Where do old shoes go when they die?
Being a runner translates into a lot of running shoes.

Sadly, I run in very few of these pairs – I just grabbed a number that happened to be on the shoe rack in my room…
I need my minimalist shoes for short distances, my track spikes for XC races, my supportive training shoes, my trail shoes, etc.
And considering I try to swap them out approximately every 400-600 miles, it can feel as if I am buying shoes constantly.
The question remains: Where do old shoes go when they die?
Because my shoes often don’t LOOK old when I am through with them as I wear out the mid-sole a lot faster than the rest of the shoe, I try and give them a second life. I put them through the washing machine and either take them to the second hand store or donate them to a local cause that needs running shoes for people who are looking to be active but cannot afford new running shoes. Because they often aren’t logging the same type of miles as I do, the shoe will work fine for their purposes.
That way, I didn’t need to throw them out, they are helping someone else be active and I can go get my new pair of shoes!
How do you know when you need a new pair of shoes?
This answer changes depending on who you ask. For me, I find that I just know. I will get a few unusual niggling pains in the form of sore arches, shin pain, achy knees and a host of other annoyances. I start shopping for a new pair and start rotating them into my runs until I have swapped over completely into the new shoe.
Another way I track my shoe’s lifetime is putting the date I bought them into the tongue of my shoe and keeping a rough track of the milage in my head. Around 300 miles is often when I start planning to incorporate a new pair into the mix, so that by the time the old shoe is done, I am running strong in my new shoes.
Check your running shoes – if the outsole of the shoe is broken down, it is past due for replacement. You wouldn’t want the tire tread of your vehicle to be bald – the same goes for your shoes!
How long do you use your running shoes before you get a new pair? How do you know when you need them?