Change your shoes every (500km or so) say the manufacturers. If you run on roads and still heel strike, then maybe the advice is not as self-seeking as it seems to a sceptic like me. Since I started running mid-foot (simply by pushing both nipples forward by 1 cm) it seems the shoe has become less important as the foot – designed by mother nature expressly for the job – does more of the work.
Finally one morning the shoes gave up the ghost.
Time for new shoes? No need. In Nepal you can find someone on many a street corner to fix them up. They’re equipped with industrial needle, strong thread and a brain-numbing glue. Rs. 20 later (just €0.20) and the shoes are almost as good as new. Almost.