Anyone else not able to tell when shoes are run down?

My shoes still feel the same, but I feel it in my shins, knees and hips when I need new shoes. 900 miles is a lot of miles to put on one pair of shoes. You might want to get some new ones.

Well you kind of contradicted yourself there, you said it's when you can feel it, then said 900 miles is too much. The 500 miles a shoe is just a rule of thumb, it all depends on how you feel in them. If you put 1000 miles on a pair of shoes and there's no new soreness creeping up on you by all means keep going.

D3 is for me wrote:

I don't understand how people can run 500 miles in shoes and then, somehow, they are "done".

What is different in the shoe at that point? How can you even tell? They just look dirty.

I know this is kind of the opposite of what you'd expect, but I always start getting blisters when my shoes have gotten too old (never had a problem with blisters with new shoes). I use a running log that keeps track of the mileage on my shoes but I never check the mileage until I start getting blisters, and it's always 550 +/- 50 miles.

Shoes today, no matter the brand, will lose the function of the midsole between 350 and 550 miles. This usually depends on your weight and how light you are on your feet/foot strike etc.

Safe bet is every 400 miles.

it's time wrote:

but I feel it in my shins, knees and hips when I need new shoes.

Yep, that's exactly what I do. Sometimes I'm able to get 1200 miles on shoes...sometimes 700. But my tell tale sign is usually shin splints, until I start to feel those, I wear the shoes.

OP - I'm more like you. I don't feel anything different on shoes as they wear. I have several pair with 900-1200miles and they feel fine. Some flats some trainers but none of the Kayano-type full-on-battleship shoes with all the motion control, posting, cushioning doodads. I toss 'em when the mesh uppers start to tear or (as sometimes happens) part of the sole starts to delaminate. I keep precise mileage totals on all of my shoes so my mileage numbers are not guesses.

pablo wrote:

it's time wrote:

but I feel it in my shins, knees and hips when I need new shoes.

Yep, that's exactly what I do. Sometimes I'm able to get 1200 miles on shoes...sometimes 700. But my tell tale sign is usually shin splints, until I start to feel those, I wear the shoes.

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I'm sorry, but you wait until you have shin splints, and then you get new shoes?

Folks. Get new shoes BEFORE you get injured. This is what most people mean by the word " proactive"

Stick with the 350-500 rule, and you will have fresher legs and not be as injury prone.

Mick Lovin wrote:

pablo wrote:

Yep, that's exactly what I do. Sometimes I'm able to get 1200 miles on shoes...sometimes 700. But my tell tale sign is usually shin splints, until I start to feel those, I wear the shoes.

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I'm sorry, but you wait until you have shin splints, and then you get new shoes?

Folks. Get new shoes BEFORE you get injured. This is what most people mean by the word " proactive"

Stick with the 350-500 rule, and you will have fresher legs and not be as injury prone.

^shoe store owner.

(Don't worry about doubling or tripling your shoe cost)

Yeah, yeah, proactive, cost of doctor, blah blah. But pablo didn't say he got hurt from his methods.

D3 is for me wrote:

I'm using a pair of Mizuno Wave Rider 13s for all my non-workouts, I run about 70 mpw, and have put around 900 miles on these shoes and they still feel fine on my feet.

I workout in Asics Hyperspeed 3s, and I have 350 miles on them, the bottom is wearing down, but they still feel fine, just lack traction.

I don't understand how people can run 500 miles in shoes and then, somehow, they are "done".

What is different in the shoe at that point? How can you even tell? They just look dirty.

Mechanically, what is different in the shoe is the structural integrity. The magazines all talk about the midsole wearing out or losing cushioning, but that's probably not the most important point since most faster runners don't really need that much cushioning.

What does happen is the shoe tends too tilt to one side. If anything this may cause you to turn you ankle more easily and at worse the alters the alignment of your lower extremity. The other mechanical issue is the shoe tends to get too flexible especially at the mid arch. Ideally you only want your shoe to bend where you want your foot to bend (ball of the foot/base of the toes). A shoe being too flexible at the mid arch puts you at risk for straining your arch.

Honestly, most faster runners (sub 18 5K), don't need much cushioning and don't do as much heel striking and therefore can get away with ignoring the 500 mile rule.

Mick Lovin wrote:

I'm sorry, but you wait until you have shin splints, and then you get new shoes?

Folks. Get new shoes BEFORE you get injured. This is what most people mean by the word " proactive"

Stick with the 350-500 rule, and you will have fresher legs and not be as injury prone.

Ok, let me clarify...

I always have 4 different trainers in my regular rotation. 2 pair of trainers for my normal, daily run...whether it be an easy run, tempo, workout, long run, etc. And the other 2 pair of shoes I use for my "second" run...usually a very slow 4-6 miles. After about 700-800 miles, when the tread starts to wear down on the regular shoes, they get "demoted" to the recovery run shoes. I'll then buy another 2 pair of shoes for my regular runs. But I'll still be able to get another 400-500 miles on shoes after being demoted. Thus, totaling the mileage on the shoes to 1000+ miles. When new aches and pains arise (not injuries), I know it's time to ditch the recovery shoes.

And for the record, I'm not injury prone. After 11 years running, I've only had 3 real injuries and 1 of them wasn't running related.