Out of curiosity, do you rotate between different running shoes based on type/length of running you’re doing? If so, what are your go-to brands/models, and how often do you rotate each week?
I don’t rotate I just choose the shoe for the occasion.
MIzuno Wave Rider…every day running for just about anything.
Mizuno Wave Hayate…Trail running when required.
Asics Hyper-Tri for racing and sometimes fast runs.
It’s less about “rotating” shoes, and more about “horses for courses.” All my road running will be in Nike Epic React Flyknits, all trail running in Altra Olympus, treadmill in Adidas Boost (1st gen), and races in LunarRacer 2s. YMMV.
There are some who recommend alternating shoes on different days to let the shoes “recover”, but in a previous thread it seemed that this was pretty rare. Most folks were choosing between shoes based on terrain/conditions.
I do. I usually have 2-3 shoes that I rotate. Right now I have 2 pair:
Reebok Floatride Forever: These are my do it all shoe. I paid $40 for these and they are great! I can do long runs, easy runs, and tempo runs in them without a hitch. I have 130ish miles on them without any signs of wear.
Nike Zoom Fly Flyknit: These are my race shoes as well as faster effort shoe. I also will wear them on long runs as well. Hard to beat a carbon soled shoe with Nike React foam for $75!
I’ve read about giving a shoe 24 hours rest after a run to allow the foam to decompress. I’m unsure how scientific that is though, and I’m sure it depends on the type of foam in the midsole as well.
I’ve had problems with plantar fasciitis in the past, and I read somewhere that rotating through pairs of shoes can be a way to stave it off. So right now I’m training in:
Hoka Clifton 4
Hoka Clifton 5
Nike Pegagus Turbo 2
Nike Zoom Fly 3
The Nike’s are newer and I’ve been running in them a lot. I just retired a well worn pair of Clifton 2’s as well.
I was going to buy a new pair of shoes for racing this season, but by the time I do that I’m sure the latest Nike’s will be more reasonably priced. They did have a pair available for pre-order in my size for $355 or something crazy like that. I’ll wait.
I try not to run in the same shoes two days in a row. I have read a few times that shoes need more than 24 hours to fully “bounce back.†I have no idea if that is actually true, but I think they feel better with the extra day and I like the slightly varied shoe feel. Usually I rotate a pair of Hoka cliftons and altra escalantes. Lots of others for more specialized purposes.
It’s less about “rotating” shoes, and more about “horses for courses.” All my road running will be in Nike Epic React Flyknits, all trail running in Altra Olympus, treadmill in Adidas Boost (1st gen), and races in LunarRacer 2s. YMMV.
There are some who recommend alternating shoes on different days to let the shoes “recover”, but in a previous thread it seemed that this was pretty rare. Most folks were choosing between shoes based on terrain/conditions.
Aside from picking a different type of shoe based on the type of run, another advantage is each shoe with a different ramp and cushion slightly changes the gait. It just does. I think its good to work the foot different ways. I have the following in my line up: On Cloud, On Cloudflow, Altra Solstice, Altra Torin, Nike Free, Newton Distance, Hoka Clifton, Merrell Bare Access. Vibram 5 fingers, New Balance Minimus trail.
I don’t think I run in any shoe more than 2 runs in a row. All of these shoes aside from the Altra Solstice and NB Minimus were bought between 5 and 10 years ago. I had a 4 year hiatus off serious running. So its a lot of shoes but purchased over a long time.
Depends on what my workouts are.
My Long Slow Shoe is the Bondi B redux.
Medium Intensity shoe is the Clifton 6
Threshold shoe is the Rincon
Sprints or Time Trial shoe: Mach
Race: Carbon X
It’s less about “rotating” shoes, and more about “horses for courses.”
I do a little of both. Right now I’ve got road/track/trail/hybrid-road-trail shoes so I don’t usually repeat but I usually have more than one road shoe and try to rotate those as appropriate, for rotation’s sake. I also probably like buying new kinds of shoes more than I should, then wind up doing most of my miles on a kind I’d already had.
I rotate running shoes depending on the session and I also run in my racing shoes to make sure I am comfortable in them.
Asics Noosa tri 11 racing and speed session
Asics Cumulus 20 recovery and long runs (on the way out)
Asics Kayano 26 recovery and long runs
For the past year or so when I have started running almost every day (pseudo barryp plan) I have rotated between two identical pairs. The pair with the higher mileage goes on the short days, and the newer pair does the long days. Main reason is the higher mileage shoe does not feel as good anymore and I’ll start to get little annoying pains / soreness. I can run anything for 2-3 miles, but longer than that I want the support a newer shoe offers.
Two reasons, 1 to let the shoe recover (whether it’s true or not, can’t hurt) and 2 keep the miles off the newer shoe longer, theoretically letting it last more months. When I start to feel strange pains in my ankles / knees during or after runs, I rotate the new shoes to the short day, the short day shoes become casual wear and I pull out a new pair for long days.
I’ve too cheap to own more than one pair at a time
I do, however, have a bunch of VANS
.
I don’t rotate but I have specific shoes for a specific purpose. Adidas Solar Boosts for non speedwork days, Adidas Bostons for speedwork days. So each shoe gets a day or two of rest.
Rotating them out so that they can bounce back was more of an issue with older foams. These days I can run day after day in the same shoes and be fine.
I do rotate between a few different shoes just so that I can let my foot not always land the same exact way, in the same shoe. Plus if a pair gets wet, it has an extra day or to in order to dry out.
Shoes I rotate (some combination of these)
Asics Cumulus
Asics Nimbus
Saucony Ride (my favorite shoe right now by far)
Saucony Triumph (I call these my mall walker shoes as they are super cushioned and soft, great recovery shoe)
I’ve never found a Hoka that works for me yet, sadly. I’ve tried.
Sort of rotate… but because of the type of running.
Track shoes - Altra Vanish-R
Long/slower tempo runs - Altra Escalante Racers
Race shoes - Altra Vanish-R (may try Nike %'s)
As others suggest, I have a rotation that I use driven by purpose…
Dog walking/yard work: Salming Miles Lite
Long easy stuff/running on dead legs: Salming Greyhound
Treadmill/easy running: Salming EnRoute3
Speedwork/long racing: Salming Speed8
Short Racing: Salming Race 7
Trail training/Sidewalk winter running/Snowshoe running: Salming Trail6/Trail Hydro
Trail Racing/gnarly trail training: Salming OT Comp
Icy sidewalk/winter trail: Salming iSpike
That’s my main rotation these days. Certainly a few of these pull heavier rotation than others, but they all factor in.
For most of my running (every day) I rotate between 2 pairs of Nike Epic React (1st and/or 2nd editions) and will swap them both out for new pairs after about 5-6 months, depending on my mileage. If I’m running a technical trail, I’ll use a trail specific shoe which I have a few different models.
I do rotate between a few different shoes just so that I can let my foot not always land the same exact way, in the same shoe. Plus if a pair gets wet, it has an extra day or to in order to dry out.
+1 and +1, and I can’t over-emphasize the “dry out” part. If you’re running in the same shoes every day, they’re going to get stanky long before their time, even if it doesn’t rain.
I do rotate between a few different shoes just so that I can let my foot not always land the same exact way, in the same shoe. Plus if a pair gets wet, it has an extra day or to in order to dry out.
+1 and +1, and I can’t over-emphasize the “dry out” part. If you’re running in the same shoes every day, they’re going to get stanky long before their time, even if it doesn’t rain.
+1/+1 from me too; having multiple pairs on hand especially in late-summer marathon training season is vital to let shoes dry out between runs.
Yeah I like the ZF2 Flyknits too - great shoe with carbon plate for not too much. I have 4 pairs. I like the 10mm drop on these as well.