Wear and Tear

Is it time for you to get a new pair of shoes?  One way to find out is from the wear and tear on a shoe.  The wear and tear can tell us a lot about how you run and it can tell you if your shoes are worn out or not.  There are many factors that help determine the shoe.  Shoe life depends on the surface you run on, your size and weight, running speed, biomechanics, weather conditions, and even the durability of the model of the shoe; which consist of the material and construction of the shoe.  Is the runner a heavy heel striker?  Do they drag their feet or scuffle during their run?

Let's take a look at the bottom of your shoe.  Turn your running shoe over.  You can first start to tell the wear of the shoe by the outside of the shoe before the midsole.  But, the midsole usually wears out first.  The impact of the run will wear down the cushioning of the shoe no matter if you are running on a treadmill, trail, or road.  The impact is the same with each stride you take.

Mizunousa blog says it best:  "To determine if the midsole is worn out, flip the shoe over and press a thumb on the outsole and upward to the midsole. It should be relatively easy to see the midsole compress into the compression lines. But as the midsole breaks down with wear, the midsole will compress less into these compression lines with the same amount of pressure. When the midsole shows distinctive compression lines, it appears brittle which is indicative that the midsole is shot to the point where there’s not much cushioning left. Time to buy another pair.  Two other ways to determine shoe life are even simpler. All of a sudden, a normal run results in post run aches or soreness that ordinarily wouldn’t be present. Also, if the shoe feels much firmer than it did a month ago, that’s a sure sign it’s losing its ability to cushion".  

• http://www.mizunousa.com/running/blog/running-shoe-durability-how-many-miles-can-you-expect-and-how-to-extend-the-life-of-your-running-shoes/

Luckily there are many different ways to extend the life of a shoe.  A shoe life (depending on the runner and how much you run) can last between 350-500 miles.  Just remember that running shoes are meant for running.  If you are wearing them to go work out at the gym, run errands, playing basketball, soccer, or any other sport in them will only run down your shoes faster.  Another idea is to rotate your running shoes, especially if you are running more than 3x/week.  If you can extend the life of the shoe or know when it's time to get a new running shoe you will save your body from any injury and your shoes will last longer.

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