yeah, that seems like the likely situation....i'm doing a metric century
this weekend, and if the other techniques don't help, them I'm looking for
new pedals. My shoes cost about $70 so I don't think there are exactly
cheap, but the SPD pedals came with the bike and they definitely don't
offer
much in the way of contact area. I have been looking at some Crank pedals
that are SPD compatible that seem to have a lot more contact area...that
would allow me to avoid buying new shoes.

First, turn your shoes over and have a look at the arrangement of the soles.
Many brands of shoes are drilled so that more than one type of cleat can be
used.

Pat in TX