just started doing some runs in Mizuno Idaten. Love the feel of running in flats, however, is this a recipie for disaster in terms of hightened injury risk??? Runs now are of short duration(max = 50 mins.), but frequency is high 5-6x per week. Any suggestions for a shoe that feels like a flat, but won’t result in an injury from lots of use? What is lifespan of a flat?
I would caution against running too much in flats. Don’t know the Mizuno Idaten, but most flats have much less support, less cushioning & less durability than the ave training shoe. I know it feels sweet to cruise along effortlessly at high speed, but unless you’re quite resilient to injuries and biomechanically efficient, you’re increasing the risk of all sorts of injuries. (some folks have legs of iron & could run barefoot if they wanted but not me!)
As for durability, a training shoe (Adidas Supernova) lasts me 6-12 mos, depending on my mileage. (Say, ave of 20mi/wk max, I don’t run that often). Nowadays, racing flats might last me 3+ years, but I hardly ever train in them and might do about 20 races total in that time frame (5k-10k length) before the outsole wears out or midsole feels dead or upper falls apart.
In college, when we used our racing flats for xc/track workouts, my flats lasted about a year. For me, doing speedwork in racing flats was a necessity to simply keep up! But it also helped train the body on the pace, rhythm, and pounding of race pace.
I’d recommend you stick w/ sturdier (and heavier & more stable) training shoes for your recovery & distance days and reserve those speedy flats solely for your speedwork (tempo runs, fartleks, intervals, etc).
If your form is bad then a racing flat will lead to injuries quicker than any other type of shoe. During the tri season (March to early September) I run about 30-40 miles a week. Now I am in the 60-70 range and doing most of my runs in flats (Mizunos–not sure what type). I haven’t had any injuries and I doubt that I am naturally injury-resistant (I used to regularly get shin splints & IT band pain before I focused on form).
I recall some guy on the Dirty Secrets thread say he trained exclusively in flats because they encouraged the use of proper form (i.e. less heel cushoning to help you land on the ball or at least flat-footed).
Just one opinion.
I love training in “performance trainers” to flats. They won’t last long though. I have recommended these before, but the new Saucony type-A is an awesome shoe. Just a little more than a racing flat, super light, blown rubber outsole and very durable. I have 250 miles now on a pair and they are fine. Usually racing flats are toast by 200 miles.
If you feel fine, keep going. There are certain injuries that you are “predisposed” of training in “flats”, but you would know.