Switching from shoes that worked?



D

Dieshooter

Guest
Greetings ... I've been running in Brooks Addiction, extra wide, with success for about six months,
put two marathons on them, and have had no problems whatsoever ... Now, it seems no running store in
a 50-mile radius carries the Brooks Addiction, they've all tried to suggest I come in and try other
brands or other Brooks models.

I'm not married to the Addiction, but it seems a bit risky to switch from a shoe that works to
something else. But my alternative is to buy the shoes by mail, and I really wanted to try another
size first (a 2E compared to the 4E I'm wearing now)

What would other runners do? Switch brands out of convenience, or hang on to what I've used, even
though there may be something better out there? I'm a midsize male runner, prefer long distances,
severe overpronator, 30-40 mpw.

A difficult decision.
 
Not a difficult decision at all for me.

If you find a shoe you like buy up as many pairs as you can. I am on my 9th pair of a model that I
started to use about 18 months ago. I got into double figures with another model many years ago.
Often this can be a cost effective as well as athletically sensible course of action as you can
often get older shoes at half price.

Eventually of course you won't be able to find them anywhere and then it's time to go back to the
shop and see what's on offer.

Cheers Tim Grose

"dieshooter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Greetings ... I've been running in Brooks Addiction, extra wide, with success for about six
> months, put two marathons on them, and have had no problems whatsoever ... Now, it seems no
> running store in a 50-mile radius carries the Brooks Addiction, they've all tried to suggest I
> come in and try other brands or other Brooks models.
>
> I'm not married to the Addiction, but it seems a bit risky to switch from a shoe that works to
> something else. But my alternative is to buy the shoes by mail, and I really wanted to try another
> size first (a 2E compared to the 4E I'm wearing now)
>
> What would other runners do? Switch brands out of convenience, or hang on to what I've used, even
> though there may be something better out there? I'm a midsize male runner, prefer long distances,
> severe overpronator, 30-40 mpw.
>
> A difficult decision.
 
"dieshooter" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> A difficult decision.

Don't switch!

I am a middle-aged underpronator who has made this mistake in the past. Every time I switch shoes to
try something different I get knee pain. God help me if they ever stop selling Asics Nimbus shoes.
Buy off the net, and buy several pairs.
 
dieshooter wrote:
>
> Greetings ... I've been running in Brooks Addiction, extra wide, with success for about six
> months, put two marathons on them, and have had no problems whatsoever ... Now, it seems no
> running store in a 50-mile radius carries the Brooks Addiction, they've all tried to suggest I
> come in and try other brands or other Brooks models.
>
> I'm not married to the Addiction, but it seems a bit risky to switch from a shoe that works to
> something else. But my alternative is to buy the shoes by mail, and I really wanted to try another
> size first (a 2E compared to the 4E I'm wearing now)

If there were "no problems whatsoever", then why change widths? (I know, perhaps the toes
were a little baggy, so maybe they weren't *quite* perfect. I'm being a little facetious but
you'll see why.)

If you know what you want, mail order is fine. If you really think the 2E might be better, you could
order that and see if it works. Exchange if it doesn't. If you wanted to try the 2 widths at the
same time, you could order both at the same time (width of your used shoes may feel different
compared to new shoes), try them on, return the ones that don't work.

>
> What would other runners do? Switch brands out of convenience,

No. I would never switch from something that appears to be working to something else just because
that's what the local store sells. Shoes designs do change over time, and then you may be forced to
change, but even then you may be able to find old models online and hopefully you've stockpiled your
favorite shoe by then to give you some time to look around.

or hang
> on to what I've used, even though there may be something better out there?

Sometimes things that seem to be working may not work as well as something else you haven't tried
yet - and that may be available either at your local running shoe store or online but not the other,
as I found out recently.

I had worn Saucony Grid Stabils for a number of years because they seemed to be working for me, but
the fit, especially of the 3rd version, wasn't quite perfect, but far better than most. My PT
suggested stability rather than MC, and I found several models (Brooks, Adidas) that actually fit my
foot better than the model I had been using. I had to get them (Brooks Trespass, Adrenaline) mail
order because local running store didn't have them.

Dot

--
"Success is different things to different people" -Bernd Heinrich in Racing the Antelope
 
dieshooter wrote:

> ... Now, it seems no running store in a 50-mile radius carries the Brooks Addiction, they've all
> tried to suggest I come in and try other brands or other Brooks models.
>
> I'm not married to the Addiction, but it seems a bit risky to switch from a shoe that works to
> something else. But my alternative is to buy the shoes by mail, and I really wanted to try another
> size first (a 2E compared to the 4E I'm wearing now)
>
> What would other runners do?

My running style and needs are pretty unusual, so perhaps I'm more high-strung about this. But it
took me a LONG time to find that the Brooks Radius and Radius IV (not the 2 interceding models)
worked well for me. Considering that running shoes are not really returnable after you put the
necessary 50-100 miles on 'em to find out if they're right for you, it's a lot of money to blow on
several unsuccessful experiemnts before finding the right new shoe.

Thus when I realized that the Radius IV was discontinued, I searched everywhere and ordered all I
could by mail from the online outlets that had them. Now I have enough to last me at least a
decade or more.

So I recommend that if this shoe really seems to be the one that works for you, go and get all you
can. The mail order and online retailers may be the ones that have enough stock to send you a bunch.

In your particular case, maybe buy that other size, try it out for a couple weeks, decide what fits
you best, and if you have a happy fit, buy a bunch.

Otherwise you gotta shop for a completely new shoe, which I find risky and expensive and time
consuming.

Just one runner's opinion and personal story. Best of luck! -- Josh in Syracuse
 
Tim Grose wrote:

> ... If you find a shoe you like buy up as many pairs as you can. I am on my 9th pair of a model
> that I started to use about 18 months ago. ...

Ninth pair in 18 months? Wow! You go through a pair every 2 months? How is that? High mileage?
Aggressive wear? Strange shoe-punishing mechanics? Flimsy shoe? Personal preference?

I know we've hashed through many times on rec.running the lifespan of a pair of running shoes, but I
don't remember posters going through shoes in 2 months! Do tell!

Just curious, -- Josh
 
In article <[email protected]>, Josh Steinberg wrote:

> Ninth pair in 18 months? Wow! You go through a pair every 2 months? How is that? High mileage?
> Aggressive wear? Strange shoe-punishing mechanics? Flimsy shoe? Personal preference?

It's certainly possible. 50 miles a week would come to about 450 miles in 2 months. People who run
this sort of milage are likely to own a couple of pairs, so it's more like 2 pairs every 4 months.

I think anything less than 300 miles is a pretty short lifespan though, and probably reflects a need
for either more aggressive shoe maintenance, a more durable shoe, or both.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/
 
In article <[email protected]>, Bill-always hard-Rodgers wrote:
>>Ninth pair in 18 months? Wow! You go through a pair every 2 months? How is that? High mileage?
>>Aggressive wear? Strange shoe-punishing mechanics? Flimsy shoe?
>
> The latter, I bet they're Nikes. Seriously, I've worn out pairs in two months without even running
> in them.

What did you do, talk to them ? I bet they're worn out (-;

--
Donovan Rebbechi http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/
 
Actually I might qualify my 9 in 18 months by saying that's how many I've bought but I am still
regularly using about 4 of them so I've got through only 5 and one of those had to retired early due
to an unfortunate incident.

I run about 50 miles per week so most shoes won't last much more than 2 or 3 months without feeling
a bit jaded.

And of course Bill knows there are Nike Pegasus.

Cheers Tim

"Josh Steinberg" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Tim Grose wrote:
>
> > ... If you find a shoe you like buy up as many pairs as you can. I am on
my
> > 9th pair of a model that I started to use about 18 months ago. ...
>
> Ninth pair in 18 months? Wow! You go through a pair every 2 months? How
is
> that? High mileage? Aggressive wear? Strange shoe-punishing mechanics?
Flimsy
> shoe? Personal preference?
>
> I know we've hashed through many times on rec.running the lifespan of a
pair of
> running shoes, but I don't remember posters going through shoes in 2
months!
> Do tell!
>
> Just curious, -- Josh
 
Thanks all for the input ... the upshoot was:

JUST to be sure I was in the right shoe, I visited a local running store anyway, even though the
carred EVERY Brooks model except the Addiction, the one model I use. After trying on the NB 855, and
Brooks Dyad, and becoming convinced the Saucony Grid Stabil was too narrow, no matter what ... I
left satisfied that the Addiction is the only shoe for me. I ordered some online. Same 4E size ..
It's good to know I looked around, but in the end, I think sticking with the shoe that's seen me
through many miles is the wisest course.

To support the local store for their help, I bought some other stuff.

Thanks for the help.

See you on the road.
 
This is a perpetual problem in running. I my third of a century of running, I've rarely seen a brand
of shoes last more than five years. Even if the name remains the same, the construction may
[de]evolve considerably. Unfortunately if often takes me two tries to find anther working brand.
 
rick++ wrote:
> This is a perpetual problem in running. I my third of a century of running, I've rarely
> seen a brand

I really hope you meant third decade! Oh wait, you meant one third of a century, 33years.
Got it now.

> of shoes last more than five years. Even if the name remains the same, the construction may
> [de]evolve considerably. Unfortunately if often takes me two tries to find anther working brand.

--
Ed Prochak running http://www.faqs.org/faqs/running-faq/ netiquette http://www.psg.com/emily.html
--
"Two roads diverged in a wood and I I took the one less travelled by and that has made all the
difference." robert frost
 
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