New Shoe Break-In Period

Triathlon Forum
1

I have an old pair of New Balance that need to be replaced. The model was discontinued and the New Balance website refers me to an update of the model. I’m doing my first IM (IMWI) in a couple days and don’t know if I should use my worn out shoes or try and use a newer pair. The longest run I’ll be doing between now and the race is 6-7 miles and I’m not sure if that would be long enough to tell if I should use the newer pair.

Is there a break-in period needed or a certain amount of miles to put on a new shoe to make sure they are comfortable for race day? Or is it that if they are comfortable to begin with, they’ll be good to go?

2

Personally I put my new shoes into the rotation and run. If it happens to be my long run day I run long in them. I have never had any issues but thats just my experience.

But if its a new shoe to you (new brand or new model) it might be a risk to try to go long without a trial period. And if this is your A race you might not want to take that risk. But if your old shoes are “flat” you could cause injury using them. Lots of things to consider.

3

6-7 mile run is plenty of time to know if you like the shoe or not. I’ve used shoes straight out of the box for marathons so I don’t think a break in period is required. The mental component will be the issue, just make sure you are comfortable with using the shoe for the race.

4

wear the new ones as your everyday shoes to speed up the break in
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5

wear the new ones as your everyday shoes to speed up the break in

THIS

I wear my new shoes around for 2-3 days and it breaks them in sufficiently and allows me to adjust the laces, etc. I then can run in them without worry.

Bob

6

For me, the only thing that really needs to broken into is the tighness of the lace. It usually takes me a few runs and adjustments to get the laces just right so they are not particularly tight anywhere thereby risking a blister on the side of my foot. It sometimes also takes me a few runs to feel like the shoes are molded to my foot.

7

Thanks all for the advice. I think I will wear them as everyday shoes for a few days and see how that goes.

8

For me, the only thing that really needs to broken into is the tighness of the lace. It usually takes me a few runs and adjustments to get the laces just right so they are not particularly tight anywhere thereby risking a blister on the side of my foot. It sometimes also takes me a few runs to feel like the shoes are molded to my foot.

+1 on this