The Running Shoe Quandary

[dannydud]

First off....dude you look like a completely different person!! Congrats on your progress and success!!

I don't think I can help you with your quandary, but I am a runner to the tune of what I will guess is roughly 20 miles/week off and on since I was about 16. I have run a couple of 10k and a half marathon or 2, although I am nowhere near that sort of training schedule now. If I didn't have kids, I would possibly have run a marathon by now. I love to run.

I have extremely flat feet, so running is an issue for me and my feet. Shoes destroy my feet and vice versa. When money was no issue for me, I went to a specialized running store. For like $40 more than what you paid, I got the best shoe that I could possibly get and it was somewhat custom fit for my specific foot and how it hits the pavement when I run.

I am telling you that because the place where I bought/buy said shoes is staffed with runners and I pretty much trust about anything they would tell me about running shoes. I was told that the most one could reasonably expect out of a pair of running shoes is 500 miles and the reality was that performance would suffer in much less than that. I didn't really do the math that you talked about in the video log, but how does your mileage add up? I would guess that anything in the 100-200 range wouldn't classify as excessive usage but anything in the high end of that or higher would be in the range where wear would certainly show. I don't think the air pockets should EVER pop in shoes, especially expensive shoes.

Since both shoes appear to have wear in the same place, I would think 2 things. Either the shoes don't fit your personal running style and how your feet hit the pavement or they are defective. I am sure you prob realize that, especially the defective part, and I tried to look up the shoe store you mentioned and couldn't even find a website, so your store may have been a specialty store. But have you tried a store like that? They ought to be able to have you run a few strides and then recommend a shoe that fits your specific stride and landing perfectly. If First Line is said type of store, then obviously you went to the best place. Next, where do you run? Treadmill? Gym on a rubberized track? On the streets? That may also contribute. What did the salesperson say about running on your specific terrain with those specific shoes?

From my experience, 90 days is not an abnormally short time to wear out a pair of shoes when running heavily. But if you are running 20 miles a week (which is sort of what I gather you are) it seems like they should last longer. I would expect them to, as it sounds like you did. I have never been able to wear Nike Air Max shoes because in general Nike shoes murder my feet, so I have no experience with them although I would like to try the 5.0's. Have you tried rotating between a couple of pairs of shoes to lessen the load on one set?

I guess if they are defective, then you now know what $169.59 of the finest Chinese 8 year old labor force is capable of.

I don't know if any of that helps, I guess it's just my $.02 or in reality prob more like $.18.

[Crumbles]

Yea, I think what I ultimately decided to do was to purchase a new pair, and then send in the old pair to Nike for an "evaluation." If they decide to send me a voucher for a new pair, then great. Those will be my next ones after these wear out.

After taking a couple of days to think about it, I figured out how the hole got there, and it was my fault.

I'm painting a room for our new baby and I have the carpet pulled up and removed from the room. I also have the pad removed that goes between the wood and the carpet. There are hundreds of little tack nails that the pad sits on top of to keep it down. I think when I was in that room painting, I must have stepped on one of those which is what caused that little hole...

I'm still a little discouraged over the fact that there is so much wear on them, but I do run a lot.

I'll let you know what Nike says when I get around to sending them in. I start my new job next week and my paycheck will be a little heftier, so I will probably wait until then to get the new pair. Meanwhile, you can hear me coming a mile away. My shoes give a whole new meaning to the Nike "swoosh."

[dannydud]

Originally Posted by Crumbles

Meanwhile, you can hear me coming a mile away. My shoes give a whole new meaning to the Nike "swoosh."

Funniest thing said on this site in a LONG time!

Keep up the good work man! If I ever make it to Atlanta, we will have to go a few miles!