Is this the start of the end … ? A hole in my shoe!

[CBDB]

oh no!!! A hole! Is this the beginning of the end for my Altras Lone Peak 5 Trail shoes?

Runkeeper tells me I’ve run 404 km of a life expectancy of 563 km, and I’m sure I ran less in them as I switch shoes at times without switching in Runkeeper.

Noticed this today in the middle of the run!

Any experience out there for how to patch this? Or will it hold indefinitely?

UPDATE: 5 months later and my shoes are all patched up! See healthunlocked.com/bridgeto...

[GoogleMe Graduate10]

It's not happened to me for a while but I frequently used to wear out my running shoes very quickly that way (it's when your big toe gets stuck in the hole that it matters) I don't think those 'life' expectation things apply to uppers.

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to GoogleMe]

😕 sigh 😔. Thanks. What changed, that you didn’t wear your shoes out as quickly anymore?

[GoogleMe Graduate10 in reply to CBDB]

That I don't know, as the ones that my toe went through were different materials.

[Gthants 60minGraduate]

I bought a pair of Vibrobarefoot walking shoes a few years back; walked them in and then took them to France on holiday. Wore them everyday only when out for our two hour morning walks. Before the end of the fortnight they had a hole like this. I got a refund on return. So by those standards your mileage is pretty good!

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to Gthants]

Ha! Yeah. Thanks. It just never happened to me before and I wonder if it’s because I intentionally changed to a roomier toe box, and maybe this is the consequence of this. Humph.

Sorry to hear about your shoes.

[Gthants 60minGraduate in reply to CBDB]

And it's funny; I got a pair of Brooks "on trial" from Amazon, tried them on and thought they'd be susceptible to this exact kind of damage. I'll try them on again today, but I think they'll be returned.

[Cmoi Graduate10 in reply to Gthants]

There again I got over 1000km out of my first pair of Brooks Cascadias and the uppers were absolutely fine - it was the worn lugs and lack of grip and support that did for them!

[Week7 Graduate10]

That has happened to a couple of pairs of my running shoes too. I continued to use them until they became uncomfortable-by which time I had exceeded recommended mileage in any case -but wore black socks to match then so noone noticed !!

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to Week7]

Yeah, if my experience with my first set of C25k shoes is to be believed, which were my ancient tennis shoes, I’ll be running my Altras until the soles come off. 🤣🤣🤣

(ok, ok! … just joking … I will replace at an appropriate time 😏)

The shoes I finished C25k with

[Week7 Graduate10 in reply to CBDB]

🤣

[Doris8 Graduate10]

I’ve got a 2 pairs of altras like that purple and orange but nothing happened yet. Don’t use them as much as my Brooks which use for walking. Have just bought new pair of brooks ghost 15 wide peacoat navy but not worn yet, they are on standby. Plan to wear around the house first. I sized up on my Altras and Brooks for roomier for my 2 nd longer toes I have.

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to Doris8]

👍🏽 yes. I do wonder if I could do with one half size smaller, but they feel really well fitting and I love the roomier toe box.

[Rowers Graduate10]

This has happened to mine. I've used Velcro (the hook side) on the inside of my shoe fairly successfully.

[Gthants 60minGraduate in reply to Rowers]

That's a really clever work around! 🙌

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to Rowers]

🤔 hmmm… i think this might not work with the material of my shoes but will give it a go. Great idea!

[nowster Graduate10]

Duct tape! 🤣

[MissUnderstanding Administrator Graduate10 in reply to nowster]

That’s the answer to fixing everything that’s broken!

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to MissUnderstanding]

🤣🤣

[Dexy5 Graduate10]

This is quite a common occurrence for some runners CBDB , and it often happened to UTS’s shoes, but fortunately not to his latest Mizuno Wave Inspires (so far). It doesn’t affect your running though. I tried darning the hole in one pair but it didn’t last long.

Our local independent running shop has a service where a reinforcement patch can be added inside when you buy new shoes.

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to Dexy5]

Oh that’s good to know. Thank you.

I was fearful that maybe it’s an indication that I had a too large size but I really love the roominess in my toe box and the shoe fits perfectly, it feels. So really want to stick with that size.

Thank you!

[SkiMonday Graduate10]

Calf stretches might help!

If your calves are tight, the muscles that lift your foot have more work to do which can result in your big toes lifting and fighting their way through the uppers of your shoes.

Doesn't really help once you've worn a hole, but it could stop it happening again.

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to SkiMonday]

Great tip. Will keep this in mind. I do calve stretches after every run, dynamic before, but they also have been tight at times. So maybe more work is needed here.

[TimeInNature Graduate10]

I haven’t tried them myself yet but I recently learned of pairups.co.uk/ “Pair Ups is a tried and tested process which has been developed and created for runners like you to extend the life of your favourite trainers.”

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to TimeInNature]

That is brilliant! Thank you! I think might just try these!