This meant I had to bang out my run quickly after breakfast. I did 8 very argumentative miles between Garmin and I. We had a lover's quarrel the entire time over who, infact, was correctly monitoring the pace. At the end of the day I believe that she (Garmin) was, infact, close to being correct, but why did she have to be so moody throughout the run?! She kept sending me mixed signals! It was a shame that I opted not to wear my HR monitor for this run because I usually just run by HR when Garmin is cranky with me. But we have had a good relationship lately so I thought that it would be ok to leave the HR strap at home - I was mistaken. Crafty Garmin, I thinking she was plotting for this day for a long time! Overall I averaged a 7:03 min/mile pace (but I think that this is still slightly faster than the actual). My legs (mainly hip flexors) and upper body were in need of some WD-40 due to soreness from Pilates in the morning.
After the run, Jennie and I went down to the Champs de Mars, ate baguettes, fresh cherries, and acted like we were important as we dined beneath the shadows of the Eiffel Tower. I had a snooze on the grass and with my eyes shut listening to the breeze I felt like I was on a beach somewhere in Maui but "unfortunately" I had to return to reality when I opened my eyes just to see the Eiffel Tower!
Now, I would have some cool photos to insert here, but the camera decided to conspire against me as well. Like a vampire, the camera has been feasting on its battery juice secretly at night, so when I left the house with what I thought would be a full battery, I was sadly mistaken.
There was a beachball volleyball tournament going on so we checked that out. The highlight here was that there were carnival type booths set up around the beachball volleyball festivites and one of the booths had a plethora of 5cent candies. They had all the classic ones too - sour soothers, coke bottles, fuzzy peaches, etc. Sour and gummy 5cent candies are my all time favorite treat! I call them 5cent candies because that is what they used to cost as a kid. 1 dollar would buy me 20 candies plus usually a spanking later in the day when I was so wired on sugar and was hell-bent on driving someone nuts! Today I think I should rename them to 1dollar candies! When you figure the typical Parisian prices, the exchange rate from dollars to euros, and inflation since I bought them as a kid, let me assure you, these are definitely not 5cent candies anymore!
Like this blog post so far, yesterday just slipped through our fingers and before we knew it we were finishing the day with chinese food, wine, and some sweet hypnotic dance beats by some trance musicians on our block.
This morning I woke up with good intentions to get my 14miler done early so Jennie and I could go to the Chateau de Versailles. However, the dance party until 4:30 last night, the sugar high from my 5cent candies that kept me up, getting too much sun yesterday, not drinking enough water, but instead drinking a little too much wine, and a morning rain shower prevented me from going! So, we aborted our plans, got some more zzzz's and have been doing things around here today.
I have managed my 14 mile run today though! The splits are as follows:
7:37/7:26/7:26/7:23/7:23/7:24/7:15/7:09/7:24/7:23/7:17/7:16/7:18/7:15 min/mile
Average Pace: 7:20 min/mile
Total weekly mileage: 56.19 miles (Goal: 54miles - goal accomplished!)
The highlight from today's run is a new hill that I have been eyeing for quite some time. I keep seeing a bluff from the edge of the Bois de Boulogne and I have been eager to run up and check it out. I have been waiting for some LSD (long slow distance) before I go. The hill is indicated on the map below by the out-n-back section that is clearly seperate from where the park is.
Here is an elevation profile of the hill. It is generally a 1.6 mile steady climb. The first 0.4 miles is rolling - the last 1.2 miles is a steady incline to the top. It was a great hill - it never got too steep but it was relentless in the fact that you never got a break (the "peak" during the middle of the highlighted area is just due to Garmin elevation errors...you will notice that it is mostly absent on the way down). I will take a 235 foot hill! I had some traffic stops that resulted in the pace spikes on the way back down. I think I can make it more scenic and, perhaps, a little longer by choosing some different route options...we shall see!
I have just been told by wifey that this entry is becoming a school project and she wants to go rollerblading. Seeing that I have already had arguments with the Garmin and the camera this weekend, I certainly do not want to start another argument that I will not be able to win!
A+
2 comments:
In Paris the solstice is July 21st? Funny here its in June. ;o)
WOW! I'm surprised that you actually caved in to the "high" candy prices. I figured with the whole Starbucks boycott and all - you'd offer the same reasoning and avoid paying a nickle more for a silly piece of candy. But, like you - I do have a weakness for sour candies and can understand why you do it...."sooooooo - I don't care how much it costs yum, yum good!"
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