Uffda
When I feel it. If it's 800 miles, fine. If it's 300, ok (that stinks). I've almost gone 1000 miles on a shoe and I've all but retired one at 200 miles.
- Andrew
Agreed. I used to try to track miles years ago, but I was too lazy and didn't seem to matter anyway. Shoe rotation is a given though.
I don't rely on a number to drive retirement, but the condition of the shoe and body feedback. Just two days ago my calves were barking (mooing?) for no good reason, so I took a URD and decommissioned a pair that was probably overdue. LR today in their successors felt 100%.
marathon pr - 3:16
Drink up moho's!!
Depends on the shoe and if I am rotating. Many years ago I could get about 300 or so miles per pair without rotation. Now with rotation I can get 600+ miles per pair. I am slow to totally retire a shoe though as well. When it doesn't feel right it gets tossed in the closet and I grab a different pair. Eventually after a few weeks I will try the suspect shoe again and see how it feels. Usually its fine which tells me its less about the shoe and more about how you feel in them.
My treads are nearly bald when I finally retire them.
I'm a fan of rotating shoes. I do think it extends the life but also believe that it is o.k. to have shoes that may differ slightly in some ways. For instance I have shoes that range from 4mm to 10mm drop, and shoes that are 6.5, 9 and almost 12 ozs right now. What I wear depends on the the plan for that day's run. I believe, for me, it is o.k. to have a little bit of variety like that. I have had shoes that lasted close to 1000 miles before I recycled them and some that crapped out at 300.
Oh yeah. My name is Fuzzy and I'm a shoe whore.
I retire them when they don't feel right any more. That may be an absolute or compared to a new pair of same model.
Right now, I'm running almost exclusively in Saucony Xodus 3 and have almost 600mi on my oldest pair, about 300mi plus/minus on two other pairs. All 3 are in rotation, and my oldest also gets used as an everyday shoe. There is only minor wear on the soles and slight wear on the uppers, except where a branch skewered the oldest pair in the first 50 miles. Duct tape and elmer's glue works for that.
I just popped a new pair out a couple days ago to compare feel and general wear. Yea, my uppers in winter don't show much wear. (after a dusty or muddy summer run, they look a bit more worn) And the soles still have the texture on the lugs that are almost worn off the other shoes. Lugs themselves are in good shape. The one thing that caught my attention is that they need to be broken in to feel as comfortable as the older shoes.
A year or so ago when I couldn't find any shoes that worked well for me, I think I rotated about 5 pairs of different brands and models - each one having something different uncomfortable about them. None of those shoes ever got the mileage to wear out.
Historically, shoes that work for me generally last 500-600 miles. Others that probably weren't really right to start with got more like 200-300mi. It's the support that usually wears out, not the soles.
Almost since I started running, I've had at least 2 pairs of shoes in rotation and never wear the same pair 2 days in a row, unless I forgot which I wore.
Will run for scenery.
Back in the 1970's (high school) I had a pair of Nike waffle trainers (yellow shoe, blue swoosh; those were pretty outrageous colors at the time....) I ran for years in those shoes. The waffle soles were worn smooth, the sides blew out. For a while I could slip my hand through the shoe between my foot and the sole. I retired them when the sole finally broke loose from the front of the shoe.
Stupid feet!
Stupid elbow!
Mmmmm...beer
I go by how my feet and knees feel, when the balls of my feet are sore after a run (I'm a solid forefoot striker), or my knees are feeling a lil sore, then it's time for new shoes. That's been around 400 miles for my last few pairs, but I have two pair of Kinvaras that are both over 400 miles and still feel great, so I'll keep using 'em.
-Dave
My running blog
Goals | sub-18 5k | sub-3 marathon 2:56:46!!
From the Internet.
This is something that's been bugging me for a while! I'm not petite, but I'm also not by any means a heavier runner (5'5/~130 lbs) and my previous favoritest-shoes-ever (Mizuno Elixirs) were retired to treadmill status after only ~200 miles. That seems a little early, no? I can't wear them on the road at all anymore, I totally feel it and regret it a few hours later the couple times I've tried (just generally achy in the legs afterward).
Just about to hit 200 in my DS Trainers now and I have a brand-new pair of the exact same shoe waiting in the wings that I'll start rotating in soon for comparison. The pair I'm running in still feels fine though, no unusual aches and pains after wearing them. I'll be curious to see how many miles I can get out of them.
This is my dream. I will make my shoes go down like this, too.
I put 366 miles in my most recent pair, but probably could have called it quits at around 300 judging by how the new pair feel. Honestly though, I had gotten so used to them that I did not really notice anything different until I ran in the new pair.
I suspect that unless they are falling apart, most shoes feel just fine unless you have a fresh pair to compare them to.
This is something that's been bugging me for a while! I'm not petite, but I'm also not by any means a heavier runner (5'5/~130 lbs) and my previous favoritest-shoes-ever (Mizuno Elixirs) were retired to treadmill status after only ~200 miles. That seems a little early, no? I can't wear them on the road at all anymore, I totally feel it and regret it a few hours later the couple times I've tried (just generally achy in the legs afterward). Just about to hit 200 in my DS Trainers now and I have a brand-new pair of the exact same shoe waiting in the wings that I'll start rotating in soon for comparison. The pair I'm running in still feels fine though, no unusual aches and pains after wearing them. I'll be curious to see how many miles I can get out of them.
I would be crying if I had to replace shoes every 200 miles.
Dave
I put 366 miles in my most recent pair, but probably could have called it quits at around 300 judging by how the new pair feel. Honestly though, I had gotten so used to them that I did not really notice anything different until I ran in the new pair. I suspect that unless they are falling apart, most shoes feel just fine unless you have a fresh pair to compare them to.
That was the weird thing with the Elixirs - one week they were fine, the next week my legs were like "yeah, don't make us wear these again bro". I picked up the DS Trainers right after that.
Too bad they do not come with a pop-up thingy like when a turkey is done.
Okay I got a little nostalgic and googled them. They were Nike LDVs. I loved those shoes. To death.
I never track miles on shoes, just never had time for that and too many shoes.
Always gone by feel and wear patterns. If my legs feel crampy or achy after wearing a certain
Pair a few times or my left knee feels sore I know its time to retire or just wear for track or short runs.