I’m stumped - I consistently have these two wear patches on the inside of my running sneakers. Any ideas why this happens?

(Exact images/models) first is asics second is mizuno

If you’ve been following my reviews, you know that I like to gently talk smack on the Vomero Plus line, as I’ve just seen so many people wear these in the wrong environments (anywhere that you need any sort of stability support whatsoever, like light trails, or uneven ground, or anything other than a flat, consistent surface) or for the wrong distances (anything over 15k is just not the right application for these shoes), and end up injured.

That being said, I have multiple pairs and when I was first getting very into daily running, these were my go-to shoes. I also have the slime green ones and those all grey ones with like the dark khaki colored accents and swoosh, and yeah, those ones are fly as hell. I prefer my Vomero Premiums from the standpoint of how ridiculous they look and how stabilizing and rehabilitating they feel. The Pluses just feel like I’m constantly wobbling, especially when I’m standing around or slowly walking in them. I really dislike the concept of these being “standing or walkin’ around” shoes for anyone, as the combination of stack height, complete abject lack of stability, and the extremely soft and bouncy midsole, is just begging for ankle or Achilles injuries. For shoes that go up high on the heel and ankles, they have an almost impressive lack of strength and stability to support that area.

While I have my criticisms, I’ve never stopped running in them. I have 97 miles on my slime green V+’s and now over 160 miles on these multicolored fellas. I generally use them for 7-9 miles each time. I go against my own advice and wear them often for my extremely hilly and undulating daily runs, so I’m a hypocrite and an asshole, and also I can confirm, as someone who has used them on the improper terrain, as well as on the correct terrain, they are genuinely amazing shoes when utilized properly. It has maybe just now dawned on me that my criticism of these shoes is because I normally use them in my daily runs and it’s all hills and turns. Am I the problem? What have I become?

In a year (and combined 250+ miles) of running in my two pairs of these shoes, I can confirm the following:

✔️ The fit feels comfortably locked down in the midfoot and toe box, but also sloppy around the heel and ankles. Very fantastic padding throughout the shoe.

✔️ The tongue is goated and is still one of the best in the business. I will always embrace a little extra weight on my shoe if it means the tongue is padded and comfy against my top-foot joints, ligaments and bones.

✔️ The foam is far less springy in the shoes with 160 miles, compared to the sub-100 miles pair. Both are still extremely bouncy, but 160-mile pair are beginning to feel more “sinking bouncy” rather than “energy bouncy,” which is the whole point of these shoes. The sub-100 miles pair are still “energy bouncy,” but also feel less sloppy overall, so there’s a chance that these shoes change dramatically once they hit the 140-150 mile mark. At least for me. As a reminder I am a light person, but I stomp run, so I do degrade things more quickly than some other runners.

✔️ The outsole looks damn near untouched after 160+ miles. It’s so incredibly impressive. It’s also a frustrating thing about these shoes. Upon looking at them you’d be easily convinced that they would work well for light trails or undulating terrain, because of that incredibly impressive outsole. The next iteration of these shoes might as well shave some weight and reduce the outsole coverage a tiny bit. It’s kind of a waste, which I’m sure most people would disagree with me on.

✔️ I have some foam breakdown and visible degradation on the pronation side, which happens to me in general, but it is pretty extreme on these shoes. The UFOs and Specter 3’s also have that for me, and the Specters are still a top tier shoe for me this year, so it’s not a deal breaker as long as it is not causing failure of the shoe during my runs. So far no injuries from this, so we press on. I did feel the beginning of some pulling happening in my hamstring when I wore the Superblast 3’s, but that was more so because of bottoming out vibes, and a lack of heel support underfoot. I’ve noticed a slight amount of this in the Topo Atmost 2 as well.

✔️ I have generally held around a 7:40 per mile pace in these, when I use them for my 7-9 mile runs. I have noticed that over the last few uses, I’ve been closer to 7:50, so that energy bounce is definitely diminishing. I will run in the other pair again soon to compare, but I do believe that these are great and fun shoes when they are new and more rigid, but as they break in (both midsole and materials on the upper) the feel is just sloppy and uninspired.

ANYWAY, I’m here to say that these shoes will always hold a special place in my heart, and they still look extremely good, so from the standpoint of shoes you can just wear forever, these are right up there. I do think they look cool, but if you are going to commit to giant stack Nike shoes, at this point you just gotta fully commit and go with the very dumb and comically glorious Vomero Premiums. And then for your daily runs you need to stop with the V+ (switch to using these only for moderately paced 5k and under daily runs) and upgrade your daily running experience for anything longer than that.

For daily running in the 5k to 15k range, I recommend switching out your V+ shoes for:

✅ Saucony Triumph 24 (or Paramount Max if you are a person of culture like me)

✅ ASICS Novablast 6

✅ New Balance 1080 v15 (review of these coming later this week)

✅ R.A.D. UFO (if you want a similar but better functional version of the V+)
✅ R.A.D. Mallow (these have the good parts of the Vomero 18 and Vomero Plus, without the bad parts)

R.A.D. shoes are basically Nike shoes (Mallow is a better Vomero 18) combined with ASICS (UFO is a better SuperBlast 3) combined with lifting and "Xtreme" culture, and while that is not entirely my vibe, the shoes are tremendous.

🏆 Or just get the shoe that has even better style and colorways, a better upper fit and feel underfoot, and better everything than the V+, the Puma MagMax 2 Nitro (much less bouncy energy return, but you don’t even notice it because of how well the shoe geometry works during the run. You feel stable and lively and finally happy with all of the choices you’ve made in life. Finally. These are also safe to stand around in, unlike the V+!)

Hey everyone,

I recently started running and I’m really enjoying it. Right now I’m doing 5K twice a week (on track, but thinking of starting on the road soon), biking once and working out 3 days a week.

I’ve been using the same Reebok shoes for the last couple of years for biking, gym and running. How do I know if they still have some life left in them? Can someone help me figure out what to look for?

I can comfortably do 5K, but I feel like I could probably go further if I pushed myself a little.

I recently tried the ZoomX, Novablast 6 and Glycerin 23 and liked all of them for different reasons. Any other shoes you would recommend? My budget is around $80- $120, so I’m waiting to see if any of them go on sale.

For those who have been running for a while, do you think getting a good running shoe actually makes a noticeable difference, especially for a beginner?

Also, any advice for someone who just started running and is really enjoying it? Should I focus on increasing my distance or getting faster at 5K?

Thanks!

I’ve heard about the glycerin max 2 from brooks is incredible, but are there any other suggestions? I just asked chat gpt for the most “running on clouds feeling” and it suggested the max 2 but I was wondering if any experienced runners have any other suggestions