Originally Posted by 65BR
Question for those who have had PF - is the recurrence rate high?

I ran all my life, done Karate since College off and on since being on the team. So all that was barefoot, been in sales on hard soles much of my career, and yes, been barefoot around the house a good bit.

When I shop for new running shoes, it seems most are all junk, the soles are seemingly cheap lightweight foam, and it does not hold up well. Also the arch support in many shoes is a simple cheap material that is ineffective IMHO.

Anyone else feel that quality of shoe materials and construction has been cheapened over the years? I feel there is a correlation for those who run. Yes, I have also tried stretching using shoes beyond the life, but the new ones seem like junk out the box......thoughts?


I'd guess I'm younger than most around here, and I've only been running regularly as a hobby for 4-5 years. So I don't know how good the running shoes of yesteryear were, but I've put 1000 miles on a few pairs myself. And many of those were on rough dirt roads and trails. They didn't fall apart.

So no sir I don't think running shoes of today are junk. But I will say if you're buying based on looks, or using nike, reebok etc they may not be what I'd call real running shoes. The serious runners I know wear Brooks, Saucony, Asics, new Balance etc. Most big box stores I've looked at don't carry many pairs of serious running shoes. I buy most of mine from Runningwarehouse.com.

On your question about recurrence of PF among regular runners, yes it can be a chronic problem. I realized after my 2nd time that I need to pay more attention to wear on my shoes, So I only go 500ish miles now before swapping, and try to alternate shoes also. I'm currently using 3 different pairs of New Balance. my current favorites are the Leadville 1210.

Another important issue with running shoes is picking the right pair, with the right amount of arch support for your foot and stride. Shoes vary from "barefoot feel" (almost no support) all the way to motion control shoes that look like those "shape ups" with the super thick soles. I use shoes on the very moderate support side.

I also made a conscious effort to improve my stride and try to land mid foot vs. all on my heel when running. And I run mostly on pavement now as well, which is better on the feet than rocky roads. Lastly, when my feet start hurting I back off the running for a few days and do lower impact exercise, like riding my elliptical trainer.