August Review

Made it through another winter.

Just a standard month of running with no races. My first parkrun back at Dorset Recreation Reserve felt very slow at 18:00 then did even worse with 18:30 at Birdsland Reserve but it was on the much slower backup course. I managed a few better times under 18 minutes at Marriott Waters but really had to work hard. I'm hoping to get back under 17:30 but it still feels a long way off.

I picked up two more pairs on Nike Pegasus Premium from the outlets for $90 each, and they seem like they will be good for a variety of conditions. I also got the latest Asics Metaspeed Edge Tokyo for 25% off, but after just standing in them for a few minutes I already had some pain developing in my left midfoot due to the narrow shoe and high arch on the inside. It was similar to the problem I had with the Vaporfly 3, but not quite as bad. I haven't actually run in them yet, so I'm still hoping I might be able to adapt to the shape.

I also ordered a bunch of precision hydration items for my upcoming half marathons and a lot of new socks. I registered for the Auckland half marathon and 2XU Wellness Run 10km which are both on towards the end of the year. I took one last look at the Singapore half marathon, but the first three categories were already sold out so it wouldn't have been worth it to be stuck behind people running over two hours.

My shares have still been going alright overall, but most of my underperforming investments are now the small USA technology companies. I guess it came in a bit too late for the first round of AI excitement. Even with some good returns a house still feels a long way off, any capital gains and stamp duty would take a huge chunk of my savings. A lot of other spending this month too:

• Auckland holiday $1750
• MCC $900
• Running gear $750

Something a bit different for sports this month. I went to the final of the Nike FC Cup, which is the final of the knockout tournament for the Victoria women's senior leagues. I normally wouldn't even know such a thing existed, but for knowing someone associated with one of the teams this year. The match finished 1-1 then went through extra time and penalties which was exciting.

The to do list:

• Health
• Got my annual covid vaccination, about 13 months since the last one
• Holiday
• Japan report finally finished
• Auckland trip booked (including half marathon) after finding some cheap flights
• Getting a free day off due to Melbourne Cup Day was an unexpected bonus
• Brisbane trip afterwards should be it for this year

At work I'm into a three day routine right now, which is much better than I expected. Having some new places to run that aren't suburban streets is a nice change, and being able to talk to people without a computer is a lot better. I finally need to resume my Java exam study now.

That's it for this month.

• Books
• None
• Movies
• Weapons
• A little slow at times but good overall
• The same story was replayed from different perspectives but didn't feel too repetitive
• 8 out of 10
• Music
• TV
• Destination X UK season 1
• Only half way through, but the clues are much more difficult than the USA season
• Having some locations repeated from the USA season is disappointing
• Destination X USA season 1
• The clues were way too obvious, and usually was a major capital city
• It made no sense that everyone was sharing their clues all the way through
• 6 out of 10
• Video Games
• Xbox One
• Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War
• The installation took like 10 hours for 150 GB
• I played the first level just to confirm it didn't have any installation issues like other recent games
• I'll put the rest on hold until after my Java exam
• Elder Scrolls V Skyrim
• Finally finished the main story but didn't even realise as there was no real ending
• Completed all of the other achievements except a few that were no longer possible