Sunday, October 24, 2010

23 miles = One French Meal?

And here it is... my first French school vacation. After a mere two weeks of teaching (plus a few of training), I have a week and a half for the "Toussaint" or All Saint's Day holiday. Originally, I wasn't going to go anywhere, but I found a cheap 33€ round trip train ticket, so I'll be visiting some family friends for a few relaxing days near Carcassonne.

Vacation started a bit earlier than anticipated, since I sidelined myself Thursday after teaching two classes due to a stomach bug. I thought I'd be able to pull through after being up all night sick (since I didn't really want to flake out on them on my second day in that school—I only see each school 1x/week), but, in the end, I had to come home and put myself to bed. Well, that is, after missing the bus by 10 minutes and thus being forced to wait 2 hours for the next one... Yeah, so I fell asleep on a bench like a hobo, whatcha gonna do about it? ;)

Anyway, after eating only 8 points yesterday, today was looking a bit iffy for my long run (I moved it to Friday so I could do the 10k Sunday pain-free). Thankfully, I woke up feeling 100% better so I decided to venture out. I tried to keep an really slow pace (13 min/mile) so as to not push it too much and, due to time constraints more than not feeling well, I only ran 8 miles instead of the anticipated 10. But, it was worth it to me because I wanted to make sure I was home in time to skype with Jon and his parents before the 'rents left to drive back to Alabama! I won't "see" them again until I'm home for Christmas. Due to the slow pace, it was a really easy run, actually. I'm not used to thinking that I'm capable of running 8 miles without dying, so it's pretty surprising to realize. Very cool. I was talking with my dad over the internet today and he mentioned that I'm probably in the best shape I've been in my entire life... and, you know, he's right. So odd to think about really. I'm also finally getting used to where I run so I can better plot out my routes distance wise. That was another problem with today's run--I overestimated the distance and got home with 2 miles left to go!

Saw this when I was out for my easy 8-miler. Bonus: in English!

Other than that, I experienced both ends of the food spectrum this weekend. Classy, traditional French dining with my friend Christèle and then tonight's homesick McDonald's with Claire:

Classy dinner. Main dish: Duck with potatoes au gratin and green beans

Moelleux au chocolate... as in a brownie that's melty in the center

McDo outing. I'm the tiny diet coke, the pineapples, and the mini mcflurry (well, that's regular size for France)

I opted for a Happy Meal...which is, much to my dismay, DEFINITELY not worth how many points it ends up being...


The top meal was worth more than all the APs I'd earned running this week (I think I also may have over-estimated) and the bottom was worth at least half... Verdict: McDonald's is SO not worth it... but that first meal SO was! I don't eat like that often at all, but it was really nice catching up with an old friend over a good meal, and I had the APs to do it!

And now, I leave you to go run the 10k! I also leave you with another interesting article on these French strikes... Oh and WAR CAM EAGLE! What a game last night!!!!

Oh, you know just some striking.