Is It Worth Putting Extra Miles on Worn Shoes?



Week 1 of Marathon Training in the Books

I’m training for the Mountains 2 Beach Marathon on May 21, 2023. I am using the Hal Higdon Advanced 1 Marathon Training plan, which started on January 16. I plan to give a weekly update and share what I have learned.

The marathon plan started on Monday with a recovery run; however, my lesson from this week comes from the base training I did the two weeks prior. Because of the rain, I was wearing my oldest pair of shoes. I knew I was running on borrowed time, but the shoes still felt good. I figured getting the old pair wet rather than a newer one was better. I ran on Tuesday, January 10 and felt good in the shoes. The following day, the shoes turned into torture devices halfway through the run. The cushioning appeared to disappear, and my heels started to hurt immensely.

On Monday’s recovery run, I had my epiphany. It wasn’t worth trying to get extra miles on my shoes. I track my shoes, and typically I can get at least 400 miles per pair. I look for deals on my shoes, and often I will buy last season’s shoes for about $85. My shoes failed at 460 miles; using a basis of 400 miles, I eked an extra 15% of use out of my shoes. Fifteen percent of my average shoe purchase price is $12.75. My extra 60 miles saved me $12.75; however, it cost me three missed runs and about 17 miles of volume, which is $4.25 per run.  It was not worth it.

I learned two things this week. It’s not worth trying to get another few miles on a pair of shoes. If I am in pain and still in pain a mile later, I need to throw in the towel.

Have you ever run on worn-out shoes? Comment below with your experience.


P.S. My local Nike Factory Store recycles any brand of athletic sneakers. I recycle all of my family's athletic sneakers there. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I Received a Job Offer!

Image
This is my 100th blog post. I have gone from a student who did not like to write in elementary school, middle school, high school, and undergraduate school, to a graduate student who tolerated writing a thesis, to a principal who needed to write at least once a week, to someone who writes when he has something to say for fun. I started this blog to share what I have learned and to demonstrate to a future employer that I know how to communicate. I guess it’s appropriate that my 100th article is job-related. I was offered a job! It was a remote job with flexible hours and a six-figure salary in instructional design. Unfortunately, it was a scam. Something felt off from the initial email, but given how AI is used these days, I chalked it up to someone using AI poorly to communicate with potential applicants. Below, I will share the red flags I saw and explain how the scam works so you can protect yourself and your friends and family. Something Was off
Read more

“Let’s go!” vs. “No way!”

Image
I didn’t plan well for my planned pace run. I have learned I am a better runner when training for a race or time trial because I have a plan. Since recovering from injury, I have been running every other day, so 3 to 4 times per week, which roughly constitutes a plan. Last week, I wanted to transition back to running 5 to 6 days a week. I had the following plan in mind. Sun: Recovery Mon: Base Tue: Recovery Wed: Speed Thu: Rest Fri: Pace Sat: Long However, I wasn’t able to get my run in on Wednesday. At the time, I thought it was okay and could flip-flop it with my Thursday rest day. However, on Thursday, I was extremely busy with housework and could not pull myself away for a run. When Friday came, I thought I was ready for a pace run. I figured I hadn’t run for two days; my body must be prepared. I did not account for the fact that I was under-fueled on Thursday and Friday. I failed to comprehend that the housework I did on Thursday was a full-body workout. Friday was also one of the
Read more

Don’t Let Strava Steal Your Low Heart Rate Training Mojo

Image
This is a friendly reminder that what you value might differ from Strava. I have been on the low heart rate bandwagon for a while. By keeping my heart rate low for 80% of my runs, I can develop my aerobic system and allow my body to do more at a lower heart rate. For example, last week, I had my best base run of 2024. I ran 5.2 miles and averaged 10:24/mi. My heart rate average was 138 BPM, and I spent 99% of my time in Z2 or lower. I was stoked to see these statistics at levels I had not seen since training for my last marathon. After I loaded the run into Strava, I scrolled down to the section that indicates when your fitness has increased. I looked, but this run did not trigger the criteria for Strava to show that I improved my fitness. Then, I looked at the relative effort section, and Strava reported that my effort was lighter than my three-week average. I ran further and faster with a lower heart rate, and my effort was lighter; what? I felt great, as if I had improved! I thought
Read more