Weekly Notes 2024 W17-W29
It has been almost 12 weeks since I wrote any updates. Initially, with the move into the new office and client projects, it was just too much to handle. Since May, Beneathatree has had a new office :D - We completed the move-in and handed over the old office to the landlord. The new office has been coming along great - we now have dedicated spaces for Makerspace and a darkroom. Srinidhi has been working hard on organizing other aspects like archives, STEM cabinets, etc.
I was also training to run my first 5K when I wrote my last update. I am happy that I did finish my first 5K at TCS10K 2024 on April 28, 2024. I finished in around 53 minutes. I ran my second 5K at Bangalore runners' Jatre 2024 on June 9, 2024 (find it here) This time I finished in 42:32. I had dropped my training after TCS10K because, life happened. I picked it back up in June and have been consistent in July.
I have been focusing on moving. I have been regular at the gym as much as possible. I like the community aspect of my CrossFit classes at Greybox, and people are friendly.
For the last 2 weeks, I have been trying to be up by 0600. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I will go to CrossFit sessions at Greybox by 0700. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I run about 5K, which takes me about 40 minutes. On Saturdays, I do a long run. Last Saturday, July 13, 2024, I ran my first 10K, to prove to myself that I can do it. I ran from my home in Indiranagar to Cubbon Park and around there. It took me 1h32m. This Saturday, I did 11K on the same route.
I have a few more races lined up, mostly 5Ks and one 10K. I hope I can keep up the training. I am still following the run-walk strategy. I have restarted the training with a focus on being able to run continuously. Right now, I follow a 5-minute run + a 2-minute walk. I am working on gradually reducing the walk breaks and getting to run continuously.
You can find me on Strava here.
I was someone who hated waking up in the morning, running, or even working out. Now, I am liking them. I like the fact that I am up by 0600 and can focus on moving my body first thing in the morning. I am grateful to the community and coaches at Greybox. I am moving more than I ever have. I am probably the fittest I have ever been. I also like this new confidence in my body’s capability that I have discovered.
On the work side of things, last week was okay. I finished a few tasks. I still have trouble focusing a bit because of the long burnout, but things are getting better, I guess. I had a couple of depressive episodes in the last 2 weeks. The frequency of this has been much reduced compared to earlier, but the intensity has increased. I was thinking of how existence, in all its beauty and glory, is still pain. No amount of happiness one can feel can negate the pain of existence. That is also one of the roots of my antinatalist stance. Do we really need to bring kids into this mess without their consent?
I made my first proper darkroom print this week. Find it here on pixelfed.
In other news
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Deactivated Instagram. I have been on and off it - I hope I can stay away from it for longer now. I hate the platform but miss the people who have been instrumental in my understanding of the world.
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Started a project to learn Rust - haven’t worked on it for a month but hope to get back once I find some time.
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Installed Arch on a spare laptop that I can use at home for non-client work. It was easy to install. I am running Arch with the i3wm window manager (I have been using i3wm on my main machine too - I like it).
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Installed Emacs on the non-client work laptop - and plan to learn to use it. I am writing this blog in Emacs - but I still need to probably copy-paste into a web-based text editor to use Grammarly.
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I have been using Librewolf as my browser on this new machine. I am still on Firefox on my main.
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I watched True Detective seasons 1 & 2. I am currently watching The Sopranos, season 4. I like The Sopranos.
Until next week -