Sevens

I'm up to 7 miles now! Saturday we ran in Encinitas at Moonlight Beach. It was a really nice area. The weather was perfect. Though it was cold at first, the sun came out and got a little warmer. No need for a jacket. I probably should have left it in the car, but I was freezing in the morning.
I walked mostly with my mentees. Kinda ran back and forth between them. 2 of them could only do the 5 mile route, which was totally fine. I didn't want them pushing themselves too much. And then the other mentee I have did the remaining 2 miles with me. She's good company and keeps a great pace. I can run ahead of her to do my interval training, but she keeps up with her walking pace. Long legs help though. :)
I ended up running past the boat houses in Encinitas. I remember reading about them, but wasn't sure where they were. So it was kinda cool. And I had to take a picture of course to show everyone.



I figured out what the blister problem was. At first I had thought it was the socks, but it couldn't have been really. They were the same brand of running socks that I used last year. Coach Dave had made mention of the fact that my shoes seemed a little small when he checked where my toe was. But the guy at Road Runner was really sure about the fit. I mean, they are the knowledgeable one and I totally didn't think about checking the shoe size of last years running shoes. Turns out, that was the problem. My shoes were too small. A half size too small. When the guy measured my feet, he said that I wore 6 1/2. So a 7 would be good. They seemed to fit fine and they were good up until I started to get to 5+ miles. My feet swell.
Unfortunately, it was 2 weeks after the 60 day period that RR gives you to return your shoes. So I wasn't sure if they would take them back for an exchange. I figured I'd give it a try. Especially since after the run on Saturday, my feet were KILLING me. The blisters on the tips of my toes were getting worse. And going downhill made it excruciating. I actually walked slowly down the hill to try to avoid hitting my toes with the tips of the shoe.
Anyways, after some convincing, the guy at the register reluctantly agreed, but said that this would be my only time allowed. That was perfectly fine with me. I now know what size shoe to get when I need a new pair. I have yet to take them out and break them in, but tomorrow is a new day. Monday. The start of a new week.

My best friend, Jesi, is coming for a visit this week from NYC. Really looking forward to seeing her. I'm planning on getting her out there training with me. At least get her to walk with me. She says she can't run. Her birthday is Friday, Oct 16th and we're going to Disneyland. I'll get TONS of walking in there! :) Should be a fun day.

Wednesday is going to be crazy busy. I have to drive up to Seal Beach and pick up Jesi at her grandmothers. I'll do it early in the morning so that I can be back in time to make it to practice at 6pm with TC. Jesi can hang out at the bay while we run. She did say she wants to be at the beach as much as possible...