Besides being filthy, they were split open at the toes, squashed at the heels, worn smooth on the soles and about as shock-absorbent as cast iron. These shoes are not giving your feet much protection, support or motion control. In fact, if you keep using them, you'll injure yourself, if you haven't already. You've blown out these shoes. The bozo, of course, was me, and according to Dr. P., I'm all too typical of the breed.
Many runners have a difficult time parting with their shoes.
Their shoes become friends and companions. They'll save every pair, no matter how old and beat-up they are, like souvenirs. Go into their closets and you'll find the running shoes they wore in college or when they first ran Boston. It's almost a fetish. The mistake people make, Palamarchuk says, is believing that running shoes will last forever.