Some things I never knew, for instance there are people out there who have more than one pair of running shoes.

That’s right, more than one pair of running shoes. On the go – and – at the same time!

Wow, can you believe it?

Or to quote a phrase – they ‘rotate’ their running shoes.

This is not some kind of pre-race ankle turning exercise we’re talking about, but actually choosing what shoe to wear when they head out – from more than one pair.

Here’s someone who positively endorses rotating running shoes

Now why I should be surprised by this I’ve no idea, but it’s something that only became obvious to me after I wrote about whether or not to buy new running shoes with barely two weeks before my next half marathon.

The question of rotating running shoes provoked quite a discussion on the Runnorfolk FB page and group.

I thought it would be a simple yes/no answer – in fact most FB posts just told me to go off and get a new pair.

But then something else became obvious to me – there are people out there who have a pair of shoes for nearly every running occasion.

Some for training, some for trails, some for the beach, some just to have something to choose from when they set off for a race.

Advocates of the multi-shoe approach also maintain that it reduces the risk of injury too, and you are not left with the problem of breaking in a new pair of shoes.

In fact this old Runner’s World article quotes a Scandinavian study which suggests that there is something in the reducing injury idea.

 

And it’s quite clearly not a male-female thing either, as respondees on Facebook were quite clear they knew many men who were multiple running-shoe rotators (the kind who apply moisturiser I wondered to myself).

And when I think about it I have several pairs of other essential running items, such as runderwear (three pairs ladies and gents, you do the maths), running leggings (I’ve yet to graduate to proper shorts), and T-shirts.

So why not have more than one pair of running shoes?

Yet do I get to do enough trail running around Thetford Forest, or beach running at Waxham Sands to justify a multi-shoe outlay? And thinking about it, what’s probably going to stop me owning more than one pair is budget – typically if I’m paying £120 odd a pop for a pair then I like to have a good lie down afterwards, and am too light headed for a good six months or so to think about getting another pair.

And when there are other little mouths to feed in the household selfishly going through new pairs of shoes at a rate of knots, then what chance has dad got?

Not that it would ever have occurred to me to have more than one pair of running shoes anyway.

Never.

Yet may be that’s the point?

May be six months down the line from buying a new pair is exactly when I do need to get another pair, and then I can start the rotation?

So my eyes have been opened to whole shoe rotating running world out there I never knew existed.

Now I just need to open my wallet.

Does anyone know of any good deals out there..