10 days out

Yesterday's workout was 10 days out from the next sub 3:00 marathon attempt at the Greenway Marathon on March 27th. Did a progression run. That was the intent anyway. Plus, I wanted to give my marathon shoes one more try. Did a little surgery to try and loosen up the toebox. Not the first time I've tried to get a pair of shoes that didn't quite fit right, to work. One of the main reasons for buying these shoes was because they weren't as wide in the toebox as the Mizuno's I've been wearing for the last couple of years. Surprised that it's almost a quarter of an inch narrower, at a minimum.

Never again will I buy Nike's. It's been 10 years since I last wore any and that was a free pair that I got as a "Nike tester" or some sort of program. (it was a pair with the shock heel) Complete sillyness for a runner like me whose heel never touches the ground. Prior to that I'd sworn off Nike's because they discontinued the model I'd been wearing, the Pegasus. (it's back now I believe) That's the one thing that drives me nuts about shoe companies, changing the model every year. At least with the Asics, it was mainly just a color change. The shoes remained the same.

The progression run started out well enough. I wanted a couple of miles of warmup and then 3 miles at 7:10 pace, followed by 3 miles of marathon pace, 6:49 and then finish with 3 miles at 6:30 pace. The new shoes felt great in the early miles, the "running on clouds" kind of cushy feeling that stays around for the first few runs in a new pair of shoes. This would be the 4th or maybe even 5th run in these shoes in total but first since the DNF at Snickers. The three miles at 7:10 miles were easy, and the marathon pace was as well. Started to notice how tight the toebox was with the marathon pace miles. This time the rubbing was on the outer pad of the forefoot. It didn't affect my pace, but was noticeable with each foot strike. I bailed on the 3rd marathon pace mile, about 2/3rds of the way into that mile. I was afraid to kick it up to 6:30 pace for 3 more miles with my foot rubbing. Slogged it back home.

Ten miles on the day, with a few miles of marathon pace. More importantly, determined the shoes were indeed the reason for the blister at the Snickers Marathon. Question now, which shoes to wear for the marathon? Probably back to the tried and true Mizuno's.