WRD: Paris Edition

Better late than never

Unfortunately I’m too late to join the fun at the Weekly Run Down Link-Up, but I thought I’d quickly recap the week and at least try to catch up with my fellow bloggers (last week I failed getting to all the blogs – I need more time in the days!).

Deborah and Kim are the amazing hosts for the Weekly Run Down! Feel free to join in as well to wrap up your week in fitness!

WEEK 31

Plan vs. Actual

Monday – 3.25KM walk, GLI gym 1 hr intake – no workout (appt w/different PT), 3.5KM biking
Tuesday – 3KM walk (office day) to and from train station
Wednesday – 3KM walk, W6R1 run, 6KM, GLI 1 hour, gym 55 min
Thursday – 2.22KM walk, gym
Friday – 2.75KM walk, W6R2 run , gym 55 min
Saturday – 2.5KM walk, parkrun in Alkmaar 5KM, 17/17 Dutch parkruns done!
Sunday – 2KM walk, long run W6R3, 1.4KM w/u walk, 10KM run (!!!)

My plans didn’t quite go as I had, well, planned.

• Biking – 20KM (two days commute + some extra)
• Walking – 3KM, + another million kilometers in Paris
• Running – 14KM
• Gym – 1x (RPM Sprint + RPM)

Monday – I did manage to get Ron up and out with me early Monday morning; we wanted to do 1KM walk, 2KM run and then if he was feeling ok, then we’d double it. But… his leg and hip were really bothering him so we only managed 1 round of 3KM walking.

Tuesday – I got up around 5:30am and only managed to sort out food for the day and packing my bag for the gym. Vincent and I did back to back RPM and Marie-Jose joined us for the second session. Ron did his thing at the gym as well, but wanted to focus on strength and running.

Wednesday – I was so incredibly tired. Sleep didn’t go very well at all so I basically stayed in bed until as late as possible. I was going to run after work, got working on some parkrun stuff and it was pretty much game over after that.

Thursday – day off! Yep. I worked the last Friday of December so I got to have an extra day of in exchange for that. I got up and got dressed, ran to the park where I met Chantor (my old trainer) and then he and I went around the course that we are proposing for parkrun with his measuring wheel. Our round is a tiny bit too long so we still need to figure out start and finish points. It was good to see him (and his baby boy – who slept the entire time we were out) and chat about all things running. I ran back home after that.

Friday – day off! Ron had to work from home until 12:30 so in the morning I got packed and then went to the store to pick up some travel food and a little gift for a running friend of mine in Paris would would be picking us up for parkrun on Saturday morning. I prepared sandwiches and packed fruit and some veg (celery and cucumbers) for the drive.

Bon soir, Paris!

Because we left around 1:30pm I knew we were bound to hit traffic. We made a couple of stops but of course it took the longest once we actually approached Paris. We *finally* got to the hotel around 8pm (It’s a 5.5 hour drive normally, but, Paris on a Friday night…). We checked in, dropped our things in the room, then left again to have pizza and wine around the corner from our hotel. I really though Ron was so brave after the Pizza Incident in Dusseldorf!

Saturday – currently known as parkrun day! Laurent picked us up after a bit of breakfast and we took the short drive with him to Bois de Boulogne, which is also happens to be a bit of the marathon course! There were about 60 people there, many tourists, some locals and some local expats. The weather was GREAT for running and again I ran the 5KM all in one go. Now if I can only just do that at home and not only for parkrun.

Afterwards about 20 of those participants went for a coffee by a little place around the corner from the finish of the course. It was interesting to talk to a few local people and also one expat who was from England who I thought had the most amazing french! He spoke with such ease! I always wanted to be fluent in French and then I moved to the Netherlands! Ha! Three years of French out the window. Anyway…

We went back to the hotel, showered and changed and then went out for a bite of lunch. The rest of the day was walking and just taking it all in eventually making our way down to the Seine for an evening boat “cruise”. We were early so we nipped into a bistro for wine (as you do) until it was time to get to the boat.

I’ve never done a boat tour in Paris before and it was especially lovely at night! A wonderful and educational experience.

Afterwards of course we needed to eat (again) but with the transportation strike we had to eat somewhere around the Eiffel Tower and that area is just expensive (because tourists) and the food is hit or miss. We picked a place that we thought had to potential to be decent – and it was ok but nothing to write home about – made jokes about the food, drank more wine and when we were done we paid and called for an uber.

Ron’s Birthday

Sunday – Another early start since we had tickets for the Louvre at 9:30 and due to the strike we didn’t know how much time it would take to get there even with an uber. So up and at ’em; showered, dressed, breakfasted and in line for the Louve at 9:15am. I even had snacks and water packed and was wearing my compression socks. The 50+ year old me doesn’t mess with all day museum days anymore without compression socks!

The da Vinci exhibition was amazing and our ticket also got us into the rest of the Louvre. Of course the museum is so huge, there is no way you can do the whole thing in one day. We decided to just go up to the wing with Italian, French and Spanish painters and of course see the Mona Lisa. The only other time I’ve been to the Louvre was 25 years ago taking photos was really hard back then if you didn’t really know how to work a camera. Finally I got a close up of the tiny painting!

Afterwards I needed some time to relax and put my feet and legs up where I could so we found one of the Starbucks’ inside the Louvre and picked an empty corner upstairs. A coffee, a sandwich and about an hour later and I was finally ready to go.

We then walked up to the Hard Rock Cafe (because we love it), and had birthday drinks and burgers for my “old” guy! Eventually it was time to get an uber again to take us back to the hotel.

Another odd week ahead

I’m still preparing for my “hormone reset” – I hope to fill you in more on that next week. Once again I also work only 3 days this week. I better not get used to it since I have no more days off (except the regular Friday) until March.

The plan for the coming week

• Monday – drive back home (we are home as of this writing)
• Tuesday – AM running (run/walk), PM RPM double bill
• Wednesday – AM strength training, PM Pilates
• Thursday – AM @home RPM, PM massage if I get appointments
• Friday – Run
• Saturday – RPM and Strength at home
• Sunday – Run

How was your week? Are you still trying to get it all together or do you feel like you are on track again? Have you been to Paris? Did you study any languages? Have you been to the Louvre?