"Breaking In" New Shoes? Truth, Myth ... or It Depends? (Read 1239 times)

My experience: It depends. Some brands are stiffer than others. I've worn NB before, and I did notice that they seemed stiffer to me at first. I also have gone back to wearing a pair after not wearing them for a while, and they did seem stiffer than what I was wearing. Is breaking in running shoes the same as, say, boots? Nowhere near. But I have noticed that a new pair of shoes can cause blisters the first few times I wear them. I've noticed a loosening up over time, too. Also, the insoles will conform to your foot a little more as time progresses, so you'll notice that, too. I think the blisters and the loosening are the primary reasons why walking in them a little bit is recommended.

Ha sorry Kirsten, I am wearing a 9.5.

I think the answer is - why *not* break them in first? Can't hurt. Whereas wearing a brand new pair to your next half-marathon just might hurt. A lot. I don't do much to new shoes. I usually just wear them around town for a few days, then try to make a point of just doing short runs with them at first. If I'm supposed to be doing something else to "break them in," nobody told me, and the above works just fine for me. (There's probably some high-tech expensive shoe oil or something that only the elites know about. Bastards.) The short answer is that I think as long as you don't try new shoes in a long race, you'll probably be fine. (But then, you shouldn't be trying anything new in a long race). If it's a long training run, if the worst happens you can always just limp home. In fact, you just inspired me not to break in my next pair, just to see what happens. If I get hurt, it's your fault. Hope you feel good about that.

Race distance x 2 and at least 5 runs before using them for a race. For a marathon, get 50 miles on those shoes. For a 5k, you will need at least 10ish miles. Like Gorilla man said, can't hurt, may help. And your shoes may feel good out of the box, but it is three miles later that you should care about. Or 20 miles later, depending on the race Mikey, ever run a marathon in shoes right out of the box?

Mikey, ever run a marathon in shoes right out of the box?

Yup. I did once. I debated back and forth about whether to use a pair that had 300+ miles on them, or the ones out of the box. They were the exact same make, model, year, even color. The old Nike Skylons. I was pretty confident they would give me no problems as I was on about my 5th pair. Went with the ones out of the box and it worked out. I didn't plan it that way--I would have preferred they showed up a week early so I could have run in them a few times. But, eh. Worked fine.

Trent, I ran your marathon with shoes just out of the box. Figured new flats were better than old trainers...

Oh, sure. And how'd that work out for you? Oh. Right. Never mind.

Trent, I ran your marathon with shoes just out of the box. Figured new flats were better than old trainers...

Flats are not real shoes.