Saturday, January 02, 2010
How Often Should I Replace My Running Shoes?
Running shoes should be replaced between roughly 350-500 miles. To do so any less often can be an invitation for injury.
I've run long enough to have a general "feel" for when my shoes need replaced. Typically, I start to feel a nagging pain somewhere that seems completely unrelated. Like--in my calves or knees or my back. Anxiety sets in, and I will obsess that I have a running injury and I'll never be able to run again. I start to imagine worse case scenarios...like a life without running.
Then I buy shoes. And I'm fine. Normally, this is how I know it's about time to replace them, and if I look at my training log, I'm always in that 350-500 miles range.
When training for a marathon, I reward myself with a new pair of running shoes about a month before the event. It's usually time for new shoes anyway based on the mileage guidelines, and there is simply nothing like a new pair of shoes during that grueling end stage of the training program! It's also important to allow enough time to train at least one long run in the new shoes before a marathon. One important rule of marathon training is to never try/wear anything new on the day of the event. This includes a new vitamin drink, a new breakfast routine, new running clothes, or even brand new shoes. You never know. Wouldn't it be the worst luck to find out that your favorite brand of running shoe had a little something wrong with it at your race event? Or, more likely, you blister at mile ten because you didn't allow enough time to break them in. It's just one of those rules. Try the shoes out on a few runs before your race.
The Carlsbad Marathon is in less than a month. I'm getting my new shoes ready to go!
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