The Shoe Mileage Debate (Read 1424 times)

My girlfriend can somehow get away with 800-1000 miles on a pair of shoes... now that is crazy. I also had a friend who was really into the minimalist training stuff and he would put 1500 miles on a pair of flats before replacing them... that's crazy too.

And I'm thinking that short stride = more steps = faster shoe wear, perhaps? I have a pathetically short stride (short legs, too), so I'm assuming I make a lot more foot plants/mile than someone with longer legs and a longer stride. I'm not particularly light on my feet, either...no delicate, feminine flower, here.

I'm sure your gait and several other factors play a part here. Those of us who are lucky enough to have a neutral foot probably get more miles out of a pair of shoes than someone who is a wicked pronator. And I'm sure weight makes a big difference too. And your injury history probably makes a difference. I dunno. quote> I would say you are absolutely correct. As a 'wicked pronator', I change shoes between 350-400 miles. This from an empirical study of one runner over a lot of years/miles. Beyond that distance, for me, the shoes have broken down to the point that I begin to feel the effects in my feet and knees. Psychosomatic? Maybe. But I'm not willing to risk injury to find out. And, there is some debate as to whether Phidippides really died at the end of his run. I tend to think he just hit the wall--which a lot of runners do at about mile 21--really hard.

The distance from the Marathon Plains to the Parthenon is 21 miles. Somewhere along the way (London Olympics, to be precise), the distance got extended.