shoe life span

what model asics? my GT2100s hold up decently but perhaps due to my particular biomechanics, some of the mesh in the upper starts to come apart somewhere past 500. They seem to lose their best cusioning by 400 but are still useable as long as I don't alternate them with new shoes (since then I notice a difference and the old ones no longer satisfy)

greeeeee wrote:

I read somewhere that shoes lose 30-50% of their shock absorbing ability after about 250 miles? What? So at recommended mileage for an athlete who would like to run well, thats about 3 and a half weeks or less?

So what is the real story, how long could a pair of good asics shoes last? I have a pair of asics Ive done about 1450 miles in, and they look fine. Ive ordered a new pair anyway, I'd only left it that long because I didnt realise how old they were, I was waiting for 'visible' signs of aging, or for them to fall apart a bit more than they have, but they are still firm. The soles have wear, but nothing drastic.

Anyway, what kinda mileage do the rest of you get out of your shoes?

Everybody has thier own needs when it comes to footwear, be it cushioning, support, motion control, etc... Most good running shoes will hold up really well to exterior wear and tear and provide basic protection to the foot for many hundreds of miles -- or thousands of miles, if you're a light-weight runner with a good stride and no need for cushioning. For me, I can go about 500 miles before my shoes go 'flat', and they become unbearable for longer runs (despite the fact that they still look perfectly fine from the outside and the sole has very little wear). When this happens, I can feel a distinct soreness in my feet after runs and it's like night and day when I get a new pair of shoes.

they were asics gel reactor, I had to look that up :) dont know if theyre called that in the US. The firmness of the uppers is still good, theres wear on the soles and slight coming apart in the uppers, but only from a cosmetic point of view, they still hold my foot quite firmly. Ive just bought some kayano VII 's, hope theyre not too disimilar biomechanically. Do you think the fact that I wash them rarely has anything to do with lifespan, I think in 1 and a half years I've washed them properly about 5 times, most other times just brushed the dirt off, or should i say, wacked them against a wall.

thats a good point, my shoes look fine more or less, but there have been slight pains in my left shin, like mini shin splints, which havent gotten worse, so I guess thats the cushioning 'gone', though I've not noticed it. But I guess I will notice the difference with the new shoes. I am light, although I run with a very hard heel strike, although most of my training is at steady/slow pace so not stretching the legs and thus slightly less hill strike than in races. I weigh about 140 pounds in a 5'4 build so not a lot lighter than some runners relative to height. Guess Ive been lucky, but will watch the shoe mileage and listen to the legs. Injury free for a year though, and my shoes were 1500km newer then. Go figure :)