Testing shoes - how long? (Read 868 times)

Boy...sometimes I have had to run 50 miles or so in a shoe before I can really tell if they are going to work for me or not. That's tricky. Obvious fit issues are usually obvious pretty quickly, but some more subtle stuff can take a bit longer to discover.

A treadmill isn't going to cut it. You probably won't need very many runs in your shoes to know whether they are all right or not, but it needs to be on varying terrain and at least with some uphill and downhill and flat. You really can't test shoes on a treadmill; there isn't enough variation and doesn't promote a completely natural running gait (you don't push yourself forward, you are carried backwards.)

I kind of echo the others. I bought a pair of Nikes once with the same deal and brought them home and ran less then 1/2 mile and could feel problems brewing --- took them straight back after maybe 4 minutes of running. My most recent pair of shoes (NB 1223) I bought but really wasnt sure about them. I ran in them for about 2 weeks and maybe 30 or 35 miles before I realized that I really liked them....they fit differently then my last shoes and I had to get used to how they felt...so it just took a few days. Even tho you may not know for sure, I would think you will have a decent idea after a few of miles because you will know how it feels....but you may not know for sure for a few days... Also - it may just be me - But I like higher stability shoes -- just because I like the feel of the extra padding........or they feel better on my feet, so when someone recommedns less stability I always get nervous.

Some (if not all) the major running shoe brands have exchange programs if the shoes don't work for you. Here is a link to Brooks': http://www.brooksrunning.com/Help/Returns+%26+Exchanges/

Same goes with running shoe stores. Maine Running Company will let you bring a pair of shoes back if they don't work after you leave, no questions asked. They'd rather have you in good shoes and become a lifetime customer than keep a one time $80-$100.

Run 500 miles in them and say they felt off * Not that I would ever do this to my store. I am truly on a runner's high today. Coupled with tiredness. Tripled with recovery liquids. Wink-wink, nudge-nudge, Bob's your uncle.

My friends from UK are shocked at how much people return here.

They take it to the opposite extreme. When I was in London in college I bought a leather jacket in Camden town. By the next day or so the lining was tearing completely out. They gave me HELL about returning it. Hello, this jacket you sold me has a MASSIVE defect!