When I started to think about running the Himalayan 100 back in around April i had just bought a pair of Asics 3010 gels. I paid a little more for the 3010′s, as I knew I would be putting in a lot of miles this year and the guy in the shop said that the 3010′s had a little more cushioning that my previous Asics, but they were still a good pronation trailer.
According to most shoe manufacturer’s and running magazines, you should replace your trainers every 3-400 miles, and that the mid sole which can’t be seen but ads the shock absorbency will be gone long before the tread on the bottom of your shoes. I managed to get just under 800 miles out of my Asics and if it wasn’t for having actualy wore the soles out i’d still be running in them.
So was I crazy to ignore the shoe manufactures and run twice as far in my Asics as I should have? The recent popularity of Chris McDougall’s book ‘born to run’, and the associated increase in Barefoot running, would seem to suggest the opposite.
Apparently your brain like to feel your feet landing, so if you try to protect your feet with shock absorbing trainers, your brain simply makes you slam your feet down harder to get the responses it requires. This is especially so for people like me that pronate, landing on your toes not your heals takes a lot of the impact out of landing.
These are my 5th pair of Asics in a row, i’ve been wearing them since i ran my first marathon a few years ago, and i guess i keep coming back to them because they just seem to fit my feet really well, i can wear them straight out of the box and run in them until i can’t run any further. I’m hoping my latest purchase will last me another 800 miles and i’ll not be needing to make another visit to the sports shop until next April!
As i wrote this post, I’ve been thinking about trainers and favourites. I don’t think i have a favourite pair of trainers of all time, but i certainly do remember my first pair of trainers, they were bright green Nikes i got them from school, in the late 70′s road running had not quite taken off and sports shops didn’t sell the kind of running shoes they do today, it was either football boots, spikes or tennis shoes in those days…its a very different story today.
Do you have a favourite pair of trainers, and what made/makes them special?
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Interesting. I’m slowly coming around to that way of thinking too, although I’m not sure I’m ready for barefoot.
When I first started running (only a few years ago) I’d record all my mileage for each pair of shoes in Sportstracks and change them after about 500 miles. It’s tempting to say there’s a bit of MRDA on the part of the manufacturers. Nowadays I pay no attention to the mileage in my shoes. I just replace them when they feel done.