Shoes, Marvelous Shoes!

How often does a runner need new shoes?  Is there any among us who doesn’t love to run off to the store for a little shoe shopping?  (If so, let them go running elsewhere while the rest of us will discuss our shoes.)

I love good running shoes.  I like them light-weight with a little extra room in the toe box, personally.  They should also have “happy colors” to match my mood when I’m putting them on.  If they meet those demands, I’ll plunk down my plastic fast and race out of the store to try them on the road.

But the bigger problem for me seems to be deciding when my shoes need replacing.  How long your running shoes will last depends on a number of different factors.

There are a few general rules of thumb for how long a pair of running shoes will last but many runners will find themselves in need of a new pair of running shoes either before these generally accepted rules of thumb while other runners may find they do not need to purchase a new pair of running shoes as often as other runners. Let’s focus a moment on some of the commonly accepted criteria for purchasing new running shoes and examine factors which may contribute to the need to purchase running shoes either more frequently or less frequently.

The generally accepted consensus is runners need a new pair of running shoes every 300-500 miles. This means a runner who has purchased a new pair of running shoes recently will require a new pair after she has logged approximately 300-500 miles on his running shoes. This distance is best gauged by keeping an accurate training log which includes a section for accumulated mileage. The runner may record the amount she has run each day but should also keep a running total of the total distance she has run since she purchased a new pair of running shoes. This will make it easy to see when the runner is approaching the threshold of the range of 300-500 miles which typically signifies the need for a new pair of running shoes.

Time is another indicator which many runners use for determining when they need a new pair of running shoes. The general consensus here is running shoes should be replaced every six months. However, this is generally considered to be just a rule of thumb and some runners may find themselves replacing their running shoes every four months while others may find they only need to replace their running shoes every eight months.

Runners who are significantly heavier than the average runner may find the increased weight causes them to need new running shoes more often than their lighter counterparts. Similarly, runners who typically strike the ground harder than most runners may also find they need to replace their running shoes more often than most runners.

So in the end, we have to gauge for ourselves on when our shoes need replacing.  But do pay attention because the feet damaged by neglect of shoes could be your own.  Have a great weekend!