HealthFit: Tracking Running Shoe Miles (And Something Personal About It)

I actually wanted to describe in a few words how you can track the wear and tear of your running shoes with the powerful Healthfit app for iOS. I've drifted a bit thematically, but the good thing is that you can expect this in a blog and sometimes want to read it. If you don't want that, just jump almost down.

I am now 44 years old. I'm the type of person who doesn't need to have the latest shoes every year. Of course, fans and collectors of sneakers see things differently - but that's how it is for me. I buy shoes privately from a symbiosis of quality, price and appearance. This is almost identical to running shoes. I don't care if these are 2018, 2019, 2020 or 2021 model years. I buy running shoes on sale. At some point there are always sales in some shops.

I ran over 3,000 kilometers this year. It is said that running is a cheap hobby. That's only half the story if you don't walk barefoot.

Running became my hobby because I wanted to change my life. Just as I work every day to ensure that the ethical and moral compass still fits, so should the physical. From fat sack to fit sack. Someone who didn't want to be the pre-gym model anymore.

With this post I am also fulfilling the request of some readers to write an update on the two posts. If you want to save yourself my self-adulation, I recommend the short form: I do a lot of sport (running). Eat more consciously, differently, healthier. It turned out that there was hardly any meat. Mostly chicken or turkey. Of course I also sin. A lot even. More gourmand than gourmet. You can't live all the lives you want, but you can enjoy one. In the end, that's how it went for me: I lost well over 30 kilos through exercise. My goal is 85 kilos. I'm 8 pounds away from that. But that's been over a year. At some point, the end of slimming, muscle building, more calorie intake through exercise, cravings, life, this, that. However, I still track my calories with Yazio for the most part.

Back to the running shoes. I've been through a few pairs over the last few years. From time to time I record how and where and what I run on social media. How it changed my life. That also led to people asking me for advice. From time to time I can share my opinion, my experience. That helps sometimes. But the topic "running shoes" is really crazy. This is hotly debated in the relevant forums and everyone thinks they know the absolute truth. Real religious wars sometimes, really annoying.

As such, I would never believe the ultimate advice on running shoes (except, of course, “better buy a half to size bigger”), let alone the marketing shit from the manufacturers. Not only is every foot different, every body is different. It's not just about the shoe. He doesn't know what your bones look like, how far you run and on what surface. what your body can do. He doesn't even know how you appear when running.

That's why a shoe that's perfect for me can be completely crap for you. Some manufacturers make recommendations. Then say: 800 kilometers recommended. Can you stick to this value? It is probably as meaningful as: This e-scooter drives you 25 kilometers. But only if you weigh 70 kilograms, there is no wind - and you just drive at this or that speed. Can match, but doesn't have to. One can cover 1,000 kilometers with 10-euro shoes, while the other sorts out his 150-euro kicks after 500 kilometers.

I'm currently starting to track for myself - more for fun - with my new running set of shoes. I'm a big fan of New Balance running shoes for my feet and have found real highlights for me in the Fresh Foam series. But I really never tracked them in terms of kilometers – that was a frequent question from readers. At some point you just notice that the cushioning is gone. Not only when running, you can see it in the shoe, keyword: optical feedback. If the outsole looks worn, it may soon be time to change shoes. Is the midsole no longer cushioning and even wrinkled? Also an indication of wear and tear.

When you notice it in your joints, it's often 5 to 12, then change shoes. You should also keep an eye on your running style. If you bang your (in my case a lot of) kilos with every step from high up on the heel or the forefoot, then the shoes wear through faster than if you land as gently and glidingly as possible, even over a large area. It's a bit like car tires.

The wear and tear – or rather the kilometers run – of the running shoes can be tracked. That was the actual intention of my post. I myself have always only used the training app on the Apple Watch to track my runs. Both outside and inside on the treadmill.

I bought HealthFit a long time ago for little money because this magical app offers a lot of information about all types of training. You can also export your training to dozens of other training apps. In other words: If I ever move to another training platform, I can port my training. And at some point there was the update for tracking the wear and tear of training gear. So far it's bikes and shoes.

You can store these in the settings of the app. Standard shoes can be stored, which would then be automatically entered for each run. But I do it myself so that I enter my shoes by hand after each training session because I use different pairs. To do this, you have to go to the relevant training in the HealthFit overview, go to the menu on the top left, then click Edit – and select “your” pair under shoes.

Since I run every day, I got myself several shoes for 2022. In addition to the – for me – obligatory New Balance models, there was also the Saucony Fastswitch 9 in the Black Friday sale, which I would like to try out. Relatively narrow profile, but well suited to the mostly flat, easy surface of my running track in the park.

And now I'm tracking for myself how long the shoes will last. Because of course I also like to look at my workload to see which shoe is the best for its purchase price. In addition, training sessions can be filtered by shoes in the HealthFit app. I think that's a good thing, because as a frequent runner I actually have several pairs of shoes that I would like to use as identically as possible.

And no, of course you don't have to use HealthFit on iOS. I mean Runtastic and other apps also allow tracking the kilometers run per pair of shoes.

To cut a long story short: So please don't let anyone tell you anything generally valid about how long shoes last. I've seen sites that claim shoes last 400-750 miles. What can be right. But I ask you - what is this Nostradamus oracle? If you have the opportunity, you can also ask in the sports shop. They certainly have good advice for your foot.

With this in mind: Stay healthy, take care of yourselves - and do something for yourselves. If you have any questions, please use the comment function, if I have an opinion or even advice on something, I will answer promptly.

And because the question is always asked: The kilometer evaluation in the Instagram picture makes the free iOS app Workouts: Visual Progress. Here is our contribution to it.

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