Shoe Advice (my Kayanos wear out too fast)

Let me start by saying Ben Rothlisberger can kick your ass!

bc_online said:

I'm a big guy - 6'7" and weigh 230 lbs [...]
I run only on concrete.

I have no experience with Kayanos, nor with being anywhere near your
size. But is there no way you can run on a softer surface: dirt,
grass, sand? 230 lbs landing on concrete a couple hundred times a
minute has got to put a lot of stress on your body, and it sounds like
it's a lot of stress on the shoes too.

Quoted message said:

Let me start by saying Ben Rothlisberger can kick your ass!

Personally I'm more concerned about those bleach blonde, big haired,
400 pound women from western Pa driving around in pickups with a gun
rack in the rear window.

Barry,
Are you an attourney?

Quoted message said:

Well, I see where your coming from and I could run on grass or dirt but
I have been running on concrete for the past 15 years. So far, at age
36, I have had no problems. I also lift weights, and I believe keeping
muscle tone around bones and joints is very important for avoiding
injury.

Maybe so, but too much upper-body mass or a high BMI is not necessarily
a good thing for your distance running hobby. Although, at 25.9 your
BMI is not out of line with recreational running, IMO, FWIW, JM2C,
YMMV, etc. ;-)

Quoted message said:

Now, given all that, anybody know why my shoes keep wearing out soles
at the ball of the foot or have any shoe recommendations?

How many miles are you putting on these shoes? I get about 400 miles
out of a pair of shoes, but I stop running in mine long before I'd have
a hole through them. So for me, that's about 2.5 to 3 months per pair.
I'm only paying about $70 per pair (Brooks GTS). It seems like $130 is
a lot for these shoes. I've seen the Kayano 9 for around $90, but
getting your size may be a problem. If you like the Kayanos and you
have determined that this is a good shoe for you, then you might try
looking around for a cheaper price. Otherwise, consider going to
another model/brand that would be suitable. I specialty running shoe
store could help you there. Good luck.

--
Phil M.

Phil M. said:

$130 is a lot for these shoes. I've seen the Kayano 9 for around
$90, but getting your size may be a problem. If you like the Kayanos
and you have determined that this is a good shoe for you, then you
might try looking around for a cheaper price. Otherwise, consider going
to another model/brand that would be suitable.

Yeah, nobody can say for sure whether these'd work for you:
http://www.vitruvianrunning.com/models.html
but at $30/pair for the closed out last year's models, it may be worth
taking a chance on them. And those models use "sheet" EVA for
cushioning rather than the ubiquitous "compression molded" EVA, which
is claimed to be more durable. The Proportions certainly feel extra
beefy and protective to me, like they'd be suitable for a much heavier
dude. If you find yourself interested in the Proportion, be aware they
aren't kidding about them running small. Order 1/2 size bigger than
your Kayanos. I normally go up a full size, from 7.5 street shoes to
8.5 running shoes, for most running shoe models. But with the
Proportions a 9 would've been a better fit.

I still suspect a softer surface might prolong the shoe life even if
your muscles and joints don't object to the concrete. Also: count your
stride rate. While timing 30 seconds, count how many times your left
foot strikes the ground. Multiply by 4 (2 for :30 to a minute, 2 to
include the right foot too assuming you've got two feet and alternate
them while running) to get strides per minute. Several sources cite
180 as a figure either to strive for, or at least which is likely to
reflect a fairly quick, light, efficient stride. If you're much below
this, you're spending more time in the air between each landing,
therefore going up higher and coming down harder and putting more force
on yourself and your shoes.

Charlie Pendejo said:

I still suspect a softer surface might prolong the shoe life even if
your muscles and joints don't object to the concrete. Also: count your
stride rate. While timing 30 seconds, count how many times your left
foot strikes the ground. Multiply by 4 (2 for :30 to a minute, 2 to
include the right foot too assuming you've got two feet and alternate
them while running) to get strides per minute. Several sources cite
180 as a figure either to strive for, or at least which is likely to
reflect a fairly quick, light, efficient stride. If you're much below
this, you're spending more time in the air between each landing,
therefore going up higher and coming down harder and putting more force
on yourself and your shoes.

I don't know, but do you think that being 6' 7" may make it difficult
if not impractical to be running at a stride rate of 180? I don't know
much about physics. Maybe leg length doesn't matter.

--
Phil M

Quoted message said:

Let me start by saying that I'm a big guy - 6'7" and weigh 230 lbs (all
muscle). I run about 3 miles per run / 3 times per week. I run only
on concrete. My last 2 pairs of shoes were Asics Kayanos, and prior to
that I wore less expensive Asics (can't remember model).

Here is my problem: I keep wearing out the soles of my shoes in about 4
months. The soles always wear out in the area where the ball of the
feet area of the shoe. What I mean by wear out, is the sole wears down
and eventually wears a hole through the bottoms about 2 inches across.
I have to assume they wear out so fast because of my weight?

$130 every 4 months is no fun, so I am wondering if there is anybody
out there that can recommend a shoe where the sole would last longer.
I have no experience with Brooks or any shoe other than Asics (I love
how much cushion the Asics have and other than the sole problem they
are very durable).

Thanks in advance for any advice,

Barry (from Florida)

Barry,

Get off the concrete! Oh you already said you did not want to do
that. Thirty-six huh, I think you will end up wishing you did by the
time you are fifty-six.

Why are you wearing Kayanos? Was it recommended? Do you have a
medium to low arch? are you an over or under pronation runner or are
you nuetral? Has your stride and style been evaluated?

I wear Mizuno Wave Creations and they wear great but I don't run on
concrete. I replace/rotate them every 500 miles (older pair goes to
mud runs, newer for dry (most) days ). They are not visibly worn out
at that point.

Also, I tend to buy last years model. About half what the current
year model cost mail order.

Frank

Phil M. said:

I don't know, but do you think that being 6' 7" may make it difficult
if not impractical to be running at a stride rate of 180? I don't know
much about physics. Maybe leg length doesn't matter.

Interesting point. I don't know.

I do feel pretty sure that, indepent of leg length, stride rate implies
a time spent airborne, a vertical displacement between strides, and
therefore a force on each footfall. But yeah, maybe much taller people
have a lower ceiling on stride rate or something.

OTOH, I think I've read someone's (here?) anecdotal observation that
short people (now I've got that Randy Newman song in my head...) don't
tend to have much faster strides rates, but rather - somewhat counter
to intuition - at a given speed they tend to have similar stride rates
and lengths.