maksoff's blog – my ideas, projects, thoughts

parkrun volunteering as a photographer

After a few runs in November, I decided to give something back and volunteer at the Parkrun.

I plucked up the courage and wrote a letter asking if I could be a photographer at this wonderful event. The reply was brief: ‘We’ve scheduled you for Saturday; be here twenty minutes early.’

I charged my batteries, formatted my memory card, armed myself with a funny hat that could be spotted from a distance, grabbed some water, and marched off to the park – luckily, it’s within walking distance.

I wasn’t at all prepared for what was still in front of me.

parkrun

Today I was part of something big. Something unexpected for me, but from another side, so natural, what I still can’t believe, what I didn’t know about it, nothing, till last month.

I’m talking about parkrun – it starts every Saturday at 9 a.m. (some places have multiple days/other times) around the globe for more than 20 years now. It is free, it is for everyone. You can run, you can walk, you will never be the last one, thanks to the “tailwalkers” volunteers.

And it is also timed! Simply visit parkrun.com to obtain your personal barcode. After you have finished the course, you run to the finish funnel, where volunteers will note your time, and the next one will give you your finisher barcode. After that, some other lovely volunteers will scan your personal and finisher barcode, you’ll give the finisher barcode back, and that’s it – some hours later you will get your personal time/place and a bunch of other statistics per email. Just arrive 15 minutes before the start for your first briefing!

Vienna Night Run 2025 report

My first 5 km under 25 minutes.

I had wanted to run in this event for a very long time. I registered for my first attempt in 2020, but then COVID hit, and instead of a long-sleeved T-shirt, they gave us bandanas; and instead of running around the Vienna Ring, they just asked us to run 5 km ‘somewhere’; although they did give us medals.

It’s a wonderful idea: after sunset at the end of September, a large group wearing identical long-sleeved T-shirts runs around the Vienna Ring Road, enjoying the sights and cool weather, listening to music support, and setting their own records over a 5-kilometre distance.

In reality, things turned out somewhat differently.

Viola Run 2025

I hadn’t planned on participating in this race. Firstly, I’m not a big football fan. Secondly, even a 45-minute race, let alone a 90-minute one, seemed too long to me at the time.
But first things first.

This race is aimed at football fans, particularly those of Austria Vienna Football Club, also known as the Viola.

Therefore, the motto is: how far can you run during the half-time/the entire game?

You can choose to run for 45 minutes, take a 15-minute break, and then run for another 45 minutes. Or you can choose to run only the second half, for 45 minutes.

Unexpected effects of the gym

Two years ago, when I first got interested in the gym, I spent the first few months just trying out different machines, afraid to venture into the free weights area.

Three months later, after watching another YouTube video on how to structure workouts properly and downloading an app with several ready-made workouts, I decided to try one. More specifically, there was a demo version of an AI trainer that created a four-day workout plan for me.

Seestadt Lauf 2025 (WE&ME/CFS Charity run) report

As I wrote last time, I started training for a race. I talked about it with a co-worker on Monday, and he said, ‘Would you like to participate in a charity race on Saturday?’ And for some reason, I replied, ‘Yes, of course!’

Well, it would be interesting to conduct a ‘test’ and find out how fast I can run at the very beginning of the training programme. And at the same time, draw attention to ME/CFS, a disease that is still very poorly understood.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a long-term, complex illness that causes extreme fatigue that does not improve with rest and worsens with physical or mental activity. It often affects multiple body systems, including the nervous, immune, and metabolic systems. People with ME/CFS may also experience problems with sleep, memory, concentration, pain, and dizziness, making everyday activities very difficult. (more information: https://weandmecfs.org )

Fitness tracking

For many years, I have been using a MiBand (1, 2, and then 4) fitness tracker. It helped me to switch my sleeping routine from going to sleep at 2 a.m. to waking up at 4:30 a.m., tracking my steps and trying to get my target every day, and crazy useful phone notifications, weather, music control, and of course, heart monitoring. Also nice battery life (3 weeks at the beginning, one week after many years).

It was really nice and practical, and I finally decided to buy something more sport-focused.

And I found a nice used Garmin Forerunner 45.

quarter of an hour

I haven’t posted anything here in over two years. Crazy.

Why? I wasn’t working on any interesting electronics projects at home during that time and focused on other activities.

Mainly going to the gym. Oh yes, I’ve made visible progress here, and I’ve doubled my weights. Finally, I understood that I need not only cycling to keep me fit, but actually a full-body workout to develop all muscles and keep body and soul active and fresh. I’ve never felt as good as now.

Meh

I wanted to write something here weekly.

But some last months I just… I enjoy my life. Finally new project at work, I started to commute by bike to work (through the empty morning Vienna, really cool (just look at the photos below))! I got sick for some days. Visited “sportive day” at the school. Cleaned some things, and watched “Kurzgsagt” on youtube in enormous amounts. Finished reading some books. But I still have done nothing with my electronics projects. Not even started. Feeling somehow guilty, and I still hope to do something fun and nice!

What a week!

I finally have done some CNC-cutting and Laser-cutting in makeraustria.at

So a great place for dusty and also fine projects! I really want to do some woodworking here!

And watched Starship launch, live. So an amazing view, and amazing commentary from EverydayAstronaut. I’m excited to see the next Starship launch as soon as Stage 0 will be repaired.

And I’m really happy – I could find the mistake in the PID controller from Phil’s Lab. And fix it, applying another type of s to z transform. So satisfying!