That is impressive! Well played! Wouldn't want to face you in 5CD. Yes low volume has the "problem" of super high variance. Hoping to see some grind. Prim has quit NL$5 buy-in level Holdem on Partypoker?
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Thanks, but it was only one game, we shouldn't read too much into it. I left it at that yesterday too, in order not to break the momentum. I don't think I will be able to play this weekend, but I would love to be back next week, and grind a little more consistently.
As for Primrose, she hasn't given up on anything yet. Like I said in my post on her own cash game blog, she has only been really busy with tennis recently, and also had some technical issues on the forum. I was kind of amazed myself when she told me about all her training sessions and matches within a very short time frame. She should be playing her last tournament of the season just about now as we speak, however, and then she should be a lot more flexible. 
We will also have some things to celebrate together next week, though.
This right there is one of my favorite things about the season of summer - the sight of golden grain fields. It looks especially impressive when there's a whole vista of them, as I would sometimes encounter it when I'm driving.
I stopped to take that photo today during my run, because we are far from done after I finally got my 10K time. The marathon training schedule is in full swing again, and I only have eight weeks to prepare for my big race on August 30th - including this week. That's not a lot of time, with very little margin for error in case I fail a run or get forced into taking a break due to sickness or other issues beyond my control. At this point, however, I can only make the best of it.
This is the second half of my old schedule, which happens to be spanning exactly eight weeks too. I skipped Tuesday, since I did my 10K run on Monday.
Three of those runs are particularly cruel, and one of them is supposed to start tomorrow already...
Aside from those long Sunday runs, I will probably mostly train in more hilly terrain, to prepare for the difficult track at the race. Remember the route profile I posted?
It will be very tough, but I hope that the 10K training, which went on a little longer than planned due to the issues encountered at the race, will have given me a solid base to improve on. I will give it a good shot - this will likely be my biggest sports challenge of the year, and one of my biggest ones so far in general.
I didn't mind running uphill so much, but I found running downhill especially difficult.
Uphill you tend to slow down for the same effort, but downhill it's hard to keep from running too fast.
Originally posted by VorpalF2F
I didn't mind running uphill so much, but I found running downhill especially difficult.
Uphill you tend to slow down for the same effort, but downhill it's hard to keep from running too fast.
On the track where I am currently running, this is surprisingly not much of an issue. There is a relatively tough uphill section near the beginning, but the descent appears to be much more gradual.
This right there is one of my favorite things about the season of summer - the sight of golden grain fields
I absolutely love Europe in summer, reminds me of my trip to Frankfurt in 2013, which I will never forget! Rented old bicycle and just experienced those roads... I hope you are doing well in that country.
Originally posted by taavi1337
I absolutely love Europe in summer, reminds me of my trip to Frankfurt in 2013, which I will never forget! Rented old bicycle and just experienced those roads... I hope you are doing well in that country.
The area in rural Hesse where I live is quite nice. Frankfurt... not so much, I guess. 
But things should have been a lot better back in 2013, compared to today.
If you ever make it to Frankfurt again, I definitely recommend visiting the Palmengarten, especially if you're a nature lover. Prim and I won't be able to make it there this year, unfortunately, but we have plans for next spring. You may have seen the post already, but here are the pics from our visit last year. I included a bigger selection when I was posting about our very first trip there in 2022, seen here.
Well, Week 1 of those eight weeks of marathon training is behind me - safely... I guess. Today's 16 mile run really did take a lot out of me, I knew it was going to be tough, but I didn't expect it to be that tough.
The last few miles were brutal, and when I finally did make it home, there were several minutes where I could do nothing but lie down. I even felt slightly nauseous at times, but things got better after some rest. Maybe I drank too much liquid within a short time after the run. I did have some water while I was running, btw.
Tomorrow is of course a rest day, then there will be four more miles on Tuesday. A nice time to hit the tables again. Oh, and I should have another appearance on TonyW4rriorz's stream on Tuesday too, if things go as planned. We would try something different that time, trying some classic Japanese gambling games on Steam, probably hanafuda and riichi mahjong. With no money at stake, of course, since these are just Steam games, this is mostly about learning it. It's tough to find real money platforms for these games anyway, though long-time followers may remember that I did indeed play mahjong for real money in the past, when it was still available.
I will let you guys know when we have more details, but yes, there should be something on Tuesday.
Originally posted by Harrier88
The last few miles were brutal, and when I finally did make it home, there were several minutes where I could do nothing but lie down. I even felt slightly nauseous at times, but things got better after some rest. Maybe I drank too much liquid within a short time after the run. I did have some water while I was running, btw.
Taking it to the limit helps you find your limit.
How long before running do you eat? When I was running in my teens, I found it mattered a lot to wait a couple of hours after eating. I also found it mattered what time of day, and for me, mornings between 10 and noon were the best time for getting maximum results. 14 - 16 were the worst.
Originally posted by VorpalF2F
How long before running do you eat? When I was running in my teens, I found it mattered a lot to wait a couple of hours after eating. I also found it mattered what time of day, and for me, mornings between 10 and noon were the best time for getting maximum results. 14 - 16 were the worst.
I had lunch some time around 1 PM that day, and the run started maybe at around 5 PM, so there was quite a gap.
The heat wasn't even that bad yesterday, maybe around 29°C. So I think it was mostly just plain old exhaustion that did me in. But I better get used to it, because there are two even longer runs coming up for me, not to mention the marathon race itself.
Originally posted by Harrier88
I had lunch some time around 1 PM that day, and the run started maybe at around 5 PM, so there was quite a gap.The heat wasn't even that bad yesterday, maybe around 29°C
At that temperature I begin to melt, and strenuous exercise is definitely a bad idea. I'm sure that is mostly age though. I once spent a summer doing very physical work in 40C weather
Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Originally posted by Harrier88
I had lunch some time around 1 PM that day, and the run started maybe at around 5 PM, so there was quite a gap.The heat wasn't even that bad yesterday, maybe around 29°C
At that temperature I begin to melt, and strenuous exercise is definitely a bad idea. I'm sure that is mostly age though. I once spent a summer doing very physical work in 40C weather
It was considerably hotter at that 10K run in Wiesbaden, at least, I'm guess around 33°C or higher. That's why people made some last minute changes to the track to include some more shade.
Some more 5CD today again - and look who's sitting to my left:
Actually, you probably can't tell, but it is indeed TonyW4rriorz, who even managed to find a fold with his drawn straight here after I hit my A-high flush.
We talked things over again, the stream should start tomorrow at around 4-5 PM UK time, and I plan to join at around 5-6 PM UK time after returning from my 4 mile run. We will probably give the mahjong a try some other time, but we will dive into some hanafuda games. Curious yet?
Until then, there should be some standard crypto poker, maybe I will even join in for a few rounds, or at least offer my insights.
I will probably post another direct link when we're ready tomorrow, but if you can't make it, the stream should be recorded again and uploaded separately, so you could watch it at a later time. But if you can join in, feel free to have a chat there with Tony and me. Maybe Primrose will arrive later too, in the chat, at least.
Originally posted by Harrier88
I will probably post another direct link when we're ready tomorrow, but if you can't make it, the stream should be recorded again and uploaded separately, so you could watch it at a later time. But if you can join in, feel free to have a chat there with Tony and me.
Sorry guys, no stream today after all, Tony is not feeling so well. We aim to do it next Tuesday instead, similar time.
So, the final matches of the FIFA World Cup will take place this weekend? That's nice, I suppose, but after England's loss in the semifinals, I don't really see any reason to care either way about the last two remaining teams in the Final. I have also stopped participating in the prediction contest, because a few days ago, they required me to sign up for some extra contest to keep playing. I chose not to do it, because things were pretty much over for me anyway.
Regardless, I enjoyed both the contest and the World Cup. Thanks for sticking around to keep the discussions going in the poker-free time on this blog. I guess we can take a look at my final standings next week, just for fun.
Speaking of which, it almost seemed like I had to re-learn how to have fun after the busy past few weeks, but I had a great opportunity for it when Primrose was visiting yesterday. 
We had a lot to celebrate too, with Prim's tennis season coming to an end for the time being, but I think I will let her fill you in about the details.
Suffice to say, it was a wild day in the end, sharing some drinks in the evening, almost overeating at a Chinese buffet in the afternoon - but before that, also taking a trip to an indoor swimming pool for a sporty challenge, and Primrose's debut at this year's Trollympics. But this one deserves its own post.
It was finally time, after her intended debut last month had to be canceled due to extreme heat. Primrose6789 has joined the Trollympics! 
The posted times represent the "Trollympic Standards" for women in her age group.
400m Freestyle (Stamina)
Bronze: 18:00 minutes
Silver: 15:00 minutes
Gold: 11:30 minutes
Women's Olympic Record (Long Course): 3:56.46 by Katie Ledecky (USA) at the 2016 Rio Olympics, August 7th, 2016.
Women's World Record (Long Course): 3:54.18 by Summer McIntosh (CAN) at the Canadian Trials in Victoria, June 7th, 2025.
Women's World Record (Short Course): 3:50.25 by Summer McIntosh (CAN) at the World Aquatics Swimming Championships in Budapest, December 10th, 2024.
Trollympic Record: 8:38 minutes by Primrose6789 (PS) at the 2024 Trollympics, July 5th, 2024.
Primrose's time: 8:54 minutes
She remained slightly behind her Trollympic record of 8:38, but as expected, Prim absolutely thrashed the time standards for women her age once again.
A remarkable feat, but for some reason, she didn't seem too happy after her swim? 
She commented that she felt way too exhausted after such a short distance. I don't see how this is a reason to feel bad at all, it just means that she gave it her all, instead of settling for some standard that is way behind her capabilities.
Well, more on that later, because after a few minutes of rest, she participated in another event at the pool:
25m Freestyle (Speed)
Bronze: 48.00 seconds
Silver: 39.00 seconds
Gold: 28.00 seconds
Not an Olympic event.
Women's Olympic Record for 50m Freestyle: 23.66 seconds by Sarah Sjöström (SWE) at the 2024 Paris Olympics, August 3rd, 2024.
Women's World Record for 50m Freestyle: 22.83 seconds by Gretchen Walsh (USA) at the World Aquatics Swimming Championships in Budapest, December 15th, 2024.
Trollympic Record: 17.70 seconds by Harrier88 (PS) at the 2025 Trollympics, August 30th, 2025.
Primrose's time: 18.22 seconds
It was a 50m pool, so I decided to dive to about the halfway point myself, to give Prim a reference point.
Again, her time was slightly behind the Trollympic Record, which was set by me last year (with only two contestants, I see no need for gendered divisions), but also slightly faster than her own PB from two years ago, where she finished with a time of 19.06 seconds. But once again, the grindette wasn't too pleased. Why?
The thing is, Prim is all too familiar with my own complaints about my performance, whether it's at sports or poker. She sees little reason for that either, and likes to call it "whining on a high level" (i.e. with little reason, because there is nothing to whine about). It was kind of funny to see the shoe on the other foot now. I guess that as a former competitive swimmer, Primrose has high standards for herself too.
To put it all into perspective, though: Her 400m time was more than two and a half minutes faster than the Gold standards for women her age! It would have been more than 1:45 minutes faster than the Gold standards for men her age!
As for her 25m time... apart from being almost 10 seconds faster than the standards for women her age, which is absolutely huge on such a short distance, it would have made Gold for women in their best age! The following table is taken from the current official Trollympic standards:
Not only would it have been considerably faster than the Gold time for men her age (by almost five seconds) it would have beaten the Gold time for men my age, which is something I haven't achieved yet in my two tries this year - my best time so far was 19.51, though I achieved a PB of 17.70 after a lot of practice last year.
So yeah... very little reason to complain, but it was interesting to see things from what is usually her perspective when I'm complaining about being behind my expectations. Either way, cracking performance by Prim, whether she sees it that way or not, and I'm excited to guide her through some track and field events next month or so, to complete her performance at the Trollympics. Probably more field than track, however - gotta watch out for that Achilles tendon.
New "Medal Table":
400m Freestyle (Stamina): Gold
25m Freestyle (Speed): Gold
Current Progress
Stamina: Gold (400m Freestyle) - 3 points
Strength: -
Speed: Gold (25m Freestyle) - 3 points
Coordination: -
6 points in total, 11 points are required for Gold.
Hello I´m back!
Lots of things happened in my life and to be honest: I was VERY busy with the Trollette Open (as I was the team captain) and with gardening, so there was absolutely NO poker at all. That doesn´t mean that I quit, but that means that I had lots and lots of other stuff to do, so that I had had absolutely no time at all for poker: no CG, no freerolls, no tournaments, nothings. Haven´t played a single hand since May.
Meanwhile, the Trollettes rocked the tennis court and we won everything! Since April there´s only one women´s singles (50 plus) match that I lost, besides all winnings! Could improve my ranking, so there could be probably a big change coming up next year. 
Of course I was training a lot, working a lot, competing a lot and gardening a lot. Not noly poker got "neglected" but also endurance training (cycling, swimming). I plan to compete one last time on July 31st and then, everything will be taken easy until Trollette Open winter edition (which starts in October/November).
But I indeed plan to re-start poker recreationally at the weekends, so there may be some poker content from me soon .... let´s see.
Originally posted by Primrose6789
Hello I´m back!But I indeed plan to re-start poker recreationally at the weekends, so there may be some poker content from me soon .... let´s see.
looking forward to it!
Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Originally posted by Primrose6789
Hello I´m back!But I indeed plan to re-start poker recreationally at the weekends, so there may be some poker content from me soon .... let´s see.
looking forward to it!
So am I, not to mention that it's great seeing Primrose on the forum again in general. Though I stayed in contact with her all this time, of course.
Not only that, I'm also looking forward to more poker on my end too. The few games I played last week were promising, at least. Maybe I can keep up a decent level of quality, while considerably adding to quantity.
Thank you, Vorpal!
There was SO MUCH tennis, whoah! Just couldn´t find the time - at the weekends I was competing.
By the way: Harrier and I may plan to bring back the "Troll Challenges" on Stars, not weekly anymore, but maybe monthly? Let´s see.