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Wellness Wednesday for March 15, 2023

The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:

  • Requests for advice and / or encouragement. On basically any topic and for any scale of problem.

  • Updates to let us know how you are doing. This provides valuable feedback on past advice / encouragement and will hopefully make people feel a little more motivated to follow through. If you want to be reminded to post your update, see the post titled 'update reminders', below.

  • Advice. This can be in response to a request for advice or just something that you think could be generally useful for many people here.

  • Encouragement. Probably best directed at specific users, but if you feel like just encouraging people in general I don't think anyone is going to object. I don't think I really need to say this, but just to be clear; encouragement should have a generally positive tone and not shame people (if people feel that shame might be an effective tool for motivating people, please discuss this so we can form a group consensus on how to use it rather than just trying it).

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Is it worth investing in high quality running shoes?

The Internet seems to be broadly aligned that running shoes need to be replaced somewhere between 350-500 miles, which can add up for those who run 10+ miles a week. My personal experience tracks this paradigm--even at 350 miles, a well-reviewed pair of shoes have insoles that look beat up, and maybe this is confirmation bias, but running feels more effortful and even painful compared to immediately switching to a new pair.

On the other hand, there's the poverty tax example about how a rich man buys an expensive pair of boots that last 10 years, and a poor man has to buy a new pair of cheap boots every year, and in the end the rich man actually spends less money.

Ideally I'd like to buy expensive but high-quality shoes that in the long term saves money because they get more mileage per dollar. But do such running shoes exist? I've bought and run in Nike, Adidas, New Balance, Saucony, Reebok, etc. ranging from $35 to $150, and haven't had particular luck yet for something that seems "investment grade".

Thoughts welcome and appreciated.

On the other hand, there's the poverty tax example about how a rich man buys an expensive pair of boots that last 10 years, and a poor man has to buy a new pair of cheap boots every year, and in the end the rich man actually spends less money.

I've always found this claim hilarious. There is an element of truth that the cheapest options are sometimes not cost effective, but if you look at cars, the total cost of ownership is pretty clearly lower for a Toyota than a BMW.

I've owned lots of boots and running shoes in my life and would solidly recommend options in the middle: the really fast Nike carbon-plated shoes are known to break easily (as it turns out, they sacrifice durability for weight and speed), and I wouldn't recommend the cheapest shoe on AliExpress either. But a normal model from a reputable brand might make 5-600 miles if you are gentle with them.

But a normal model from a reputable brand might make 5-600 miles if you are gentle with them.

Absolutely, this is not from any scientific data, but trying to optimize for weight often results in sacrificing a lot of material. Material which provides important structure and support for the shoe.

I’d personally suggest Nike Winflo 4. I had a pair for 4 years and they are yet to fail on me. >>>600km of causal walking, trashing it in water, mud, you name it, I’ve stepped on it.