As a runner, I go through 3-5 pairs of running shoes a year. I try and wear the old ones to work or around the house but there comes a point where I have five or six pairs just lying around. Although they may no longer be good for running they're good for something. Here are a few great recycling ideas for your shoes, either how to make good use of them or to how to make some new ones out of recycled material.
Shoes make some of the best planters you'll find. They drain well and hold the perfect amount of soil to grow a nice flower. Every year I have my daughter choose her favorite flower and we plant it in an old pair of her shoes.
They say necessity is the mother of invention. This south American gentleman couldn't afford shoes so he made his own from an old tire and a seat belts.
The soles of shoes are a very useful recyclable. They can easily can be made into many products including the obvious, more shoes.
There's no doubt that there are plenty of plastic bags in the world. This young lady took her crochet skills and made the finest pair of sandals that can be built with the catchings of a Wal-Mart fence.
Nike has a great program called reuse-a-shoe. Athletic shoes are broken into three parts: the fabric, the foam, and the rubber sole. Then they are then ground up and made into durable athletic surfaces. It takes roughly 2,500 shoes to make a basketball court and up to 75,000 shoes to make a full 400m track surface. Imagine running with your new shoes on your old shoes!
We all want to be faster, and of course, training and speed work would be way too much effort. I prefer lighter shoes. Everyone is different, but a light pair of shoes not only makes me feel fast but actually lessens the fatigue on my legs as the mileage builds up. I am fortunate I don't need very much stability and despite being a big runner at 190 pounds (hopefully 175 by May) I don't need extra cushioning. What I do need is space in the toe box and because of this, Mizuno is my shoe of choice. I have been running in Mizuno Wave Riders
since the day I began running. Just like an old dependable car, you want to try something different, but after trying a few new models you realize you already have the best model for you.
As I always do this time of year, I visit the local running store and order the usual new shoes. Size 12.5, Wave Rider 104, or whatever number they're up to. On the shelf I see this shoe from Mizuno that screams fast. The shoe has a lot of red in it and has bright red laces. The part that caught my eye was the yellow coming up the toe with the red nubbins. As we all know, a shoe that looks good is a nice bonus. Of course, if I lose a few toenails or my feet are sore for days, then how a shoe looks really doesn't matter. I decide to try them on.
Simply amazing. These shoes are certainly the lightest I have ever put on. The toe-box was also the standard extra large size and "stretchability" of the typical Mizuno. The guy at the store assured me that I could wear these on any of my training runs but most likely they would break down a bit faster than other shoes and may not provide as much cushioning as the Wave. Like a kid on his first day of school with his new shoes, I head to the track the next morning. The first thing I, and everyone I'm running with, notice is the extreme noise the nubbins make on the toe. You can here every push of the foot. I can't decide if I hate it because of it's repetition, or love it because they can here me closing down the stretch. They certainly feel faster. The Wave Rider is a light shoe but this feels like air. After a good morning of hard sprints and a few weeks of 6-10 mile tempo runs, I think I have found my new "secret weapon". Whether they make me truly faster or not is not important. As long as I think I am faster and feel faster, then that's all I need. That and no pain.
Ingredients for the cure
A real quick tip to help you get the smell out of your high-mileage shoes.
We all know that long runs in the hot sun or even short runs in the rain will give our shoes a funk that is tough to get rid of. Here is a quick tip that works well for me. Take an old pair of long sock with no holes and fill them half way with kitty litter. Tie off the top of the socks and stick them in your shoes after each run. Bingo - the litter soaks up the moisture and odors.
YakTrax improve traction in slippery conditions
This is a review of YakTrax, a product that attaches to the bottom of your shoes to provide better traction in slippery conditions.
Winter running is never easy in places like the Midwest. If it's not snowing and windy, it's icy and bone-chillingly cold. YakTrax can't help with the temperature, but they do give your shoes some much-needed traction. YakTrax simply fit strap onto your existing running shoes, creating a rubber lattice on their shoes with steel springs that creating traction After wearing them a month last winter I am ready to share my feelings on the product.
Pros: They really do help with grip. It is amazing how much better traction you get in snow. While other runners slip and slide, you can run right up the hill. They also keep you upright when you hit ice. I don't recommend running on solid ice, but they do keep you from busting your butt when you hit a patch. Surprising, YakTrax are actually pretty comfortable too. I barely notice them in the snow and on the trails. I figured they would hurt my feet after a few miles but that's not the case on soft surfaces like snow and dirt.
Cons: They fall off too easily. They don't fall off often, but the fact that they can fall off at all is a pain. Especially because you can't really feel them missing right away, you might end up losing them. Unless you're running with other people you have to retrace your path to find your Trax. I also don't recommend them for running when their isn't a good layer of snow or dirt. After 4 or 5 miles of running on a hard, paved street they do start to hurt your feet.
Conclusion: I would certainly recommend YakTrax to all runners who experience harsh winters. For about $20 you can get out and run in just about any conditions and feel safe. I also enjoy the ability to surge ahead of my running partners when they're struggling to find their footing.
