Discontinued Running Shoes? Oh No!

At the beginning of April, my Brooks Defyance 4 running shoes hit 300 miles.  I checked online to order a new pair, as most running shoes are only good for up to 400 miles.  I didn't want to run a marathon on shoes nearing the end of their life, so early April was the right time to get a new pair to break in.

To my dismay, I could no longer find Brooks Defyance 4 in my size.  A bit of searching uncovered that the shoes had been discontinued.  The only thing I could do was visit JackRabbit, my local running store, to try out the Defyance 5 among other shoes.  I've mentioned before that JackRabbit lets you try out the shoes on a treadmill while being filmed.  The store associate will then play back the film in slow motion to ensure that the shoes are allowing you to run properly.

At the store, I asked for shoes that were a bit less stiff than the Defyance 4.  The associate brought out the Defyance 5 along with a few other pairs  of shoes for me to try out.  I found the Defyance 5 to be a bit too stiff.  Another pair caused my ankle to over-pronate a bit (this means that when I landed my ankle bent out).  Finally I settled on the Brooks PureFlow.  They were light weight and flexible.  Since they are so light, Brooks recommends only putting 250-300 miles on them.

I was able to get roughly 60 miles on the new shoes before the New Jersey Marathon by alternating with my old Defyance 4.  It was important to try out the new shoes on a long run before the marathon.  Long runs cause a whole world of feet issues that you'll never experience on a short run.

The shoes worked well during the race.  I did get blisters but I didn't get any new toenail damage.  I also didn't experience any knee pain during or after the race. Now I've got about 200 miles to go on them before I need to get a replacement. :)

New shoes in action during the NJ Marathon!