This Sunday I'm doing a half marathon that finishes at home plate at Louisville Slugger Field. It's a very flat course (map), so I'm hoping to break two hours for the first time. This translates to a 9:10 pace per mile. Today, I ran 5 miles and tried to see if I could meet that pace and still breathe, keep my heart rate at a decent level, etc. I ended up at an average of 8:40 per mile so I succeeded on that front. My goal for Sunday is to try for a steady 9 minute pace. That leaves 10 seconds per mile to walk through an occasional aid station, etc. As I've heard someone say, you'll never know your limits unless you reach them.
Back to the rest of the shoe size story. About mile four, I could feel a blister developing on the side of the ball of my right foot. I've been fighting with hot spots on the balls of my feet for most of the spring/summer but thought it was just the heavy miles I was putting in. But after only four miles and getting a blister, I knew something wasn't right. So I took the shoes I normally wear and went off to a local running shop. It took the owner, Jeff, about thirty seconds to diagnose the problem. My shoes are too big. In essence, every time I struck the ground, my foot would slide forward a bit in the shoes and cause friction. Friction = blisters. He had me try on several different stability shoes (the kind my running style require) and I settled on these, Nike Lunarglide 4:
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