Griswalds visit Paris

I know its been a while since my last post, but I have a good excuse. The Griswalds were in the land of cheese, wine, colorful macaroons, amazing pastries and yes, still some smelly Frenchmen.

My parents and I took a week long trip to Paris for vacation and had a great time. It was my first time to France and I enjoyed seeing the architecture, tasting the food, and touring the sites. We visited Versailles the first day and Normandy on July 4.

American Troops Cemetery in Normandy

Both were great sites to visit and I’m very glad we did Normandy on July 4th. I managed to get one run in while I was there, although I was hoping for several more but after days of touring the sites, my legs and feet rebelled.

The run I did get to do was from our hotel, up the hill to the Arc de Triomphe, around that, up Avenue de la Armee, back around the Arc to Champs-Elysees and back. The Champs was packed with tourists and locals enjoying the cool, evening weather. The miles went by quickly especially when I was weaving in and out of the crowds. We visited the Jardins de Luxembourg the first night we were in Paris and I saw a lot of people running in the park, under the trees. I was hoping to do that myself but the Gardens are on the left bank and we were staying in the right bank area. Oh well, guess I’ll have to go back! Speaking of going back, my next trip to France would definitely be a triathlon themed one as the countryside is great for running, biking and swimming. Hence why the Tour de France is so popular.

Now that I’m back State-side, I need to get serious about my training again and work off all of the wine, pasta, champagne, and deserts we had there! I attended a “Bring Your Friend” event at CrossFit JAX last night in Mayport and had a great time working out in their box, albeit a very hot box! We did a partner workout where as a team, we had to finish the following workout:
2000 meter row on the rowing machine
80 burpees
60 med ball wall squats
50 jumping pull ups
50 kettle ball upright rows
800 meter run with a med ball

I was stupid and did not hydrate properly before the workout at 6:30. The temp at that time outside was 91 degrees, inside the box it was about 100 degrees. The heat got to me during the workout which ticks me off but also shows me that I need to get back at it. We had a great group workout together and I hope to go back again soon.

Tonight is a run with a group at Mellow Mushroom with some friends. I’m sore today but nothing that I can’t handle. I will set up the rest of my training schedule for the Atlantic Coast Half Iron race tonight and really start to get after it.

As always, thanks for reading….would love to hear your vacation or foreign country running stories!

PS A post wouldn’t be complete without a picture of my exhausted Schnoodle, Memphis after his vacation at Pet Paradise in St. Augustine where he swam, played with new friends, and enjoyed ice cream!