The 21-stage Giro d’Italia kicked off Saturday and Garmin-sponsored Team Slipstream/Chipotle is making a fine showing in their first Grand tour. Slipstream won the time trial on Saturday and Christian Vande Velde, featured in Garmin’s latest Edge 705 ad, was presented the pink leader’s jersey. This first race stage was sponsored by Garmin’s U.K. office and we were proud to back the team on the podium. Stage 2 was a tough one with a brutal uphill finish. Christian, one of the team’s top climbers, gave it his all, finishing 10” behind Franco Pellizotti, who took over the pink jersey. David Zabriskie got tangled in a crash, resulting in a compression fracture to a vertebra, but he has suffered no neurological damage. Stages 3 and 4 were also marred with crashes, and the peloton is looking tired, yet Christian has managed to maintain his second place overall standing. Our thoughts are with David Z. as he returns home for recovery and we wish the rest of team safety and great racing in the upcoming stages. Check out Slipstream’s latest Garmin featured ride, in Girona, Spain.
76. David Millar +2′14″ 85. Ryder Hesjedal +2′54″ 178. Danny Pate +24′58″ 180. Julian Dean +25′44″ 184. Magnus Backstedt +27′08″ 188. Chris Sutton +31′33″ 190. Pat McCarty +31″51″
With all the great reviews on the Forerunner 405, some of you are wondering where to go to get your hands on it. The 405 is now available at specialty outdoor retailers and running stores, as well as the Garmin store on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. And like the typical type A runner, this watch doesn’t stay in one place for long. At its street debut at the Boston Marathon expo three weeks ago, hundreds of units were sold. We’ll also be doing demos and selling 405s at a couple of upcoming race expos, so watch for us next weekend, May 16-17 at the Bay to Breakers Expo in San Francisco and then May 30-31 at the San Diego Marathon Expo.
It’s been nearly two weeks since my trip to Monterey, California, but the beauty of those hills and seascapes are still imprinted on my brain. I’ll be missing the west coast scenery when I hit the roads this weekend, but my Edge 705 has plenty of beauty to behold. The latest in our family of GPS-enabled bike computers, the 705 adds color mapping and a handy click stick, which makes it a breeze to pan the map or select menu options. The 705 also offers a barometric altimeter, wireless heart rate, speed/cadence and options for pairing with a power meter. Check out this activity recorded by Edge 705 and stored at Garmin Connect, or new online community.
Must-have sport watch meets must-see TV in these brief training clips featuring our own blog editor and running expert, Jake. He’ll show you the hottest features of the new Forerunner 405 and teach you how to use the innovative touch bezel. We’ll be posting a whole series of these videos at this site. Catch a few now, come back for more clips later, including a segment where Jake goes head to head with Forerunner’s digital Virtual Partner. For all our customers who’ve been patiently waiting to get their hands on our newest GPS-enabled sport watch, we’re happy to say the 405 is now in stores, including our Chicago Store on the Magnificent Mile, and it's going like hot cakes.
Slipstream’s Trent Lowe is Best Young Rider at Tour de Georgia
“Tenacious Trent” Lowe of Garmin-sponsored Team Slipstream/Chipotle won the honors of Best Young Rider at the 2008 Tour de Georgia. High honors for an under-25 rider and even more potent since he held the title previously—at the ripe young age of 20. Trent also got podium time yesterday, finishing the Tour second in the overall classification. Teammate Christian Vande Velde finished seventh. Belarusian rider Kanstantin Sivtsov of Team High Road finished first with a slim margin of just 4 seconds. Next up on the Slipstream touring calendar: Giro d’Italia, a 21-stage race beginning May 10, followed by the Tour de France, starting July 5.
Check out the team’s latest Garmin featured ride, recorded using the Edge 705. This 40-miler packs 5,065 ft of total elevation gain. Download the course to your Edge and see how you measure up to the pros!
Peg’s Posts: Customer stories from Sea Otter Classic
In a post earlier this week, I told you how much I love talking to customers at events like Sea Otter Classic and hearing their tales of adventure, training and competition. Meet a big-time Garmin fan who has guidance by Garmin everywhere and every way he travels. Jerry from San Ramon has owned an Edge 305 and immediately upgraded to the 605 with maps when it hit stores just a few weeks ago. He uses his new 605 with our topo cartography for extra detail to guide his 2-wheeled adventures. He also owns a GPSMAP 60Cx handheld, a nüvi 680 for his vehicle and a Garmin GPSMAP 430S, which is a combo chartplotter and sounder for water-bound excursions. Follow the jump for more customer stories and photos.
After sweeping the team time trial ride yesterday at the Tour de Georgia, Garmin-sponsored Team Slipstream/Chipotle is leading in nearly all of the results categories. Best young rider jersey was passed from Tyler Farrar to teammate Trent Lowe. Tyler continued to move up in the points classification, earning sprint jersey honors, and the Slipstream team leads all others in the overall team classification with 12” over second-place Astana and 18” over team High Road. Team director Jonathan Vaughters dedicated Friday’s race to teammate Timmy Duggan, who was injured in a crash in Wednesday’s race. Since Timmy, an excellent time trialist, couldn’t race, his teammates pulled off a big win in his honor. Our thoughts are with Timmy for his continued recovery and with the rest of the team as they head into 3 more days of racing, finishing with a circuit race in Atlanta on Sunday.
Peg’s Posts: Seen at Sea Otter—racing, Gary Fisher and wild life
Yesterday we wrapped up our fourth day at the Sea Otter Classic cycling show. There was plenty of action around the Laguna Seca Raceway on the final days. I managed to slip away from our booth to get some photos of the men’s short-track cross country race, dual slalom qualifying and the elite women’s road race. Our booth had a steady stream of customers eager for a hands-on trial of the new Edge 605 and 705 bike computers with built-in mapping. The well-traveled Garmin Jeep, decked out with a variety of Garmin units, was a popular destination for show-goers. We also got the thumbs up for our booth banners displaying Garmin’s sponsorship of Slipstream. Best of luck to the team in their performance at Tour of Georgia and congrats to Tyler Farrar, who stands 4th overall after stage 1. Follow the jump for pics from the lighter side of Sea Otter Classic.
One of the greatest parts of my job is attending events like Sea Otter and talking to our customers. Hearing their stories about how they’re using our devices to give their training an edge, pace themselves for their next race or bike their way across the U.S. for a cause. Here’s a look at just a few of the customers I talked to at the show. Cathy visited our booth on the first day of the show. She just came by to tell us how much she loves her Forerunner 305, which she uses for running and cycling. Her husband said she essentially won’t run without it, and when the time came to purchase a GPS for their car, Cathy said she’d settle for nothing less than a Garmin. She also heaped praise on Garmin’s tech support for our online analysis site, MotionBased.
Here’s Matt, from Sacramento, who’ll be racing in today’s single-speed cross country race. He came by to get the course downloaded to his Edge 305. Check out the course maps Garmin created for all of the Sea Otter events, which gives athletes the chance to preview the route and see detailed course metrics online, then download to their Edge or Forerunner for course points and real-time pacing during the event. Next is Lisa, from Redlands who, along with her Edge 305, won the short-track event on Friday. Way to go Linda! Saving the best for last, you’ve gotta hear about Chris from Ventura, California.
All muscles are not created equal. That's the only way that I can explain my showing this morning at Bicycling Magazine's group ride. Well, that and the disclaimer that I'm a recreational runner who enjoys trying new things. Like cross-country skiing. And geocaching. And road biking on the hills of coastal California with some of the industry's best cyclists. Fortunately, I forfeited any inhibitions - and pride - long ago.
Even with the sweet ride I borrowed - a SuperSix from Cannondale (thanks for the loaner, Bill) - my legs weren't what I would have expected. Ask any triathlete or duathlete, and they'll tell you that you use completely different parts of your legs for cycling and running. And that's the logic I'm sticking to after dragging my deadweight up a neverending hill along the 17-mile Drive. And that's another thing, notice the capital "D" on Drive? Somehow our tour of 17-mile Drive resulted in a 30-mile ride. It's equations like that that push kids away from math. All in all, though, it was a wonderful outing. Peg and I had a blast hanging out with - and keeping up with - the group. The Edge 705 charted our progress perfectly, and my Forerunner 405 was the perfect training partner. And a huge thanks goes out to Steve (pictured above) from Bicycling for sticking with a longtime runner and helping him find his way on wheels. Now where was Steve when I tried skiing?
Peg’s Posts: Spinning our wheels with Bicycling Magazine
It’s day two of the Sea Otter Classic bike show and it promises to be a jam-packed day of racing. Jake and I started our day with a 30-mile road bike ride with Bicycling Magazine and their media guests. Our route took us through some beautiful scapes along the Monterey Peninsula and Pacific Grove. It was a great chance to test our new Edge 705 units with color mapping, elevation, speed, distance, heart rate—the works. Also a chance to try out some top-of-the-line bikes. I was lucky enough to get a loaner Ruby S-Works bike from Specialized. Talk about one smooth ride. Thanks to Allie from Specialized for setting me up! Specialized has put a ton of research and effort into designing women’s frames bikes, and it shows. Now it’s time for Jake and I to refuel and then meet up with our colleagues at the Garmin tent. I’ll be here for two more days of cycling action, so watch for more pics and stories to come.
Maybe it's because I spent last weekend driving through snow flurries. Or it might be that I knew I was dodging midwestern hailstorms. Or it could be that I was just giddy in anticipation of my first Sea Otter Classic. Whatever the reason, I was feeling adventurous and generous on a sunny day in California. So Peg and I went geocaching with our colleague Brandi and a Colorado 400t, and we left behind a few surprises: a limited-edition Garmin geocoin and another coin given to me by Brad the Engineer. Happy hunting, and be sure to send us a note if you find the cache and the stash. Also - if you can't view the video below, it can be found here.
It's Day 1 at Sea Otter Classic, and Peg, Jake and the team are off to a great start. The Garmin Jeep, decked out with hands-on devices on display, made the voyage from Kansas to California to be the centerpiece of our tent. Then there's the larger-than-life banner celebrating our sponsorship of Slipstream's elite cycling team. And the Edge 705s that we're selling are quickly filling up people's wish lists. With the number of people stopping by the booth, it's easy to forget that this is just the beginning, typically the slowest day of the Sea Otter spectacle. Think Lollapalooza meets state fair with a little Olympics thrown in - all on two wheels. Look for updates from Jake and Peg, and let us know if there's anything you want us to check out. And if you're coming to Sea Otter and planning to do some rides, stop by and have the guys from Garmin Connect/MotionBased download the courses for free.
Anticipating the release of the Forerunner 405 at the Boston Marathon, an e-mailer asks "What's the difference between the Garmin Forerunner 305 and 405?" Aside from the specs on our "click-and-compare" table, the two biggest differences with the 405 are the innovative touch bezel and the wireless data transfer. The touch-sensitive bezel controls the bulk of the functions while making the 405 look more like an everyday watch. The wireless transfer is easy to use when sharing data unit-to-unit, and any new data automatically downloads when you're within range of your PC's ANT receiver.
Available in a multi-sport bundle that maximizes its potential for duathletes and triathletes, the Forerunner 305's power, versatility and reliability have made it a must-have training tool. So it's hard to go wrong. Runner's World UK discusses some of the differences in their thorough 405 review, and Robin Adams, a New York sports anchor and fitness nut, just blogged about using a Forerunner in marathon training and said "Garmin is the way to go!"
Next week, Jake and I will be at the Sea Otter Classic cycling extravaganza in beautiful Monterey, California. This show packs 10,000 athletes and 50,000 fans onto the Laguna Seca Raceway venue for four days of nonstop 2-wheeled action. If you’re among the throng of cyclists and fans, stop by the Garmin booth to say hi and check out the new Edge 605 and 705. The 705 is the first bike computer to give cyclists GPS positioning, maps, altitude and wireless speed, cadence, heart rate and optional power—all on one display. We’ll also let you get your hands on the new Forerunner 405 with the sleek touch bezel that lets you select features with just a tap or a scroll. As we’re wrapping up in Monterey, another team from Garmin will be hitting the streets of Beantown for the 405’s debut at the Boston Marathon. Tune in next week for more from Monterey.
Ask Garmin: Who’s right? Forerunner or the race course?
A Forerunner customer who recently ran the Shamrock Shuffle 8k in Chicago asked us why the distance shown on her Forerunner varied from the official race distance of 5 miles … or 4.9709695379 if you want to be ultra precise. If the distance shown on your Forerunner is slightly more than the official race distance, it just means you weren’t cutting corners—quite literally. According to the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federation) course measurement guidelines (pg. 20), a road race course is defined by the shortest possible route a runner could take without being disqualified. For most races, a certified measurer rides the course on a bike, staying near the curb and taking every available tangent. This ensures that all runners will run at least the declared race distance. After the race, if Forerunner shows that you ran a little farther, this just accounts for extra steps you took to run around others participants, hit a water stop or stay to the middle or outside lane.
Midsole that is. Don’t wait for signs of tread wear before you spring for a new pair of running shoes. Replace your shoes every 350 – 550 miles, depending on your body weight and running surface. Take it from someone who’s been sidelined by stress fractures — you could spend far more on X-rays, orthotics and Ibuprofen than you would for a couple years’ worth of shoes if you don’t take care of your feet. Follow the jump to find out how Forerunner lets you skip the math by logging the miles for you.
The big news of Team Slipstream’s invitation to the Tour de France came last week and Garmin couldn’t be more proud to sponsor the team, whose riders will train with our new Edge 705. Check out their Garmin featured rides, which you can upload to your Edge and ride the team's favorite routes for yourself. Pick up the May issue of Bicycling magazine and you’ll find plenty of Slipstream’s distinctive argyle. Second spread—Garmin’s ad featuring Christian Vande Velde, one of the team’s top climbers and 3rd rider overall at the Tour of California. Flip a few pages and there’s another two-page spread showcasing Team Slipstream’s podium celebration after claiming first in the overall team classification at Tour of California. Later in the issue is another Slipstream ad by their bike sponsor, Felt. Their beautiful bikes feature a custom argyle paint job—very classy. Along with our congrats to the team for earning a bid to the Tour, we also want to give kudos to Tyler Phinney who rides for Slipstream's Under 23 team as well as their track team. Tyler, a 17-year-old high school senior, just secured a spot to compete in the Olympics this summer in Beijing. Tyler has some great training and genes to back up his early cycling successes. His father, Davis Phinney, was the 1984 Olympic bronze medalist while his mother, Connie Carpenter-Phinney, took gold in the 1984 Olympics road cycling competition.
So as our newest cycling computers are being sent to stores and customers, much of the attention has been on the Edge 705. And why not? For the first time, a cyclist has the option to view GPS-based position, speed and distance on the same color screen as heart rate and power. And did we mention that said screen is color and includes mapping capabilities? But there we go again, focusing only on the Edge 705 when there's another impressive device hitting the streets. That would be the Edge 605, ideal for those cyclists who may not track heart rate or power but still want a powerful training tool.
The Edge 605 was featured recently on about.com, and our GPS guide Fred liked what he saw: "Overall, the Edge 605 is a well-thought-out, well-designed, well-built and feature-rich cycling GPS that is a pleasure to use. If you're used to running wires around your fork and frame to mount a conventional cycling computer, you'll welcome the totally wire-free GPS cycle computer."
Click here for Fred's review, as well as links to other Garmin products.
Now there’s a new site—Garmin Connect—where our customers can analyze, store and share their fitness activities recorded with a Garmin device. Garmin Connect is similar to MotionBased, but with some enhancements and an improved user interface. In addition to tracking metrics like speed, distance, heart rate, cadence and elevation, Garmin Connect can overlay your route on a variety of Google Maps. In the near future, Garmin Connect will support new features like the ability to create, manage and view goals. Choosing from multiple goal types, users will monitor distance, times, calories and frequency. Also coming to Garmin Connect is the ability to manage device user profile information, like age, weight and gender, which can then be transferred to your device.
The Forerunner 405 debuts goal functionality to our fitness line. Setting and monitoring goals has never been easier. Garmin Connect's intuitive user interface will make it easy to add goals and monitor progress. Goal progress can also be viewed on the device for on-the-go motivation. With wireless data transfers, the Forerunner 405 and Garmin Connect stay in sync and up-to-date. There are other cool features in the works for later versions of Garmin Connect. Stay tuned for more info. Right now, Garmin Connect accepts data from Forerunner 50 (non-GPS fitness watch) and Edge 605 and 705, our newest GPS-enabled cycle computers. Very soon, Garmin Connect will accept data from the Forerunner 405, which, like the 50, will wirelessly send data to your computer. After that, Garmin Connect will be compatible with other Garmin devices, like the Forerunner 205 and 305, Edge 205 and 305. At that time, customers currently using our MotionBased site will have their accounts migrated to Garmin Connect and they’ll be a part of one huge, worldwide community of active folks.
Already using Garmin Edge products in their training, the elite cyclists of Slipstream officially have a specific goal to work toward: The Tour de France. One of the top racing squads in the world, Slipstream was formally announced as one of 20 teams competing this year on cycling's biggest stage. And with an emphasis on clean competition, the Slipstream athletes will be counting on tireless training and top-notch technology in the quest for the yellow jersey this July.
As one of Slipstream's sponsors, Garmin will be helping the team make its training and travel more efficient. Slipstream cyclists will train with the Edge 705, the newest GPS-enabled cycling computer in Garmin’s popular line of fitness products. Slipstream’s support vehicles will use the nüvi 770, which combines compact functionality with comprehensive preloaded maps of North America and Europe.
Check back here often, and we'll keep you updated on Slipstream's journey to the Champs-Élysées.
Peg's Posts: Forerunner 405 - an array of displays
A blog reader recently asked to see more screen shots of the Forerunner 405. Kudos to Garmin's engineering team for making the 405 such an intuitive training device with screens that are as beautiful as they are functional. The far left screen is the training page. You can set up two additional training "pages" and you can scroll through with a tap to the watch bezel. You can also choose up to three data fields to customize each training page. There are over 30 types of data you can display. We're talking way more than distance, pace, elevation and calories. You can also view GPS accuracy, grade, lap distance, heart rate average, zone, % max and more. The next screen shown here is the Virtual Partner, which gives you a virtual competitor for every training run. You pick your goal pace, then see how you match up to the VP.
My favorite screen is the heart rate page. It shows your heart rate and zone numbers as well as a chart that shows your progression at a glance. The last screen shown here is the navigation page. Since the 405 is GPS-enabled, it has some basic navigation capabilities, including a feature that guides you back to your starting point. Nice for when you strike out on a run in a new city or if you like to "run outside the lines" once in awhile.
Many of our faithful blog readers have asked when they can get their hands on the 405. A: very soon. Units should be hitting speciality running stores just after the Boston Marathon, April 21.
Today's Ask Garmin answers tap into our nüvi line. Joe wants to buy a nüvi and is interested in the nüvi 260W and the nüvi 350. "They both seem the same, except the 260W is a wide screen. Other than that, what's the difference?" With more than 30 nüvi models available to fit your specific needs, the click-and-compare feature on our Web site comes in handy. Simply by choosing the 260W and 350, and then clicking the "compare" button, you can see that the most visible differences are the size and screen (260W has 4.3" screen, 350 is 3.5"). The 350 has a flip-up antenna, is FM traffic compatible, has a headphone/audio jack and can play audio books and MP3s. Thanks, Joe, and happy shopping!
Janet Adams asks, "I have a nüvi 650 and want to know how I can get different voices downloaded on my Garmin? It only came with one voice." Glad to have you in the Garmin family, Janet. You'll find a wide range of voices and languages already available on your nüvi 650 by selecting Tools (the wrench icon) and Locale. The menus on some models differ slightly, so nüvi users can also check under Tools//Settings/Language/Voice. Enjoy!
If you have a question about a product, don't hesitate to Ask Garmin and check back here every Monday!
As we “spring forward” this weekend and anticipate some real signs of spring, cyclists are gearing up for some real road time. Garmin’s new Edge 605 and 705 are now shipping to dealers, so cyclists wanting the latest in bike computer technology will soon have it. Both come with mapping and color displays. The 705 takes it further with ANT+Sport wireless technology, which means it can pair with heart rate, cadence sensor and even compatible power meters. Check out this post by some folks from Quarq, makers of the new CinQo power meter. They did some testing recently with the 705 and CinQo in Solvang, California. They even rode the Solvang time trial course from Tour of California where Garmin-sponsored Team Slipstream pretty much sealed their recent first-place tour finish. During their six days of testing, the Quarq folks found lots to love about the performance of the power meter and Edge.
The beauty of ANT+Sport wireless technology is something we call “interoperability.” For you, that basically means a device like Edge plays nicely with compatible devices like sensors and software. You just pair the devices through a simple menu operation and they “find” each other. No worries on picking up data from another cyclist’s heart rate monitor or power meter, as long as you’re not near other sensors when you do the initial pairing. For the Solvang testing, they uploaded the data using TrainingPeaks. Garmin’s new online analysis site, Garmin Connect, also offers detailed analysis features and route sharing with a worldwide community. The Quarq CinQo’s not the only power meter that plays nice with the 705 — SRM also has a compatible power solution. Edge 705 + power — coming soon to a bike shop near you.
Peter Wellsman asks: Which power meters will the Edge 705 work with? I am aware that SRM will have a unit out this spring, are there other companies on board? Thanks for the great gear and all the work going into the Mac compatibility! Thanks for the great question, Peter. The Edge 705 is designed to work with any power meter that is compatible with ANT+Sport, the wireless technology that connects our newest fitness devices to their accessories, your computer and each other. At this time, SRM and Quarq have announced compatible power meters, and you can watch our blog for the latest updates.
In a related question, Edgar asks: Is the new Edge 705 compatible with the cadence sensor that I presently use with my Edge 305? Or will I have to purchase the complete unit including a NEW cadence sensor? Good news, Edgar. Knowing that many Garmin users choose to stay within the Garmin family when they upgrade or expand their fitness devices, our engineers worked hard to make our products compatible with existing accessories. So if you already have, for example, a heart-rate monitor from your Forerunner 305 or Forerunner 50, you can use it with the Forerunner 405 when it becomes available in April. That's why you'll see two versions of each color of 405 - with and without the heart-rate monitor included.
Send your "Ask Garmin" questions to garminblogs@garmin.com and look for new posts every Monday.
Peg’s Posts: Forerunner 405 or 305 — which is best for multisport?
A recent blog query from reader Josh posed this question: Forerunner 405 or 305 for multisport training? Here’s the straight scoop. The Forerunner 305 is our true multisport trainer because it’s optimized for a quick-release mount that lets you snap the unit from a wrist strap to a bike mount in seconds. The 305 also has a multisport mode, which allows you to switch between sport modes (running, biking or other) with one button press. You can customize the order of the sport modes and choose to include transition time or not. During the activity, you’ll simply press the lap button and the screen changes from your run settings (let’s say your main page is set up to show distance, time and pace) to bike settings (distance, time, speed). Your overall activity time will be recorded as well and the data will be linked together as one activity when you upload to our online analysis site. The 305 is available in a multisport bundle that includes the quick-release wrist strap and bike mount, speed/cadence sensor for the bike and a free year’s subscription to MotionBased (soon to be Garmin Connect).If you already have a 305, you can purchase a quick-release kit and speed/cadence sensor separately.
The new Forerunner 405 is our latest GPS-enabled sport watch with cool features like automatic wireless updates to your computer and touch bezel operations. The 405 is ideally suited for runners training for marathons and other road races. You can use the 405 for cross-training on the bike using the bike mount, though it’s not a quick-release design. You would have to place the 405 on the mount and fasten the band. The 405 is compatible with the speed/cadence sensor as well. There is no dedicated multisport mode on the 405, but you can switch to biking mode so that your activity will be tagged as biking when your data automatically uploads to the computer, but you cannot link running and biking activities together.
Hope this helps you choose the Forerunner that’s tailored to your training.
The 21-stage Giro d’Italia kicked off Saturday and Garmin-sponsored Team Slipstream/Chipotle is making a fine showing in their first Grand tour. Slipstream won the time trial on Saturday and Christian Vande Velde, featured in Garmin’s latest Edge 705 ad, was presented the pink leader’s jersey. This first race stage was sponsored by Garmin’s U.K. office and we were proud to back the team on the podium. Stage 2 was a tough one with a brutal uphill finish. Christian, one of the team’s top climbers, gave it his all, finishing 10” behind Franco Pellizotti, who took over the pink jersey. David Zabriskie got tangled in a crash, resulting in a compression fracture to a vertebra, but he has suffered no neurological damage. Stages 3 and 4 were also marred with crashes, and the peloton is looking tired, yet Christian has managed to maintain his second place overall standing. Our thoughts are with David Z. as he returns home for recovery and we wish the rest of team safety and great racing in the upcoming stages. Check out Slipstream’s latest Garmin featured ride, in Girona, Spain.
Permalink
Comments (0)
TrackBack (0)
Midsole that is. Don’t wait for signs of tread wear before you spring for a new pair of running shoes. Replace your shoes every 350 – 550 miles, depending on your body weight and running surface. Take it from someone who’s been sidelined by stress fractures — you could spend far more on X-rays, orthotics and Ibuprofen than you would for a couple years’ worth of shoes if you don’t take care of your feet. Follow the jump to find out how 
