How Many Shoes Are In Your Closet?

Running Shoes: The number one item necessary to run.

You can make due with everything else but when it comes to running, your most basic item is the running shoe, for without it you won’t get very far*. Running shoes help protect your feet from the miles of ground you travel over. Ground wrought with stones, glass shards, nails, roots, rocks, thorns, and the many other things you can certainly imagine. The point is, running shoes help protect your feet and enable you to run safely.

Did you know that over time your running shoes break down? The midsole made up of EVA, Dual-Density EVA or Polyurethane is that soft, foamy looking stuff in the middle of the shoe. This will begin to crack and wear, breaking down and losing it’s cushioning. The outsole is the bottom of your shoe where you will find grooves and tread designed for traction, helping you run. This will wear, crack and break down as well.

Every time you head out for a run you are adding wear to your shoes. And when you take them off and toss them in the closet they begin to bounce back. If you own only one pair of running shoe and you are running 4-5 times a week or more, your shoes will see less “bounce-back” over time than if you owned two or more pair of shoes. In fact, the more shoes you own, the longer each individual pair will last simply because they will get more and more bounce-back time. (That’s my argument, at least.)

Makes a good argument for the spouse, doesn’t it?

Here is what Warren Greene, Brand Editor and resident shoe guru at Runner’s World, has to say about running shoes and bounce-back time:

A shoe needs about 24hours to fully recover from a run. That’s not to say
that after 12hours a shoe is still not fit to run in, the recovery is very
quick or your 3rd and 4th footfall on any run would be a big problem. The
rule is about 24 hours.

Two pair are great if you workout out a different times and also the slight
differences in construction between two shoes, from a different brand or
even the same brand, is also good for you body.

I have always been a firm believer in owning multiple pairs of running shoes. When I first started running, one pair fit the bill very nicely. As my race distances grew I found that I spent more time training each week, and I began testing out different brands to see which one I liked better. For certain types of runs I liked different types of shoes, and so, my collection began to grow. I soon began rotating my shoes, scrawling a number on the front of each shoe with a marker in order to keep track. When a shoe neared the end of it’s running life it became part of the recovery shoe rotation. Later, it retired to the “around town” pile.

My shoe closet has become overrun with shoes. I have now taken over a second closet where my Around Town running shoes reside. This “problem” was one which did not go unnoticed by Kevin Kane, founder of Re-Use Your Shoes based in Philadelphia. Kane began his charity organization after his wife’s retired running shoe collection reached one too many.

Now that I have begun trail running it seems that my shoe collection has rapidly increased overnight, much like breeding rabbits. I do believe that I have breeding running shoes.

Out with the old and in with the new. I have started parting ways with my Around Town shoes. It isn’t always easy. Each pair of shoes has a story to tell. They have endured my long runs and speed workouts, they have helped me earn PR’s and shiny race medals. Sometimes even a plaque or two. I have always had a hard time parting with my belongings. I am not embarrassed to admit that yes, I still have some of the notes my friends and I passed around in junior high school, my first jackknife from Girl Scout camp, and the puppet of Dopey, one of the Seven Dwarfs, which I made for a school play back in second grade.

Parting with my running shoes has not been easy but it’s an evil necessity, especially if I want to add new ones to the mix.
* I’m not going to touch the barefoot phenomenon. Many “barefooters” are actually running with Vibram Five Fingers which help protect a runner’s feet while still enabling them the sensation of barefoot running. While I have seen the occasional barefoot purist, most barefoot runners will at the very least be wearing VFFs.