Forums >Gears and Wears>Shoe Rotation
The shirtless wonder
The mizuno Wave Elixir's are similar to Asics DS Trainers.
I like to use Mizuno Wave Precisions (the neutral version of the Elixir). As they near their end of life I'll rotate in a fresh pair to avoid running too many miles too often on aging sneakers. I also like to rotate in Mizuno Ronins. They are what I would call a distance racing flat. They aren't as minimal as a typical racing flat but they are pretty minimal. I like to use them for long runs (sometimes) and for tempo and other speedwork.
The above is a mix of what I plan to do and what I have done in the past. If you peek at my log you'll see that I haven't been running much. Stupid injuries!
I tend to retire my sneakers after 400 miles.
Greg
run.therowes.net
If your honest-to-goodness only complaint about the shoe is how quickly it wears, then I would recommend that you not veer away from the shoe. Especially if you can both race and train in that shoe, then I think you are the luckiest man in the universe (well, almost).
I rotate through a lot of shoes. I sometimes go fairly bulky in training and fairly light in racing. I can't seem to find a good middle ground yet and I'm quite jealous that you appear to have. I know how using the same shoes can get quite boring, but at least your running isn't suffering. I'd run in the Tarthers (neutral equivalent to the DS Trainers, basically) all the time if my legs were up for it.
The mizuno Wave Elixir's are similar to Asics DS Trainers. I like to use Mizuno Wave Precisions (the neutral version of the Elixir). As they near their end of life I'll rotate in a fresh pair to avoid running too many miles too often on aging sneakers. I also like to rotate in Mizuno Ronins. They are what I would call a distance racing flat. They aren't as minimal as a typical racing flat but they are pretty minimal. I like to use them for long runs (sometimes) and for tempo and other speedwork. The above is a mix of what I plan to do and what I have done in the past. If you peek at my log you'll see that I haven't been running much. Stupid injuries! I tend to retire my sneakers after 400 miles. Greg
I'm going to take a look at the Wave Elixir today. I'll take a look at the NB 905 and Saucony Grid Tangent as well. The Elixir's have a slightly higher heel. It might get in the way since I'm a mid-foot striker.
Hope your recovery goes quick! How did you get injured?
rectumdamnnearkilledem
Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to
remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.
~ Sarah Kay
Good Bad & The Monkey
I'm running somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be beautiful. I can't wait.
Poor baby
kinda dampens my enthusiasm for your shoe-rotation plan!
Half Fanatic #846
Shoe rotation.
Crap! No wonder it wasn't working - I was rotating clockwise...
"I don't always roll a joint, but when I do, it's usually my ankle" - unk. "Frankly autocorrect, I'm getting a bit tired of your shirt". I ran half my last race on my left foot!
I'm ready to purchase a few pairs and I don't know if I should buy several different models or all the same. What do you do and why?
While I'm a fan of stick-with-what-works, I think putting my feet and legs in different working environments is good for them. Plus, I'm in motion-control shoes and trying to migrate to stability models, and using multiple pairs of the same shoe isn't going to accomplish that.
Anyway, I rotate different shoe models, with usually two or three in play at any one time. I think applying slightly different forces to my feet and lower legs (and I can feel the differences between shoes) strengthens them.
"I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."
-- Dick LeBeau
Just got a pair of Mizuno Wave Elixir 5. They feel almost like the DS Trainers. I do feel the heels a little as I plant my foot over my center of gravity. I hope they work well and last 300+ miles. Can't wait to try them Tuesday.
I also tried the NB 905 and the Saucony Grid Tangent. They felt similar to my DS Trainers as well. What sold me was the ELixir was $15 cheaper, looks cool (every shoe in this category had the same colors) and I was told they would last a little longer. $94 at the local shoe shop is not too bad. I'm sure they're cheaper at runningwarehouse.com. I'll go that route next time.
My injury was/is a stress fracture in my tibia. Stress fractures are overuse injuries so the only explanation is that I overloaded my body. The breaking point (pun intended) was when I was out of town. I ran 12 miles on concrete in old sneakers (330+ miles). The first 6 miles were downhill. The next day I did a hard interval workout on a concrete sidewalk. My shin hurt but I didn't rest it. I attempted a long run and had to abort it.
That one incident out of town isn't the cause of the injury it's just the straw that broke the runner's tibia.
This injury is why I plan to start rotating shoes towards their end of life. I suspect part of the problem was running on the old shoes without enough rest time between. I'm hoping that if I rotate in fresh shoes near the end of the life I'll avoid the overloading situation.
I hope you like the Elixirs! I wore those for a very long time before switching to Precisions. I really loved the Elixirs.
Being on one end of the shoe spectrum, I can only wear one pair of shoes at a time and therefore only need one pair. They are replaced when my feet are literally falling out, this is generally somewhere between 1000-1500miles. They never get washed, they get tied once(maybe twice) during the first couple of runs then never again.
My 2 cents is get one pair you like and spend more time worrying about running into a bear than what shoe to wear.
Dennis
For what it's worth I agree with ladnerd. I learned from science of running running shoes are almost completely a gimmick. In particular I was surprised that runners get injured as frequently on harder surfaces as on softer surfaces which implies that the cushioning in the shoes make no difference. I wonder though, what types of injuries?
The author of science of running isn't someone that follows fads. He backs stuff up with science which is why I find his arguments so convincing.
So, even though it likely won't make a difference, I plan to rotate my shoes. I can't think of any reason not to (other than the small hassle involved).
Jazz hands!
Regarding shoe rotation, its good to have different shoes to rotate because then you will have a better way to monitor when one of your shoes does need to be replaced. The logic being that you may start to notice being sore in different ways when you run with one particular pair of shoes in the rotation, but not with others, so you would then know to switch.
Also, I think its good to be able to know a couple different types of shoes that fit well in case a shoe company decides to change a shoe for the worse when they update it for the current year. Then you don't have to go out and try a bunch of shoes to find one that can take the place of your single reliable one. In manufacturing, they'd call that not being single sourced.
If you are looking for some recommendations on shoes in the Stability line, check out my picks:
Best Stability Running Shoes