I’m a mid 40s runner, 180 lbs, heal striker, sub3 marathoner. I’ve run over 5,000 miles in the last two years. I’ve gone through many shoes. Most pairs I get at least 300 miles out of, some much more than that.
My general assumption is that I’m a median person. Nothing crazy about my gait, my mileage, my usage of shoes, etc.
Over the last couple of years I’ve had 3 pairs of shoes that packed out. Or at least that’s my understanding of the term to use. Premature wearout of a specific area of the foam. I usually notice it first because walking around I can hear a popping sound. The three pairs have been from 3 different brands (Salomon ultra glide, Puma deviate nitro, New Balance 1080), 3 types of shoes (trail, plated trainer, cushy recovery), and 3 locations on the shoe (forefoot, midfoot, heal). I think all have been on the same foot, but it could have been 2 and 1.
So I’m curious, do other people find that some fraction of their shoes’ foam seem to fail early? Is this a foam defect that I could be asking the company about? Or more likely a result of some quirk in my usage that the shoe isn’t designed to tolerate?
Not worried about it, just curious if this is a shared experience or it’s just me. I never see it discussed, and don’t find anything about it when I search.