Week 36 of 2026: rhythm

Oops, it's Wednesday already! I guess that's because of my crazy Monday and Tuesday, but I write about that next week.

This was a week of finding my rhythm back, trying to focus a bit more on getting to bed early and getting to the office in time, so that I don't have to stay too long after. I like September for that: the random public holidays are over, people get back from their travels, it just starts to rain and everything is boring and predictable again.

Read

continued The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth 3)
started Autisms by Darian Leader

I found Autisms at a local bookstore and was like: oh sure, another book about autism, in that form factor, I like that. But my second thought was: is it new though? I am not really interested in a book from the 90s, as our understanding of autism has changed so much since then, but it said it was from 2026, so I bought it. At home I researched the book a bit more and it turned out it had a release date of 3 September 2026, which at that point in time was five days from there. Anyway, it's a nice non-fiction read with short chapters to just pick up in between things.

Played

On Tuesday I played Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast again, and I was surprised to learn that this was the seventh time already. Time goes fast in that way. This was an interesting session, for a friend who usually runs the D&D table finally got a spot at my table, but then he turned out to be the only one, as all the other players had cancelled. Yazaba's B&B, however, does hold up perfectly as a two-player game: we played the chapter After Dinner with Parish and Gertrude and it was very intimate and great.

Halfway the evening one other player did show up, so after the break we played the unlocked chapter Lost in the Corn Maze, which was also amazing. This is just a really good game and I'm kind of sad I have planned another popular game to return next (this) week. I guess there are just too many great games out there.

Ran

On Tuesday I ran a 12km easy run by combining two routes that I usually take from the office and somehow 5 + 7 indeed became 12.

On Wednesday I tried to run my usual 10k around the Gaasperplas but they keep closing parts of the park without adding a sign before you entering – forcing me to turn around, which I hate to do while running, especially in a tempo block. This one had a 6km tempo block, which I completed at 4:21/km, which felt good.

On Thursday I went to volleyball again, swapping my 9km run for a 4km run to the hall and a 3km run back home, with in the middle three sets of volleyball. It was nice to see everyone again after the summer break and somehow my smashes dramatically improved while doing nothing. Yet my receives where exactly what you would expect after a summer of not touching a ball at all.

On Saturday I went to the barber in Utrecht (I am strange in that way) and arrived in my running gear, so that I could run back home. At the last moment I opted to take a more scenic route and use the 30km to run next to the meandering Vecht river and end up in Abcoude rather than taking the very straight Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal and end up at home. (I took the bus after.) This long run also contained a 16km tempo block, which I did at 4:45/km and I'm still amazed by that. Unfortunately there was an open bridge in the middle of it, so it doesn't really count as my longest non-stop run, but I am pleased non the less.