Changing running shoes safely

Before you change shoes

A shoe is one of several things that load your legs, and usually not the biggest. Before or alongside a shoe change, look at how much you run, how fast, how hilly, and whether anything changed recently. If your current shoes are comfortable and not worn out, you may not need new ones.

Switching to a new shoe: weeks 1–6

A common way to introduce a new shoe, as a rule of thumb rather than a tested plan:

Weeks 1–2

One or two short, easy runs a week in the new shoe; the rest in your current pair.

Weeks 3–4

If the mornings after are no worse, about half of your easy runs.

Weeks 5–6

Long runs, then faster sessions.

Bigger changes take longer: a drop 4 mm or more lower, 10 mm or more of stack difference, a first plated shoe, much more toe spring (a strongly rockered shoe), or zero drop, which can take months. In one study, more than half the runners who moved to minimalist (barefoot-style) shoes, gradually over 10 weeks, showed early bone stress in the foot on scans. (Ridge 2013)

• Do not change shoes in the same weeks as you increase mileage or speed.
• Do not race in a shoe you have not run in several times, including at race pace.

Keeping more than one pair in use was linked to fewer injuries in an observational study of recreational runners. (Malisoux 2015) Use the list as a shortlist of a few shoes to try on, then let comfort decide: researchers have proposed that runners choosing the shoe that feels most comfortable tend to pick one that suits how they move. That is a proposal, not a proven rule. (Nigg 2015)

Every shoe feature moves load rather than removing it

Mostly mechanical reasoning; a source is given where it has been measured.

Check in the shop

• Bend the shoe: it should bend at the ball of the foot (or barely at all, for a stiff big toe or forefoot pain), never in the middle.
• Twist it: it should resist.
• Press the heel counter with your thumb: it should not collapse.
• Length and width: about a thumb's width beyond the longest toe, and the widest part of your foot over the widest part of the sole.
• Try shoes later in the day, in your running socks and with any insert you use.
• Judge comfort over a few real runs, including some at your usual pace, not only in the shop.

If something is sore

Each guide lists warning signs, what loads the area and the current shoes that match, and can compare every listed shoe with yours.

Questions

How long does it take to get used to new running shoes?

For a shoe much like your current one, mixing it in over a few weeks is a common approach. Bigger changes, such as a drop 4 mm or more lower, 10 mm or more of stack difference, a first plated shoe, much more toe spring (a strongly rockered shoe), or zero drop, take longer, sometimes months.

Should I keep running in my old shoes as well?

Mixing old and new eases the switch, and keeping more than one pair in use was linked to fewer injuries in an observational study of recreational runners. Retire the old pair once it is worn out or the new one has taken over.

What if the new shoe hurts?

Muscle soreness that fades within a day or two is normal. Pain in one spot on a bone, tendon pain that is worse the next morning, numbness, or pain that changes how you run are not: stop or ease off, and get it checked if it does not settle.