After how many miles do you change your Trainers ?

I was reading on another thread the other day and a few runners were talking a bit about how long their shoes lasted before they felt they needed to change them !

One said he changed his after or before 300 miles and another said he'd had his for 2000 miles and they still felt like new.

To me personally if i changed them every 300 or less miles that would be a new pair every 5-6 weeks.

My current pair have lasted me ages and still feel great.

So how often do you change yours ?

about three. I always carry six pairs.

I think 300 miles is a good "range".  For me (I'm 48) I can tell when I need new ones if I feel particularly achy after a run in my knees/hips/ankles...so I let my body tell me.

300 is the oft-repeated limit. That might be too soon for some, too late for others. Depends on the runner, the shoes, the races....

Depends on your view about what your trainers do. Cushioning, support etc. just like tyres, wears down, depending on gait, weight, how "Heavy footed" and informed opinion suggest 300-500 miles. The actual matrial in some breaks down naturally after two years. If in doubt, ask about longevity at the point of sale. Unless it's a major commercial all sports chain they should be able to advise. Bare foot runners and minimalists may, at the extreme end, wera daps until they wear them out

My shoes last ages. In fact its the uppers that fall apart first. I rotate shoes a lot so time wise they last.

Conversely I knew a guy who was a lorry driver. Years of sitting with his feet splayed out at the pedals had given him a running style that was predominately a heavy heel-strike followed by a pronounced twisting motion.

He showed me the soles of his shoes, almost stripped flat in about 150 miles.

He needed a radial bearing built into his shoes forefoot to make those last.

my barefoot shoes have no padding to go and vibram soles, they last 1000+ miles, the uppers go before the soles. 

Peter Collins wrote (see)

300 is the oft-repeated limit. That might be too soon for some, too late

300!! You must be a shoe manufacturer's dream!!

Really it's about when you notice you are starting to get more niggly injuries. Typically for me it seems to be about 500 miles, sometimes more, sometimes less. 

I have seen many figures quoted, but the most common one by far is 500 not 300! I couldn't afford to run if I had to replace them that often, and I always buy previous models, never spending more than £50.

I do eek out as much as I can from them by buying a new pari when I get to about 400, and then alternating - I can then get a lot more miles out of them than if I was always running in ones on the way out.

Depends how good and how "heavy" your running form is. I can get 2000 miles out of a pair easily, and I don't mind paying a bit more for a quality shoe that will last a while. I'm a light midfoot-forefoot runner.

It's only cross-country spikes that I end up replacing regularly: they rarely last more that 2 seasons before they get stuck spikes/smelly/so ridgid that they're painful.

The often quoted limit is 600 miles, but it really depends on your style.

500 is the random figure I normally see, so it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy when I get over 500 miles and my trainers haven't turned into pumpkins yet.  I've got 380 post-pumpkin miles out of my current regulars and they're still going strong. 

I think it very much depends on what trainers you have and what your feet are used to.  I'm sure people can easily convince themselves that such-and-such a niggle is down to their trainers having 512 miles in them and that they wouldn't have got injured if they only had 472 miles in them, when the truth may have more to do with the person's biomechanics or whether they'd recovered properly from their last hard effort, or not stretched properly whilst their calves got continually tighter.  On the other hand if your feet are used to a certain level of cushioning / support / whatever it might just feel more comfortable to renew your shoes every so often.

I use different shoes for outdoor and treadmill, outdoor I reckon I do feel problems when they get 400+ miles, it could be in my head but it feels more like in my legs

It isn't just the tread but the compression effect on the soles that wears out.

On the treadmill they seem to last forever and I just buy a pair when I think I should, even if they don't feel any different.  I think you could wear pumps on a treadmill and even better because you're inside wouldn't need to use Meltonian White to keep them clean

For financial reasons, I never used to bother with changing my shoes immediately after 500 miles, and often change them because the upper is well worn out with holes because of my big bunion-like toes!

Recently I bought a new pair and was alternating with the old holey pair in time to wear the new shoes for a half marathon. Was wearing the new pair solely for a couple of months before the race. After the race, I decided to go back to my old pair, and after 3 consecutive short runs, I started with knee pain that didn't go away after a week which was unusual for me. Thought I had to give it running for good as my knees have had it! However, the old shoes had clocked 497 miles, and I blamed the shoes, in the bin they went!

Thankfully, knee has fully recovered, and I'm now watching my shoe mileage very carefully, and in the midst of looking for another pair!

My last shoes were basic Asics 1160s.  I have a pretty neutral gait and need scant support.  I must have put well over 1000 miles on them before I started to feel some soreness in my knee and decided that I might change them incase it was the shoes causing it.  The shoes themselves were still in reasonable condition with maybe 100-200 more miles in them.

I've been amazed, having returned to pretty serious running this year with the chnge in shoes since I last ran regularly. Back in the day, they still quoted the 500 mile thing, and after 500 miles my trainers really did look like they had had it - there would be holes in the uppers, and large patches of the sole would have worn away completely. My last 4 pairs (from 4 different manufacturers no less) all look amazing after 500 miles - no obvious wear on the upper, and hardly any on the sole. If they weren't filthy and stinky they could almost pass for new! Yet the midsole obviously has worn as I really do notice the niggles, and when I alternate pairs they do feel noticeably flat compared to new ones.

i don't count miles but don't get that many from them before noticing niggles.........I do wear thenm out very unevenly as i run really awkwardly..

after I syop running in them i use them ever day for normal trainer wearing which i live in every day.so get many more miles out of them walking

you allegedly get more out of them if you're a lighter runner, yet despite being sub 10 stone I don't seem to get much past 500 - 600 ish before problems arise. My last pair of wave riders and my asics gel cumulus seemed to wear out in this range. Though I had a pair of mizuno wave precision's that went past 1200 before these before giving me shin splints, so it appears to depend on the shoe as well.