Running in Paris

I have always said that my favorite way to explore a new place is to run while there. You get to see the area in a way you never could in a car or while just getting from point a to b as quickly as possible. Usually I have to run early in the day or late at night to maximize time during the day and that's just what we did on this 6 mile loop of the center of Paris. I haven't been able to run in many of the places we've traveled to and although I'd been to Paris several times before, this way of exploring was a first.

This is our view waking up at 5:30 in our Parisian apartment. 

Just us and the pigeons outside of Notre Dame. When does that ever happen?

 We had to run over and find our lock one last time together. 

 Not a car in sight

 And at the Louvre? No different. No people.

Yes, these photographs were taken while running. A la jogging photography in Yes Man:

I won't say whether or not Chris resembled Carl at the end... Moving on.

I would run over to get a certain shot and Chris would keep on going. Turned it into a sort of an interval run for me.

It's fitting that this post should happen today and not last week as I had originally intended. Today I get to run again. I haven't been able to run since two days after this run in Paris, otherwise known as thirteen days ago. I felt a sharp pain in my shin bone, one that didn't disappear as the run went on these pangs usually do. So on the third day of attempting to run pain-free I stopped. This isn't something I shared earlier because a) I didn't want to bum you all out with my self-pity and b) someday I would like to look back on all of this and honestly the non-running days are the darkest I have out here and it would be nice to forget how often they occurred. This also explains why I have lost some of the wit and wordiness of late.

Pushing all that behind me today, I get to attempt to run again in a few hours. It may be for only 15 minutes instead of 15 miles but it's a start (again). I have no idea what this means for the marathon in two months. Probably not great things. If I don't qualify for the Boston Marathon then it just wasn't meant to be, but I will still be running in memory of what happened there and this is where "it's the thought that counts" comes in handy. I am determined to race in Brussels, whether it's at my goal 8:00/mile pace or 10:00.