3 Problems Every Runner has with Sneakers & How to Solve it

If you’ve run for any length of time you’ve probably had an injury or two.

And we all know how much that bites! 🙁

But what you may not realize is that your shoes play one of the biggest roles…

In fact, EVERY ONE of us has these 3 major problems with sneakers:

1. Worn Out Shoes

Believe it or not, your shoes do NOT always show signs of wear, even if they’re way past their safe mileage limit.

Most running shoes are designed for about 300 miles. After which they start to break down.

So the scary part is that if you’re not keeping track your shoe’s millage…

You can’t always look at them and know they need replaced.

In fact, most running shoes are designed so well that wear and tear isn’t noticeable at all.

How to Solve This:

So to solve this you should keep track of the number of miles on your shoes.

That is the only reliable way to know if a shoe’s life is over or not.

Once you’ve reach 300 miles, your safest bet is to replace your shoes.

If you don’t replace shoes in time you’re opening your self up to a number of possible injuries.

Things like knee problems, tight calves, hip pain, stress fractures, and plantar fasciitis – just to name a few, can all be caused by worn out shoes.

If you have trouble remembering how much mileage you have on your shoes you can try one of these tricks…

Keep a running log and note in it what shoes you wore. Then keep a tally each week of how much mileage each shoe has.

Or use an online running log like LogThatRun.com – which will automatically track this for you and warn you when your shoes need replaced.

Anther trick is to write the date on your shoe when you started wearing it. And then you can either look back through your running log, fitness tracker, or ask your running coach for your total mileage over that time period.

2. Stinky Shoes

Let’s face it!… It doesn’t matter how far, fast, or slow you run, when you get home there is a good chance your shoes reek.

Stinky shoes are caused by bacteria that are living inside your socks, shoes, and even on your feet. Gross! 😯

And to make matters worse…

If you don’t handle that stinky situation, over time the bacteria has the ability to cause an infection.

How to Solve This:

Powers, deodorizers, sprays, oh my!…

There are many methods to eliminate shoe odor, but here are some of the top ones.

1. Shoe Deodorizing Sprays

The simplest method to keep your kicks fresh is to use a spray.

Here is an excellent deodorizing spray, Lumi Outdoors Natural Shoe Deodorizer Spray. It contains essential oils like Peppermint, Tea Tree, and Eucalyptus.

So it’s safe and natural. Plus this brand has a money back guarantee, and +2,000 people on Amazon are raving about how well it works.

You can get it here.

2. Foot & Shoe Powder

Another simple yet effective method, just like the sprays.

One of the best natural powders is this All Natural Smelly Foot & Shoe Powder

3. Put Your Shoes in the Freezer

Believe it or not, the freezing temperatures of your freezer can kill the bacteria in your shoes.

The best way to do this is to place your sneakers in a ziplock bag and then into the freezer overnight.

For an added bonus you may want to then leave your shoes out in the sunshine before placing them into the freezer.

This will dry out the shoes eliminating one of the biggest problems causing your stinkiness- moisture!

3. Wrongly Laced Shoes

You might think you got this, right?!…

I mean you know how to tie your shoes already.

But trust me…

Even I fell for this one. Incorrectly laced shoes can get you injured.

Running with really tight or loose shoes can (very quickly) get you plantar fasciitis and a whole host of other injuries.

How to Solve This:

So how do you fix this? And how do you know if your shoes are laced right?

A good measuring stick to whether your shoes are laced correctly or not is how your feet feel after about a mile or half-mile into your run.

If your feet hurt then either your laces or shoes are wrong.

Then you can simply check if the laces are tight or too lose.

And contrary to what you might think!…

You want your laces a little lose.

Reason being that your feet swell when you run. So you need to give those little guys a little breathing room.

Another trick is the many different ways you can lace your shoes.

Credit for this infographic goes to RunRepeat and their Top 12 Running Shoe Lacing Techniques.
Categories: Shoes & Gear

2 Comments

Andrew Turner · March 4, 2019 at 3:56 am

There is no evidence to suggest that feet swell during running.
In fact for distances over 10K it seems the opposite is true and due, it is thought mainly to dehydration, they actually get smaller.

    RunChamp · March 4, 2019 at 9:05 pm

    Hi Andrew, thanks for commenting!… I think it may be an individual thing. Based off my own personal running experience, there are many times my feet have swollen. Some times too the point I’ve had to stop running and loosen my shoes up. I also have other fellow runners who’ve experienced the same thing. so this may not happen to everyone or every time you run, or even to the same degree, but it’s certainly a factor to keep an eye on.

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