How many miles do you put on your shoes before you change them out?

no f*cking clue wrote:

I'm surprised so many people can quote numbers. Personally I have absolutely no clue. I usually have between three and five pairs that I rotate between or use for different purposes and ain't nobody got time to track that sh*t.

Garmin app was updated awhile back and it now makes it very easy to track shoes & miles. You can set a default pair and edit runs to change to different pair. I’m tracking 5 pairs pretty easily right now. My Garmin 620 watch syncs seemlessly via wi-fi too.

I rotate three or four pairs of shoes for regular training runs and I don't keep track of mileage on specific pairs of shoes. However, I do know how often I buy new shoes and how many miles I run per month. On average, I get something like 1000 miles on a pair of shoes, running mostly on asphalt with a little dirt. It probably helps that I am fairly light and have big feet for my size (117 pounds, women's size 9). I'm a forefoot striker and my shoes wear fastest under the ball of the foot and under the big toe. I retire them as soon as there is significant wear in those two places, even though the shoes still otherwise look and feel fine.

Depends on the shoe.

I weigh 165 and mid/forefoot strike. I also run lots of trails with hills, which I find is harder on shoes than flat roads.

The first thing to deteriorate is usually forefoot midsole compression resulting in loss of cushioning/protection.

The forefoot is dead/compressed at ~300-600 miles or less in regular EVA midsoles.

Lunarlon 600+ miles

Shoes with a forefoot rock plate, full board last, and/or Nike air bag in the forefoot its 800-1200+ miles.

Polyurethane midsole, or something like most recent Pearl Izumi midsoles would last 2000-3000+ miles. There are some forefoot midsoles that never compress and I retire shoes with that type of midsole when the upper or outersole becomes too worn.

Once the above mileages are reached, I might run easy workouts, shorter runs (~4-5) miles in them for another 100+ miles or so, but want a better newer shoe for my harder/longer runs

I extensively use shoe goo on outsoles to extend the life of my shoes. Sometimes I start putting it on to prevent extra outersole wear after 25 miles or so.

You can get more miles out of your shoes than normal by running on soft surfaces (grass, sand and dirt are best), rotating 2-3 pairs of shoes; using shoe goo and washing uppers if they get too dirty.

I used to have some minimal shoe company sponsorship and would obtain 9 pairs of free shoes a year from them. They recommended replacing their shoes every 300 miles, and I found the midsoles in their shoes would die after 300 miles or so. Since I was running over 4000 miles a year, I would always ask them what I was supposed to wear for the additional 1300+ miles each year (they never provided an answer...)

500 ish miles per pair

what you are missing wrote:

About 500 in the Asics 2000 series. I used to blow through the upper mesh but now (I think asics improved that part) I tend to wear through until there is little tread left.

For those who wear shoes to 2000 miles, do you have any tread left?

Below are a couple pictures of the bottoms of my most worn shoes (probably 2500ish miles), Pegasus 30s. The outside heel and inside toe are clearly more worn than the rest. The shoes definitely feel less cushioned than they did when they were new, but I actually don't mind less cushioning, I feel like it gets in the way sometimes.

I wear them until my Fred Flinstonesque quadruple E's tear the uppers, usually at around 1,250 miles.

I typically get between 1,000 and 1,250 on a pair. The big toenail goes thru the top (yes I trim my nails), or the outer upper heel (maybe an inch above the bottom of my heel) wears thru, but I still wear them. The tread is typically ok but usually a bit warn. I do about 50-50 between concrete and trails. The real indicator is when I start to get niggles in my feet or my right hip - then I know I'm due for a change.

I also alternate between two pairs of shoes, not bought at the same so one pair is better than the other, I use the better pair for long runs.

Always Asics Gel Nimbus, been wearing them steadily for about 8 or 9 years now. I like that they haven't made major changes to the design, although I freaked about a year or so ago when they changed the upper a bit. I'm a neutral runner and weigh about 150 lbs.

Well if he is young and broke. You can go 800 to 1000.

If he is older and wants to save the legs and can afford to spend $80 bucks once in a while 400-500.

Now that I'm 30 and don't do that much milage, I tend to go for the 400.

I feel after 30 you can afford to "splurge" on running shoes. We runners don't have much expenses otherwise.

Surprised buy guys on here going way over 1000. Why risk injury?

I run mainly in Nike Pegasus and replace them after around 1000km.

They are usually still in pretty good condition and sometimes I'll save up 3-4 used pairs and sell them for $30 or so. I tend to find my shins start to develop niggles and a few unwanted pains after 1000km, so best to just get a new pair.

I'm not a big unit either, 172cm and about 58kg. Recent Marathon time of 2.27

Pegasus (my daily workhorse): 400 miles

Trail shoes: 500-700 miles

flats: 250 - 300

I'll also have 2 active pairs of Pegasus going at any given time, so I'll alternate days.

I used to put a lot more on my shoes, but since running is my favorite activity, I can afford it, and being injured really makes me unhappy, I won't run on moderately worn out shoes anymore.

no f*cking clue wrote:

I'm surprised so many people can quote numbers. Personally I have absolutely no clue. I usually have between three and five pairs that I rotate between or use for different purposes and ain't nobody got time to track that sh*t.

I wear the shoes until either they're ripped up or I notice that they no longer feel right. Once the foam compresses too much, usually I'll notice it as a bit of soreness in my forefoot after a run. I don't think there's any reason to pay attention to actual miles because actual wear is going to depend on a huge number of other factors and probably a bunch of subjective stuff.

I didn't either until I started using a GPS & tracking app. Although, I don't instantly toss shoes aside when it hits a certain number, but do start to feel them losing some cushion or responsiveness at a consistent mileage.

FormerTree wrote:

Pegasus (my daily workhorse): 400 miles

Trail shoes: 500-700 miles

flats: 250 - 300 ☞ some not all

I'll also have 2 active pairs of Pegasus going at any given time, so I'll alternate days.

I used to put a lot more on my shoes, but since running is my favorite activity, I can afford it, and being injured really makes me unhappy, I won't run on moderately worn out shoes anymore.

⤴Yeah it is best to have plenty of newish shoes, it helps for fitness.

This is amazing. Thanks for sharing some solid data.

I can't believe there's people on here who get 2000 miles out of their shoes. I used to get a 1000 a pair as a teenager. I'm 46 now and run about 2000 miles a year, and have to replace my shoes every 300 miles or things start to hurt. Most people I know change out every 500 miles. I have 70,000 miles on my old legs so that plays a role for sure, but I also run lots of hard hills.

I'm 138, forefoot strike, run about 1,000 miles/year and have 40+ years of running. My feet have so many chronic injuries that I'm very cautious about injuries caused by worn shoes. I'll routinely take 2-3 pair when I go to the track just in case something twinges and I can fix it by changing shoes. I seldom wear a shoe longer than 300-400 miles. The risk of injury (for me) is just too great.

I think as runners get older, they need more cushion... hence the rise in popularity of the Hokas. I have maybe 300 miles on my Hoka Clayton and they seem to have some miles left. If I feel a twinge that in my experience is shoe related, I'll immediately retire the shoe. I keep 2-3 pair of new shoes in the box ready to go when this happens... so immediate means just that. I stop running, walk back, and those shoes are done.

I notice that the cushioning of some shoes wear out in the middle of the ball of foot first and that causes the foot to sink more in the middle of the ball of foot on impact. When I notice this, it's time for a new pair of shoes.

I'm participating in a NB research study next week on the effects of cushioning on running economy. The test involves eleven 7-minute runs in different NB shoes. If I learn anything interesting in the study, I'll pass it on.

10 miles for every millimeter of stack height. That's it.

older, more susceptible to aches/pains due to shoes, 99% on the roads.

300 minimum (pegasus, racing shoes). 400-450 is typical for my go-to shoes (vomero, clifton, supernova). may be able to take the supernovas up to 500+ if they aren't hazmat by then with my nasty foot odor.

The Barnacle wrote:

andicamp wrote:

I usually go 400-500 miles per pair.

My trainers are Mizuno Wave Riders, and while they are long-time favorites, I find that they don't last as long as some others I tried in the past.

Also, if you care about how much you spend on running shoes, but are still paying $100+ per pair, maybe you should ask yourself how important it is to have the latest colors. Seriously, it's not that hard to find cheaper shoes. When the new models come out, the old ones go on sale. In November or December, after the new Wave Riders come out, I buy a year's worth of the old ones, typically at $50-$60 a pair.

I also wear Wave Riders. I replace mine when they start to feel like they've lost something, which usually is around 450-500 miles.

One thing I love about them is that I don't have to break them in at all.

On the other hand, I notice that "lost something" feeling usually within 4-6 weeks. I use Superfeet in my shoes, though, so I've never had any problems wearing my Wave Riders another month or so after that first worn-out feeling.

RunCzar wrote:

Surprised buy guys on here going way over 1000. Why risk injury?

Does your personal experience tell you that you're risking injury by putting a lot of miles on a pair of shoes? Or is it Runners World/shoe companies/shoe stores?

I certainly would replace my shoes more often if I thought it had anything to do with my likelihood of injury. The only thing I think matters (which research has finally started to support) is having a rotation of shoes so that your stride varies slightly from day to do.