Rotate Your Shoes

It may seem excessive, but once you find a shoe you like, buy a second pair right away. Rotating between two pairs of shoes not only ensures that you have backup of a shoe you like, but it’s better for your feet and legs not to wear the same shoes for running day in and day out for several months. When you first put on a new pair of shoes, write the date on the bottom, so you know when you started wearing them. After about a month or so of regular wear, start breaking in a second pair (“pair B”) on shorter weekday runs (and write the date on that pair, too) and wear the older pair for long runs. Once “pair A” has close to 200 miles on it, or if you feel that the cushioning or stability is deteriorating, switch and use pair A for weekday short runs again, and move pair B to the long weekend training runs. Retire your shoes when they have 350-500 miles on them. Once you have retired pair A, it’s time to purchase another pair, and repeat the rotation pattern. Even if they don’t look worn out, the midsole support and cushioning will have broken down by then, and the shoes won’t be protecting your feet.