Okay, so maybe I’m a sucker, but… I got some new socks that are supposed to help support my arches, reduce the likelihood of blisters and chafing and make me run twice as fast. 🙂 Alright, so they don’t claim to make me run faster…

my new fancy socks

gotta figure out how to use these

I got a lot of great advice and suggestions from the lady at Luke’s Locker. I’ve found that runners are ALWAYS very helpful. Always want to talk about their sport with you. Sometimes it’s just useless rambling and what not, but this lady today was very helpful. 🙂

I’ll let y’all know how it goes Saturday. I’m wearing the new socks on Friday and again on Saturday if I can get them washed!

Gel practice starts with my long run on Saturday.

OH! SPEAKING OF LONG RUN… I’m thinking about going 12 miles on Saturday instead of 11. I know I said I needed to stick to the plan, but I am worried that I need to run longer than 20 miles in training. If I can just add a mile or two to that, I might feel more confident… We’ll see. I might just be pre-panicking.

Other things that I want to try:

1. Water bottle pack (click to see one)  – I have previously laughed at people wearing these, but…  WHATEVER!!  I can change my mind.  I could combine my stuff from my SPIBelt with water bottles.
   
2. Garmin 410 GPS  (click to see it)- Reason:  I want to get a heart rate monitor AND my iPhone battery won’t last longer than a half marathon and I would like to track miles.  (I use the Nike+ GPS program to track runs, now.

Feel free to sponsor one of these items for me if you’re feeling particularly generous!

Sock Performance Update:

I ran this morning in the new fancy socks.  They felt great when I put them on.  I like that they really hug my arches.  When I put my shoes on over them, though, I wasn’t too happy at first.   I could feel a line across the bottom of my heel where the heel material meets with the arch material.  Seems like it wouldn’t be so noticable, but it was.   It was annoying for about 5 minutes.  I guess that’s no big deal.  I DO think I need a larger size, though.  These are for size 7-9.  I wear a 9 in regular shoes but a 10-1/2 in running shoes.  They were a little too short. 

What’s the verdict?  They’re nice.  I don’t know if they are $11 worth of nice, though.  I am going to give these another try and I may also buy a bigger size to see if that makes any difference.