How to know when to pitch the old ones?

[TexasCop]

Hey all,

I used to just pitch the shoes basically when the sole was gone or when they were starting to come apart.  Now I have the issue where I am doing more mileage than I used to, and I'm worried that I may be keeping my shoes past the point where they are beneficial.  Does that make any sense?

I rotate my shoes, so that I don't run in the same pair day after day, I've heard that this allows the cushioning more time to expand, and the shoe more time to dry out, so that you'll get more than twice the use out of a pair than if you just ran in the same pair every day.

Once a pair gets questionable for street work, I have been relegating it to the eliptical trainer and just "comfort" wear but not actually running in them anymore.

Any advice or suggestions?  Does anyone actually keep a mileage log of your shoes and get rid of them at XXX miles? 

Thanks in advance... sorry if it's a dumb question...   

[johnl]

Not a dumb question at all. First off, it is good that you rotate your shoes. I'm not sure if it equates to 2x the life but it will increase it. There are many factors that will affect how long you can run in shoes and the best way to gauge that is to record your shoe mileage and be aware of the 'warning signs' that the shoes coming to the end of their usefulness. Some people go strictly by mileage .. say 300, 400, 600, 800 miles. Others go by 'feel'. If the shoe starts to feel 'hard' and/or you notice increased soreness in your knees/hips/feet you should suspect any older shoes. If you switch to a newer pair and the soreness goes away then the circumstantial evidence says it's time to retire the old pair.

The problem with saying "toss at xxx miles" is that mileage varies due to shoe construction, running surface, weight differences, running style, pace, etc. I can usually get about 600 miles out of my light weight trainers before I toss them. But I'm a neutral runner, don't need much motion control and the thing that 'wears out' on my shoes first is the cushion. Someone who needs 'motion control' may wear out the stability in the heel before the cushion or tread.

It's a good idea to stagger your shoe purchases so that you always have a newer shoe(s) in the rotation. That way, you can more easily feel the difference between pairs as one gets to the end of it's life. Right now, I'm entering my shoe info manually in Bim Active activity title. For example 'Run 2/4/08 (ASII)' has my code for Asics Speedstar II's. Then each month or so I manually add up the mileage for each pair of shoes and record it.

BTW, I do wash my shoes often (more for my trail shoes), hand wash in sink with small amount of Oxyclean laundry detergent and dry in front of a fan (not in sunlight!). I'm sure that helps increase the life and comfort.

Cheers,
John

[eyeballrene]

I've been logging in my "shoe miles" on the inside lid of the box that came with the shoes after each run, but I've also just started entering which shoes I wear  in the notes section of each run on my BiM activity page, and manually figuring out the mileage that way.  Like JohnL, I rotate my shoes.  He pretty much touched on all the things you need to know.  I believe there was a discussion of having a shoe log on BiM at some point.

It's not a dumb question.  People think they have to run their shoes into threads before getting a new pair.  That's not the case.

Happy running!

[CrazieJimbo]

I work strictly by mileage. 300 miles in fact. I purchase a pair of shoes and put about 150 miles on them then buy another pair and rotate between them. This means that I always have a pair of shoes with over 100 miles to do my long runs in. I feel like breaking shoes in on easier runs is a good idea. In the end I know I don't get as much life out of the shoes as I can, but I feel like a few extra pairs a year outweighs injury. Plus, you can always use the old shoes for biking, hiking, housework, gym days, etc...

On the other hand, many of my friends laugh at my shoe boneyard in my closet!

[TomsRuns]

That comment on the shoe boneyard really hit home.  Just wondering if there is any kind of recycle activity for these well used shoes.   I know that there are a few tracks that are made up of ground running shoes - Portland YMCA has one of these tracks

[jon]

A shoe tracking feature is in the next major release. It is pretty dang cool.