New shoes for the marathon

I've been a bad runner. A very bad runner. I've been running on shoes with too much mileage. A strain on finances put me in this position - $100 a pop every three months is brutal on the pocket book in addition to all the other expenses that add up.

I rotate my sneakers constantly, however. I have a lot less miles on my Asics Landreth 4, since they're lighter and less cushioned than my Asics Nimbus 10. I bought them as a "race" shoe, so merely broke them in and saved them up for short/fast days. These days I'm relying more upon them since they're my freshest pair.

However, with the big race coming up, I need to commit to a new pair. I've been weighing my options. The Landreth 5 came out this spring. I haven't looked into the updates, since its a less popular shoe - very few reviews and comparisons between models. I'll probably swing by Marathon Sports to see what they have to say about it, give them a trial jog. We originally went with them since I'm a neutral with wide feet. I was getting to many blisters with the GT-1230s. I got the Nimbus 10 at the same time, but they're a little narrower and heavier. I ended up getting a second pair of Nimbus shortly before the CHaD half last fall. I was still getting blisters on my second-smallest toe. Too narrow still. Instead of going wide, I actually went up to a size 9.5, instead of the 8.5/9s that I'd worn in the past. This made a big difference.

Given that I want more cushioning for the long haul, I'm leaning towards the Nimbus 10 for the marathon. But the question is when to buy. How long do I train on these older ones? I don't want injury do to older shoes, but nor do I want to put too many miles on the new ones. I suppose, again, rotation. I finally got something of a recommendation after some googling around:

Purchase a new pair of shoes that you will use during the actual event approximately four to six weeks prior to the marathon. These shoes should be the same model that you've found works well for you during your long runs. The key point here is to have sufficient time to break the new pair in (by logging 60-70 miles including one long run) prior to your race.

I feel good about this. I'm wary of the new Landreth, since I'm unfamiliar with the newest update. I don't want to commit to something I don't full know. Also, I've been running some of my long run miles on the runner-worn hard-pack dirt beside the bikeway/walking paths near the end. When I'm pavement-only running, I'm going to want that extra cushion for the sake of my knees.

My knees are my biggest worry right now. Crossing my fingers for the long run tomorrow. I'm going to map it, hydrate and head to bed!