10 Miles on 17 Mile Drive

I woke up at around 6:30 AM today and got an early start to my run. After my banana and granola bar I was ready for the 10 mile run. It was very foggy and a cool 55 degrees outside. After finding my way to the boardwalk, I did a short stretch then start running the pedestrian path along the coast. It was absolutely stunning seeing the water and the hills around me. I didn't need to listen to my iPod when I had the sound of the breaking waves to run to. The only downsides were that occasionally I had to run in sand (tough on the calves) and that the smell of seaweed is not very pleasant (tough on the nostrils). There were a ton of bikers riding along the road and at one point it seemed that the whole Tour de France wizzed by me (a group of about 50 riders). At the halfway point, I did an about face and started my run back to the hotel. Around 6 miles, Joe and his mom and dad drove up and gave me some water and a moral booster. But overall I was feeling good. At about mile 7 I saw a coyote - we made eye contact and I was thankful he didn't come any closer. At mile 8, things started to get tough - my joints ached. But knowing that I was almost done pulled me through. I finished at exactly 10.00 miles with an 8:26 pace. Probably too fast for me to keep up normally, but the beautiful scenery motivated my good long run!