The picturesque vineyard setting of Azille, France has provided the backdrop for some really nice runs this week. My left knee has been a bit sore since my 7-miler last week (not sure why I’m surprised, I didn’t stretch afterward at all and haven’t been doing any kind of strength training), so I have been taking it a little easier lately. Jeremy and I have made a sort of 180 in our eating habits the past few days, which has been a very good thing. We realized that we can’t continue eating baguettes and blocks of cheese and pain au chocolats and drinking multiple bottles of wine daily (sadly), or we’re going to outgrow all of the clothes in our suitcases. So we stopped buying baguettes, wine, and cheese, and are saving some of those for special occasions (like the weekend). I, for one, feel so much better, I feel like my moods are more stable, and I have more energy. Not to mention I’m not bloated all the damn time. We’ve been making super healthy meals, consisting mostly of vegetables, quinoa, and fish. We’re pretty much just getting back to how we used to eat in Santa Barbara.

Less of this:

And more of this:

Of course, these rules may not apply next week when we’re in Paris because come on, who are we kidding.

The village of Azille is surrounded by vineyards with multiple public paths going through them. I haven’t encountered anyone else on my runs (people or cars), and there are no houses around, so I have been playing my music from my phone as loud as it goes, without wearing earphones. It is wonderful. I am still completely aware of my surroundings and can hear if a car is coming from anywhere. I highly recommend doing this if the option arises.

The one thing that has not been great on my runs is the wind. It has consistently been pretty windy, with a nice tailwind on the way out, and a horrendous headwind on the way back. The first run was the worst. I don’t know what was going on, but it made me ANGRY. Running is supposed to release stress, not cause it. It was blowing so hard that I was barely moving, and I may have screamed obscenities out loud. The wind today wasn’t as bad, but I was confused as to why I looked at my Garmin and it was showing a 7:45 pace (which is unheard of for me) and it felt really easy. I realized when I turned around that it was the strong tailwind, and I slowed down considerably on the way back. Even so, I managed to run all my miles under 9 min/mile, which I felt good about.

There is a canal nearby called the Canal du Midi that is 150 miles long and runs all through southern France. It is a popular destination for river cruises and bicyclists, and I’m going to try to run along it tomorrow. We drove to it today to check it out.

I can’t believe tomorrow is Friday already; this is the first week that has flown by since we got to Europe. I am really excited to get to Paris on Tuesday!