When To Replace Your Shoes?
I’ve had my fair share of running injuries over the years- Achilles Tendonitis, Shin Splints, Plantar Fasciitis, Some weird Inner-Arch-of-My-Foot-Pain. Though all of my running set-backs, I’ve learned how important it is to replace your running shoes! I actually now rotate through my running shoes each week. I went crazy and purchased around 6 different pairs before running the MS Run The US and am still working my way through them. I think that it’s really helped me to not wear the same sneaker two days in a row. I’m distributing the wear & tear on the shoes (so I’m extending their life) and also distributing my foot stride/strike since I’m wearing different shoes on each run! So, how can you tell when it’s time to replace your shoes?
Try to keep a log of your shoes.
This can get kinda challenging when you add in multiple shoes into your rotation, but for a long time I kept a log of each run that I would do and what shoes I was wearing. Although I’ve since stopped the log, I still have a general idea of what shoes have A LOT of miles on them and what shoes might still have a few 100 miles on them. Normally the rule of them is that a new pair of running shoes can take you between 300-500 miles. I actually get MORE out of most of my shoes (I find that speed work shoes, like my beloved Launches, have less support so I don’t get more than ~400 miles out of them) because I swap the soles out for Superfeet when I hit around 300 miles in them.
2. Take note when you feel ‘off’ after your run
Normally if I feel any sort of weird aches or pains after a run, I’ll go straight to what shoes I was wearing. I might feel like my achilles is a bit tighter, my plantar fasciitis could start acting up, or my ankles are just sore. Maybe it was the run or the terrain I was on, but I always like to factor in my shoes. For example, I had a treadmill run a few months ago where I was just doing some easy miles and immediately got a weird pain in my shin -> I was wearing a pretty old pair of shoes and decided that it was time to retire them. I haven’t had any sort of pain like that since then.
3. Look at the bottom of your shoes
Take a look at the tread of your shoes. This can tell you A LOT about where your weight is when you land (is it in the middle? off to one side? do you have multiple wear spots?) and also how does the tread look? If it’s worn down to nothing compared to other parts of your tread, then it might be time to consider investing in a new pair of shoes. There are a few of my shoes that I’ve recently noticed have almost no tread in my forefoot striking area -> I’ve ordered 3 new pairs of shoes!
4. Take a look at your insole.
I pull mine right out of the shoe and look inside to see where there is ‘less life’. Is one part smashed right down or does it look pretty even throughout the entire sole? Mine normally start to squish down near the pad of my foot, which tells me that it’s time to retire them.
5. If your new shoe doesn’t give you anything -> time to retire
So what do I mean by ‘not give you anything’? I mean LOTS OF THINGS! Does it no longer give you excitement when you pop it on? Does it no longer feel like it’s providing you with support/ spring/energy/return when you run in them? Do they feel like you’re weighed down more than you used to feel (new shoes should always feel like you’re on springs, but really worn out shoes -> I feel like I’m ‘stuck in mud’ on my runs)?
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So, when do you replace your shoes?
How many shoes do you currently have in your rotation?
When was the last time you got some new pairs?
I just ordered three new pairs (thank you Birthday gifts ; ) …)- Launches (for speedwork), Caldera (for trails), & Ghosts (for everyday road runs). I’ll donate the oldest pairs of my shoes and will work towards getting another pair of the Ghosts and probably another gore tex trail runners because you never know when it might be snowy/rainy/muddy on race day!
