How many miles should I put on a pair of shoes?

[bencrozier]

Ok, I know that there are plenty of people out there that say that a person should only put 300-500 miles on a pair of shoes, but if that is really the case, then why is Sasha running around barefoot?  Shoes aren't benefiting him at all when he runs barefoot (or in his 5 fingers shoes).  What do you think?

[Sasha Pachev]

I've put as many as 5600 miles. Matt Anderson has me beat, though with 9000 miles,  absolutely no holes, and perfectly runnable! Mine had holes under the heels in addition to where you would normally expect to see the holes, and were in almost unrunnable condition. Obviously I did run in them the day before, so they were not completely unrunnable.

My standard for a while has been wear one pair until I win another. For a while I raced Hobblecreek just for that purpose.  I even considered taking a picture of my shoes with a sign - "Will Race For Shoes!"  After getting a more reliable source of shoes my standard changed to "Until the hole is too uncomfortable" or "Until I feel the sponsor would be embarrassed to see me racing in those shoes with their jersey".

My thoughts are - if you keep changing your shoes every 500 miles you learn to run in a way that makes you injured if you take them any further. But if you start out with less cushioning you learn to run softer. So if you are currently addicted to  the 500 mile shoe change you should try taking your next pair a little further, and the next pair even further until you can run your shoes to the holes and beyond. Some barefoot running in addition could increase the time longevity of the shoe, and help develop the resiliency to take the shoes to higher mileage.

[Matthew Rowley]

Instead of using a majic number I use two pars of shoes with one shoe having about 300 less mile on them.  When the higher mileage shoe start to feel like it is breaking down "less cussion" I replace it.  It seem to be arround 600 to 700 mile for me.

[jtshad]

I don't have a specific mileage limit (the different models I run on have differing lifespans) but I go by feel of the shoe and how I feel after running in them.  The last year or so I would notice that my achilles is getting sore/tight and as soon as I change to newer shoes, the pain/issue goes away.    In terms of mileage, this has been anywhere between 400-700 miles depending on the shoes.

[Eric Day]

Ditto on last comments, although since Sasha is not human, not sure how reliable is his comment is. 

But, I put in 550 miles in a pair of Nike Vomero and then retired them, but not because of mileage or anything similar, but because the fabric on the heel of the shoe got torn up and cause awful blisters on my heel. I was sad to see them go, I was happy running on them.

The idea to have several shoes and alternate them is the best idea. If you feel that with a particular pair you have more pains, then you should keep a close watch on it and maybe retire them...

[Dallen]

I rotate a bunch of pairs of shoes. Usually get between 500 and 1000 miles before they start wearing out.

[bencrozier]

I just bought a pair of new Adidas Boston shoes to replace my old ones (I put 500 miles on them).  I noticed a huge difference in the cushioning in the new ones versus the old ones and thought to myself, "With all the beating that these shoes took, I sure am glad it was taken out on these shoes and not on my body and joints."

Running is a very natural thing for the human body, yet when I consider the fact that I do most of my running on pavement I have to acknowledge that our ancestors didn't run on pavement and probably didn't run 60 to 100 miles a week (At least during the last couple thousand years. Going back a few thousand years ago and in hunter-gatherer societies I bet they did plenty of running ).  Obviously the body regenerates itself rather quickly, but anything that we can do to increase recovery time will allow us to work even harder in our workouts and, in turn, increase our speed.  I understand that plenty of elite runners do a large portion of their training sessions on forest trails (places like Eugene, OR or Boulder, CO) in order to reduce the wear and tear on their bodies.  This makes sense to me as I realize that I could train a whole lot more if I could reduce the pounding on my legs.

Running barefoot seems like a very natural and perhaps good thing to do if you are up for it like Sasha, but "Ben said unto all the people, . . . choose you this day how ye will run; . . . but as for me and my house, we will run with shoes" (Ben 24:2, 15).

[Matthew Rowley]

I love the quot about running with shoes.  I live by the same idea.

[ChromeDome Steve]

My wife and I just had a discussion about this last night...

She's been a runner for far longer than me, and always felt somewhat like she was being "scammed" into buying shoes too often (aka: following the 300-500 mile rule, etc.) She's been fortunate never to be injury prone or anything, and has always been one to hang on to old running shoes because she feels they're not quite worn out yet.

Me, I have always noticed the "cushionly feel" of brand new shoes, and it was easy to tell when my shoes were "worn out" because I would get sore feet, etc. But now I realize that I was a serious "heel striker". It's no wonder my feet got sore. Also my shoes always showed a ton of wear on the outsides of the heels where I scuffed/struck the ground all the time. The base layer would wear through and sometimes expose the foam underneath.

So, now I'm doing barefoot stuff, and got some VFFs, and I'm trying to practice a better running form. My gait is entirely different and so is my foot strike, which is a huge adjustment. I have a lot of weird soreness going on now, but I think it will help my progress overall. Surprisingly, I am now wishing my Asics trainers were lighter and more flexible, with a lower heel. I think later this week I'm going to do a long run in my old Adidas shoes to see how they work.

I am absolutely shocked at how "soft" it feels to run barefoot on hard cement. It is my favorite surface to run on lately, in fact. People who argue that shoes are "cushioning" you from impact on man-made surfaces should give this a try. My feet hurt a lot more after my 10 mile run in shoes this week than after my 5 miles yesterday in VFF (3) and BF (2). I think that's because I am not controlling my footfalls as well in shoes (the padding masks the sensation of touching the ground, delaying muscle reaction). I think elite runners have always raced in minimal shoes/flats because of this weight+response factor?

[Sasha Pachev]

Steve - amen to that!

[Maurine Lee]

I have changed my mind this past year about how long my shoes can last.  I still think I will run marathons and ultra marathons in shoes with less than 400 miles, but think that for training runs of under 10 miles that our shoes and bodies can handle lots of additional mileage.

There is a definite difference when running in VFF's as the body learns to adapt to not having cushioning available.  The only run I have ever truly missed cushioning was a downhill run on a very rocky trail and that run was absolutely miserable because my feet took a pounding.  I can only imagine how much worse that would have been without months of running in VFF's before then to condition my feet. (On the bright side - I felt like my feet got very well massaged during the run).