Hi Jon,
I am hopeful that someone will jump in and give you a good answer. I use the stock brake pads and shoes.
Things I would look at are (A) Are you riding the brake pedal or are your front brakes dragging excessively? (B) Are your rotors overheating? Are your brake pads not aggressive enough and causing the rotors to overheat? Or too aggressive? (C) Is the brake fluid boiling? These seem to be common issues I have seen with the brakes.
Steve