Sweet 16

Getting faster and hitting my miles have been hard. We ran 16 last Saturday out to the river, around the loop along the river then back. It was beautiful and I made a new friend. Before I knew it 12 miles were done but the blisters were killing me. Apparently my Mizuno Inspires (less than 100 miles on them) were a bit too narrow for my feet. As soon as my feet swelled the tiniest bit blisters popped up. Darn. So I went down to Fleet Feet and tried on every different shoe I could think of. My feet have a tendency to roll out instead of in so I needed some motion stability. My inspires aren't actually meant for my type of foot but with the SuperFeet inserts they have worked great for me for the last year and a half so I really didn't want to change. I had tried a pair of Nike's last Winter before the marathon and had instant ITband issues. Not good either. When they brought out boxes and boxes of my size shoe they could think of I was hesitant to try Nike again but out of all of them the Zoom Structures felt so good on my feet. After my run today NO BLISTERS well no new ones and the ones that have been there for weeks are getting better. I also picked up a new fuel belt by Nathan and a pair or CWX compression socks that I love. (plug: Fleet Feet has a rewards program, if you spend $250, based on points per $ spent, you get $25 store credit for that specific store). I've spent a lot of money in that store. In the last 6 weeks I have spent over $250 on shoes and another $100 on various other things. Bad, bad, bad... I know. But I love them. I love supporting Alan and Susan and the local business. I can't help it!
Did I say getting faster is hard. It is but I can see it. I feel good doing 9min/miles. I'm not sure how far I can go but I can do several miles of it at least. To break a 4 hour marathon I need to hit those 9 minute miles. I noticed that on several of the blogs I read and my FB friends from both running and everyday life, a common name popped up. I emailed this amazing gal and asked if all these names converged how could we not know each other? I started reading her blog and was so inspired. Today I came across her posts "How I Got Faster Part I'' and ''How I Got Faster Part II'' . The guy she talks about "Jack or Alberto'' is my running coach now with the FF program. I should probably utilize him more hu? Also need to figure out this Daniels' Running Formula and stick to it. That's my plan anyway.
So my run today to Durham and back, 16 miles, was amazing. I hope we run back out there on November 7th which is our next 16 mile run. I came back picking up the pace and hitting my goal M pace or better for 5 miles straight, although I was supposed to do 8 miles but I really didn't want to run back into town by myself so I waited for my friends then came in at 30-45 seconds a mile slower with them. I felt tired but good and my feet felt great with the compression socks and new shoes. So today I finished my sweet 16 and I'm a happy girl.