I track the mileage of my shoes. The Nike+ running app allows you to tell it which shoes you wore for a run, so you see the total mileage on that shoe. Besides that, I go by feel. As in, how are my feet doing and am I starting to get little muscle/joint problems or blisters that I don't normally get.

My shoes usually still look good, so I can never use that to judge. With the model I wear, I tend to get 350-500 miles out of them. I have two active pairs, alternating them per run. I also only wear them for running, nothing else. Once retired, they get used for causal wear or the occasional obstacle course race.

I would recommend what others have said (tracking mileage) and also to not wear your running shoes unless you are actually running. When you retire them, you can wear them to the gym. How long a shoe lasts depends on many factors. The construction of the shoe and the qualities of it's materials, the weight of the runner, the type of running they do, how they care for their shoes, etc. I generally go by how my legs feel. After about 400 miles, my legs just feel beat up more and not recovered by the next run. By new shoes and viola!, problem solved. There are some who get double the mileage out of the same shoe, so it depends (see above). There are some shoes <cough>Sketchers GoRun Ultra <cough> that will wear out in less than half that. Again, it depends. So track mileage, and take care of your shoes (don't leave in the hot car, don't leave laying in the sun, don't kick them off (unlace and remove gently), etc. Good luck!

I track mileage, and seem to get about 500 miles out of road shoes.

As above, the indicator that they're approaching retirement is that I can feel it in my legs; calves are not recovering and a bit of shin pain.

Somewhere between 350 and 450 miles I notice some sort of pain. It is uncanny...feet, knees, hips...something comes up. The uppers on the shoes are generally in pretty good shape when I donate them. I find that the break down more quickly when I am doing longer runs over 13 miles. I do not wear running shoes around as street shoes or to the gym.

After my shoes hit 400-500 miles they become gym shoes until the next pair get retired. I currently have 5 pairs of shoes in regular rotation for running.

I track mileage and it depends on the shoe what I get out of them. I have found the lighter the shoe the less mileage I can get out of it. A few shoes I use only for racing. My lightest shoes I can get around 350 on; my daily trainers I can get around 550-600. I will retire them when I notice my legs or feet being unusually sore.

Equus5374 wrote: »

As much as I love getting new stuff, it's always hard for me to know exactly when to ditch my running shoes for a new pair. I run about 15-20 miles per week unless I'm training, then it's incrementally more. I also use the shoes at the gym, but that's usually lifting or elliptical. Should I just go by how they look and how the tread is wearing? The pair of New Balance I'm in now I've had for over a year and I noticed some separation by the ball of my left foot. The tread is moderately worn. How do others determine the need to go new?

I wont recommend a specific number because as others have said above it varies.

I will say that owning/rotating use of multiple shoes will not only increase life expectancy of each shoe, but will make them smell better.

On another note, try barefoot running! They will last much longer than any pair of shoes mentioned above