New Shoes = New Motivation?

Its been 12 days since the Disney Wine & Dine Half marathon and I will admit I am having a hard time getting my feet back under me (literally).  Some of it is probably due to the post race blues.  I've also been a little under the weather and trying to give my ankle a break as I can still feel a little pain in the tendon area.   I was going to join the Katy Galloway group Saturday morning for a 6 mile run but woke up in the morning feeling sick and decided that since I do not have a race pressing that sleep was a better option.

But it was time for some new running shoes.  I start to notice my shoes breaking down a little between 250-300 miles.  I know that isn't a ton compared to some but I can definitely feel it.  I also tend to shift my old running shoes to my new walking shoes so I like them to have a little wear left on them.  Plus there is something to be said about jump starting the motivation by having a new pair of shoes to break in.  :) 

Getting my new shoes proved to be more difficult than I would have expected.  I put my current shoes in my car (Brooks Ghosts) on Tuesday morning so I could bring them with me.  At lunch on Tuesday I hop in my car and attempt to head to Luke's Locker in River Oaks.  Attempt is the key word.  It took me 30 minutes to get from my office to the light in front of Target which is less than a half a mile away.  I typically walk to that target from my office in less than 10 minutes so it was very frustrating.  At that point I gave up and drove back to the office because I no longer had time to get shoes before my afternoon conference call.

I tried again today with more success.  It still took longer to get to River Oaks than it should due to the lovely train and construction on San Felipe but I did make it.  Jorge took good care of me.  I tried on the new Brooks Ghosts but it felt weird on my toe box (which didn't really surprise me because I had been having issues with my toes in my current shoes).  I tried on a few other shoes and settled on Saucony Ride 6's.  I have 30 days to try them out so if they bother me I can bring them back and switch back to the Brooks or something else.

My other attempt to improve motivation is to set my race calendar and start working on training schedules. 
I have decided that my next half marathon will be in Houston February 9th for the Rhythm and Blues Half Marathon.   http://rhythmandblueshalfmarathon.com/

I also think I have decided on my next full marathon (my last full marathon was in 2007 in NYC so its been a while).  I think I am going to run the Rock n' Roll Marathon in San Antonio on December 7, 2014. http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/san-antonio The timing is perfect.  Weather in December should be pretty nice in San Antonio (although like all of Texas you never know) plus the longest training runs won't be in the worst parts of Houston summers (20 mile runs in August/September don't sound appealing).  It is within driving distance so the family can come out and we can make a weekend of it in San Antonio and relax on the Riverwalk.  I really don't want to travel to a full marathon by myself as I don't trust myself to make it back to the room/home afterward and would want a driver.  The other reason that the RNR San Antonio works out is it would give me 2-1/2 months to recover and then ramp up for the Disney Princess Half Marathon in 2015 that I am hoping to run with my sister.  One other benefit to RNR over say the Houston Marathon in January is that the time limit is 7 hours vs 6 hours.  I really want to train and run in 5-1/2 hours or less but my last 2 marathons were over 6 hours so I'd like a little buffer to make sure I officially finish and get my medal. 

Now I get to tweak my training schedules and plan my events and hopefully find enough motivation to lace up those new shoes and hit the pavement tonight.