Shoes and a Swift Short Run

I went to purchase some new running shoes yesterday, and took the Captain's suggestion that I try Luke's Locker in Dallas. It is now my new favorite store. The top floor is entirely dedicated to footwear, and the bottom floor is for attire and accessories. Every employee was very knowledgeable about what they carried, and gave me several good recommendations for the gear that I was looking for. As far as the shoe issue, I ended up with the same size and model of Saucony that I was currently running in. ( excpet now they are blue and silver instead of yellow and gray). The woman who fitted me took one look at the bottom of my shoes and told me I was overdue for a new pair. I had put too many miles on them, and the cushioning had worn down which was causing my toe to hit hard on the front on the shoe. The shoe I have been training in is perfect for my stride, I just wore them too long. She also recommended I try something called a toe cap which she wears. It's a cushioned rubber sleeve that fits over the toe and helps keep the toe from hitting or rubbing the inside of the shoe. She also said with the amount of miles I'm putting on my shoes I need a second pair. So I'm going back in October for pair number 2. It'll help my shoes last longer, and it's better for my feet. Plus it will give me an ample amount of time to break them in before White Rock. Her final recommendation for me was to invest in some good comfortable open toe shoes to wear when I'm not running. Which I have already done. Two pair's of Born, and two Clark's Artisan. They are all very comfortable and cuter than most comfort shoes. And I've got one pair of Cole Haan heels that are very comfortable. Not sure what I'll find for winter, but it lasts about 1 week where I live anyway.
I was able to find a good solution for the skirt as well. They have what's called a race belt skirt that has snaps in the front to attach my bib number. It doesn't have built in shorts, so I can wear it over the compression shorts I already have. In the winter I can wear it over running tights. I also bought a pocket that clips onto my waistband so I can carry whatever gel I decide to race with. I am trying sport beans this week to see how well I like those.
Had a fantastic 3 mile run this morning. It went by so fast, I felt like I blinked and I was finished. I had fun with it, and ran it at a very quick but still comfortable pace. My 5K training pace now is faster than what used to be my 5K race pace. It's definitely encouraging to see the minutes per mile decrease over time. I would love to run a 5K race sometime between the Half and Full Marathons just to see how well I would run a 5K race. I also felt like my improvement in pace could be attributed to springy new shoes, and better form. I think I'm going to keep concentrating on form for these shorter runs, and hope that will continue to help improve my pace.