Where Do Old Running Shoes Go?

Everybody likes a new pair of shoes.

Especially a new pair of running shoes.

Once you cross the bridge into distance running, your running shoes no longer last a year. In fact, some critics say, they shouldn't.

Let's say you're running eight to ten miles a week. More than likely, in a year you're going through two pair.

The average runner can get anywhere between 250 to around 400 miles on a pair of shoes. The disparity in numbers has to do with your weight, stride, weather conditions and some other factors.

Last year I ran 600+ miles in 9 months ( The first three I was injured.).

Unfortunately, I'm a runner who gets closer to 250 rather than 400 miles on a pair of shoes. How do you know when you need to get a new pair? It varies from person to person, but for me, the warning sign is shin splints.

At the end of a moderate run, I'll notice my shins are sore. My first though is 'Shin Splints, really?' Then I start thinking of when I got the shoes. Now figuring that out can be tricky, so I save myself from guessing.

When I get a new pair, I write on the bottom of the cushion the first date I ran in the shoes. I can then look at my Nike+ to track all the miles I've run from that date until now and see where I'm at.

Without fail, I'm plus or minus 20 miles of 250 every time.

I've been using the shoes I ran the Marathon in for the fall and winter. They'll see a few short runs, but then I'll move in to a new pair of Adidas adiStar Solution's.

So what happens to a pair of shoes after they're no good to run in?

Some people turn them in to their gym shoes or for everyday walking shoes.

But if you're burning through three or four pair a year, you have a surplus of otherwise decent shoes.

I recently dropped off a few pair in a Shoes 4 Soles bin. (Soles4Souls shoe charity donates shoes to adults and children in need. www.soles4souls.org ) Even still, I have a pair at my parents house, a pair in the trunk of my car, a pair at work, and, somehow, I still have another four pair in my condo.

I guess an old running shoe surplus is a good problem to have.