Out with the Old

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 Well, my Saucony Triumph 20 (sunrise) shoes hit 500 miles. Yes, I keep track of the miles on my shoes. Strava makes it easy, so don't think the tracking is taking up too much space in my brain. 

Shoe companies recommend 300–500 miles on a pair of shoes. Although some may think this is a marketing gimmick, I am sure they are sincere about this recommendation. If they did start making shoes that lasted forever, I think I'd still be hankering for a change of pace (dad joke!) anyway. 

When I started running back in December 2022 part of the reason I kept going was because I had a dedicated pair of shoes that I just paid for, and I wanted to get the most out of them. I didn't know what I was doing back then, and just found a cheap pair of shoes (at least relative to other pairs). At $60 they still felt like a fortune. If you can believe it, I am fairly fugal. Now more than 5000 miles into my running adventures I'm a bit more willing to spend more, but still look for a good bargain through online sales sites. 

While some people like wacky colors in their shoes, I tend to think of the long lifeline of the shoe. Once it is retired from running, it will likely become an everyday wear shoe that should fit in with jeans and casual kakis just as much as they fit in with a tank top and shorts. This is less the case with race day shoes than everyday miles shoes, but something to think about.

So the running shoe becomes the everyday shoe, and the everyday shoe retires to be the grass cutting shoe or beach shoe as it continues to deteriorate. This system maximizes the shoe "investment" as I like to say and a word that will cause others to roll their eyes 









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