So this is the week when I start making changes.
To prepare for joining the Frontrunners (an international organization that has a chapter in Paris and San Francisco), I ran last night for the first time in over a year. What was the location for this momentous occasion? Not too shabby - Le Jardin des Tuileries and Le Louvre.
There's something about running that makes me appreciate living in a fantastic city even more. It's the same feeling I got when I ran around Dolores Park in San Francisco for the first time; the view of the city from the summit of the park was priceless, jast as running in Central Park last year when I stayed in Manhattan for two months. Actually, the latter was a bit pricier; I had severe hayfever the night I ran and consequently had to change locations.
Now when I say run, I don't mean run like the wind, more like jog while window-shopping and people-gazing. I knew I wasn't in good shape, so I wanted to give it a test run and see how it goes before meeting the Frontrunners.
It felt great. Between jogging and walking, the entire endeavor took nearly two hours. Afterward, I expected my muscles to ache somewhat, and I was hoping that the severity wouldn't be too great by 7 o'clock tonight. Well, how can I make you understand? Let's just say that even lifting my foot off the ground was a bit painful. Nevertheless, I met the Frontrunners and followed through with my pain, I mean my plan. I couldn't actually make the five laps around the park and had to stop after four, but it was still a great experience, even with all the bugs swimming in the pools of sweat against my face as I painstakingly lifted one foot each time.
Meeting the folks in the club was the icing on the cake (or as the French would say, the cherry on the cake). They were all very welcoming to this San Franciscan, even as he struggled with placing in order all five parts of the past tense and the direct and indirect objects.
For the first time since I arrived in Paris, I felt like I stopped forcing myself to be on vacation, a vacation with several ambitious agenda, I might add. I am glad to have lifted more than my feet tonight.
