The Great Running Shoe Experiment of 2017

The hardest thing that I had to come to terms with over the past year wasn't my transition from pure couch potato to running 60-80 miles per week, or that I started to go to bed before 8 PM so I could be out running before dawn.

Nope, the biggest thing for me was coming to terms with how much money I was spending on shoes.

I was putting 500+ miles/pair when I was walking (which helped me lose my first 70 pounds, which really helped me when I transitioned to running) but my first pair of serious running shoes, used exclusively for running, lasted me 290 miles.

That's $150 (there's a "members" discount at my runners store, but there's also a yearly fee) that didn't buy me a month worth of running shoes. These were Saucony ISO Hurricane 3s. It's one hell of a shoe, fantastic fit and finish, but I destroyed the outer soles to the point I didn't trust them. The uppers were in great shape.

Next were the New Balance Fresh Foam 1080 V7.  Again, a truly fantastic shoe, and I destroyed the bounce and sole in 262 miles. Uppers were absolutely pristine.

I complained to my trustworthy "advisor" at the runners store, and he told me that my problem was that I was not rotating shoes. That soft shoes take longer than 24 hours to recover.

I said sure, I would happily buy two pairs, but only of a shoe that lasts no less than 300 miles.

He sold me a pair of Brooks Glycerin 14s. I put 348 miles on them before I blew up their bounce. The soles were still in great shape, but the shoes felt like walking on bricks.

I went back to pick up two pairs, only to find out the Glycerin 14 was phased out, they didn't carry my size in the liquidation sales, so I went ahead and picked up two pairs of Glycerin 15s.

• Glycerin 15 Pair #1: 431 miles. Bounce dead, sole about 95% used. Uppers look basically new.
• Glycerin 15 Pair #2: 444.51 miles. Still enough bounce for maybe 30 minutes of running or 1+ hours walking. Uppers look almost new.

These two pairs have been retired from running duties. Pair #1 is now used as my house slippers, pair #2 is my "casual" pair for walking around.

But I got curious. What if there was something better?

So I tried the Hoka One One Bondi 5. I put 30 miles on them and returned them. The shoe simply wasn't OK For me. 

So I went ahead and went back to Brooks:

• Glycerin 15 Pair #3: 593 miles. Bounce still good for 90 minutes, sole is about 90% used. Uppers look basically new.
• Glycerin 15 Pair #4: 503 miles. Still enough bounce for at least 2+ hours of running, sole looks about 75% used. Uppers look almost new.

I was getting ready to retire pair #3, but decided to see what would happen with a 3-pair rotation. Pair #5 is now at 152 miles, they feel and look as if I just took them out of the box.

I think that the 3-pair rotation has something to do with being able to hit almost 600 miles on pair 3, and it's obvious that pair 4 is going to hit the 600 mile too.

 In terms of cost, assuming my 2017 mileage:

• One pair at a time: I would have bought about 10 pairs for the year, assuming I would get at least 350 miles per pair.
• Two pairs at a time: I would have bought about 8 pairs for the year, assuming I would get at least 430 miles per pair.
• Three pairs at a time: I would have bought about 6 pairs for the year, assuming I can still pull 600 miles per pair.

 There are of course multiple factors that will keep the math from being linear. For example, temperature, pace, weight variations, stride mechanics, surface, and God knows how many others. But it is obvious that for my running style, and when wearing soft shoes, any kind of rotation will yield better mileage than simply wearing the same pair of shoes 6-7 days a week.