New Running Shoes

You can see a common pattern here with my running shoes and it's usually a sign that I need a new pair. For some reason, without fail, I always get a hole in the mesh when I'm nearing 350-400 mi on my shoes. And it's only in the left shoe! Granted, my left foot is about a half size bigger than my right foot but my shoes always fit perfectly. I went up to a size 8.5 from an 8 a few years ago after I was getting a lot of blisters on my toes so I know that this hole I get isn't from my shoes being too small. I think eventually they just wear out.

On Saturday, I went to a local running store, Fleet Feet, to buy my new pair of Asics Nimbus but was disappointed when they were out of my size. They said they'd order them and I'd have them within 5-7 business days. Needless to say, I was not happy especially because this happened the last time I went there too. Um hello, obviously this is a popular shoe and a popular size so maybe you should order more! Ok sorry, rant over. I really wanted my shoes this week though so I could break them in before my 20 mi on Saturday.

Sunday morning rolls around and I'm looking through the ads in the paper when I spot a coupon at Sports Authority for $25 off a $100 or more purchase. Since my shoes are ridiculously expensive $125, I headed over to see if they had my Nimbus in stock so I could save a few dollars. I was in luck but not only did I get this pair for $100, I should be getting my next pair for only $16! How does that work? Well, the salesperson working there was telling about the extended coverage plan. For $16, I'd have a 13-month warranty on my shoes, which includes rips or tears, even if it's from normal wear & tear. This means I can get my money refunded in full if the mesh rips (and it obviously will from the photo above) and still keep my shoes with the hole in it. So yes, I'll be getting a brand new pair of Nimbus shoes for $16 by the time summer rolls around.

I know what you're thinking....wow, she just got ripped off, this has to be too good to be true. At least, that's what I thought so I read through the fine print of the brochure they gave me and it was unclear if it did or didn't cover tears from excessive wear. The salesperson who checked me out reassured me that no one has ever had a problem with getting their money back from mesh tears. In fact, all you do is call the company handling the extended coverage plan and tell them the problem. You don't even have to show a photo of the shoe or send it back in. I was still a little leery so she even called the manager of the store over to verify I would get a refund from a hole in the mesh and she said that if for some reason they didn't give it to me, I could come back to Sports Authority and they would refund the money directly themselves. So either way, I'm getting a pair of shoes for $16 in a few months!

New pair of Asics Nimbus 11

Also bought a bright neon yellow shirt to run in outside when it's dark...Todd was very happy about this purchase so I don't get hit by any cars

Enough about my shoes and onto my training. I did 6 mi yesterday morning and was hoping to do some mile repeats but my stomach was upset and my legs weren't having any of that so I did a progression run instead, starting at 8:19 pace and ending at 7:47 pace. I also did a solid 30 minutes on the elliptical.

This morning I did a 15 minute warm up on the elliptical with a few strength training circuits followed by a 45 minutes spinning class. Since Sara is in town from Pittsburgh, I met her after work for an easy 7 mi run (8:19 pace) in Dublin. It was nice to run with her as well as catch up with what's been going on. Kinda like killing two birds with one stone. Tomorrow will be a 10 mi run with some tempo miles thrown in. Since I will have run 3 days in a row, a rare occasion for me, I'll be cross training the rest of the week before my 20 mi long run on Saturday morning.