If Your Shoes Don't Have At Least 2,000 Miles On Them, You Don't Need New Ones

It’s Not My Fault If You Choose To Follow My Husband’s Advice

Issue #3

If Your Shoes Don't Have At Least 2,000 Miles On Them, You Don't Need New Ones

I should've bronzed these and put them on my buckle shelf

I’m cheap. I mean, really cheap. I don’t like buying stuff I don’t need (the kids make this a little bit of a grey area as we buy them lots of stuff they don’t need). I don’t like going out to eat at a restaurant. I don’t like buying new clothes. I don’t need a second car. I don’t have a flat screen TV. You get the idea. And I’ve been like this my whole life. Before I was part of Team TROT, I was a runner clothed in whatever was cheapest at Academy (sports store) or Ross. If it was over $40, I didn’t need it.

Running is the earliest sport and most inexpensive. It was one of the first things humans did (even if it wasn’t sport) and it required very little, if any, equipment. Just get out and go somewhere. This is one thing that appeals to me about running. And even now that I have sponsors for some of my equipment, it’s hard for me to let go of who I am.

The way I used to pick out running shoes was to go to Academy, find the section that had running shoes that were between $30-$50, and try them on. One shoe on one foot and a different one on the other. I’d run up and down the aisle, and the winner would go on to the next round. This would continue until I had found my shoe for the next year. I know that early humans couldn’t buy shoes, but at 11 cents per day, I could afford these shoes.
It didn’t matter if they were trail or road shoes. In fact, I didn’t know there were such differences when I started running ultras. I was at Cactus Rose 100 going up a hill, and a guy behind me asked if my shoes were road shoes. I didn’t know what to say. “I guess so.” They were road shoes (as I now know), but they worked fine and got me through that and several other trail races.

Anyway, back to the point of this. I never wanted my running habit (as I was running more and more and racing more too) to become expensive. I knew that running shoes were expensive. Companies tell you to replace your running shoes every 300-500 miles. But I couldn’t afford to buy a new pair of running shoes every month and a half. So I wouldn’t. And I found out that nothing happened. So I kept running in them. And running. And running, until they literally fell apart. I remember the first time that happened and I recalled a pair of running shoes that I used in high school. I had them from sophomore year until i graduated. All the rubber on the bottom was worn off, duct tape surrounded both toe boxes, and they were comfortable as hell.
For the last 3-4 years, Altra has been a sponsor for the team. And although it took me a little while to get onboard with running with these shoes, I really love them. They have a wide toe box, zero drop soles (heel and toe at same level), and a great selection of trail and road shoes with minimal to maximum cushioning levels.
Now, I don’t know if I have some perfect stride or the perfect foot strike or whatever and that this is the reason for me not getting hurt while putting a ton of miles on each pair of shoe that I own. But I can tell you that I’m never injured. I’ve been tracking my shoe miles since 2010 and the table shows when I purchased and retired the shoes with how many miles each have. Form your own opinions. Share them if you so choose. Experiment on your own. Just don’t get hurt.

#ZeroDrop

@altrarunning