new shoes

As sort of a follow up to what Tim C posted about shoe rotation, I have a 3 shoe rotation and 2 of them are dead or dying. I'm sort of new to running distances, so looking for any recommendations for 2 new shoes to add.

I'm bad about heel striking and weigh about 155 and want to run hopefully up to 70 mpw this fall and am running only about 30 mpw or so now. All of the running I do is on roads.


The "good" shoe that I have is a pair of Brooks green silence (love the shoe, but hate the tongue).

I also have a pair of Mizuno Wave Elixirs that are dying and a pair of Asics 3010s that are pretty dead.

Another two options?

John Kilpatrick wrote:As sort of a follow up to what Tim C posted about shoe rotation, I have a 3 shoe rotation and 2 of them are dead or dying. I'm sort of new to running distances, so looking for any recommendations for 2 new shoes to add.

I'm bad about heel striking and weigh about 155 and want to run hopefully up to 70 mpw this fall and am running only about 30 mpw or so now. All of the running I do is on roads.


The "good" shoe that I have is a pair of Brooks green silence (love the shoe, but hate the tongue).

I also have a pair of Mizuno Wave Elixirs that are dying and a pair of Asics 3010s that are pretty dead.

Another two options?

The Elixirs are always a good choice. They made some minor adjustments to the top eye hole area of the Elixir 6 that give it a better fit at the top. Plus, the January colors are pretty cool. I am not a big fan of the July color update, but the shoe is still great.

The only advice I can confidently give is to ask someone at a local running shoe store. Ours is really great and then they can help you find what's best for your foot.

I love the Ronin 2's and even the 3's are good. LIght shoe 7.5 and 7 oz respectively. I weigh 169 (as of today) and use them for LSD runs (ronin 2's), speed work, tempo run and races including marathons. I do use orthodics. They are not very narrow or overly wide seems right fit for me.

You may also want to try the precisions 12 coming out a heavier shoe at 9.5 or so but might be good for you on the long runs or recovery runs.

John Kilpatrick wrote:As sort of a follow up to what Tim C posted about shoe rotation, I have a 3 shoe rotation and 2 of them are dead or dying. I'm sort of new to running distances, so looking for any recommendations for 2 new shoes to add.

I'm bad about heel striking and weigh about 155 and want to run hopefully up to 70 mpw this fall and am running only about 30 mpw or so now. All of the running I do is on roads.


The "good" shoe that I have is a pair of Brooks green silence (love the shoe, but hate the tongue).

I also have a pair of Mizuno Wave Elixirs that are dying and a pair of Asics 3010s that are pretty dead.

Another two options?

I was thinking about this very subject this morning on my run. In the past, I've always had 2 of the same shoe and rotated them. The responses to my post indicate most everyone here does NOT have multiple pairs of the same shoes. So I'm looking for something new as well.



I was in Asics Gel Nimbus 11's. They're dead and I got a pair of New Balance 890, which are quite a bit lighter than the Asics, and I love them. So I guess I'm now looking for suggestions for a pair or two to compliment them.

Julie wrote:The only advice I can confidently give is to ask someone at a local running shoe store. Ours is really great and then they can help you find what's best for your foot.

Ha! There are no local running stores here! You would have to visit Albany to understand, but I always order them online...

Hey John, so you want a light weight running shoe I gather. You say that you heel strike and I'm guessing you want your shoe to help you become more of a mid foot striker. You are rather light so I'm also guessing that you don't need much cushion.

Nike Free Run +2 may help you with the heel striking.
Saucony Kinvara may be a good choice as a light weight trainer.
My favorite distance racing shoe right now is Spira Stinger but it probably wouldn't be a good training shoe because I don't think you could possibly get more than 300 miles out of them. They have a new shoe that looks interesting to me which is the Spira Stinger XLT.
I also really like my older model Zoot Ultra's. I have a friend that is training for Leadville that reviewed the Zoot Ultra Speed here. http://sckbreed.blogspot.com/ Scroll down to the video review.

A good race shoe is Nike Luna Racer 2 or whichever model is current now.

My 2 favorite pair of shoes that I've had recently are the Asics DS Trainer and the Saucony Tangent. I don' think you'll be able to find the Tangent anywhere right now (at least I don't seem to be able to) and the DS is just a great shoe. I've gone through 2 pair of them and am just over 400 miles on #2 and they're still going strong. I think the weight just under 10 oz.

To build on what Tim Miller said, I think any minimalist shoe will get you over being a heel striker really fast.

Tony Krupicka has a great quote about minimalist shoes in a video about the NB Minimus Trail shoe.

I think some people look at minimal shoes as a panacea, but that's definitely not what it's about. Wearing a minimal shoe doesn't automatically make you a better runner. It sort of forces you to become a better runner.

Remove all that cushioning under your heel and you'll only heel strike once.

Thanks - good recommendations. When I run it doesn't seem like I am, but when I've seen pictures of myself running during a race my form looks horrible. That being said, I run in the brooks green silence fairly often and they don't bother me. I don't do my long runs in them, though...

Zoots I bought terrible shoe IMO the heel in the back rubs against achilles caused me to bleed and there is almost no support at all like running in sleepers. Just my op.

If you have a narrow foot, I suggest Nike Lunar Racers. The 2's are great all-around training shoes. The 1's are a little lighter and better racing flats.

John Kilpatrick wrote:

Julie wrote:The only advice I can confidently give is to ask someone at a local running shoe store. Ours is really great and then they can help you find what's best for your foot.

Ha! There are no local running stores here! You would have to visit Albany to understand, but I always order them online...

I've been there many times - I understand

Dave-O wrote:If you have a narrow foot, I suggest Nike Lunar Racers. The 2's are great all-around training shoes. The 1's are a little lighter and better racing flats.

For me the Lunar Racers are a love/hate kind of thing. I love that they make me want to run fast, but I hate that the feel so cushioned and isolated from the road. My mile PR is in the Lunar Racer 1's.