at home. But I’ll do exactly the same thing next time.
Marcel from four years ago would never have been able to go for a run after a day of travel. For one thing, I wasn’t running back then. For another, travel used to take so much out of me that I’d be completely spent.
But over the last couple of years, I’ve worked on my relationship with travel, and this run felt like one of the clearest signs of progress.
In Germany we have the saying “Was muss, das muss,” which roughly translates to “What has to be done must be done” and I think that’s beautiful.
6x6 all-out sprints (30 sec) with 60 sec recovery. It’s fun!
It’s sometimes hard to cope with the fact that all my friends improve so much at running in such a short time, even though I train three times a week.
My reading can sometimes be a little too intense for Anna.
Days like this are the best.
I love drawing in this journal, but I’d love even more for AI to handle the scanning and editing for me.
I love winning battles against that inner voice telling me not to do hard things. It feels great.
Sometimes quality time together means doing things separately, but side by side.
Running intervals offers an interesting contrast. I never want to do them, even less than a classic run. But once I get going, they’re so much more fun. There’s something deeply life-affirming about sprinting through a forest. It feels almost primal.
