Hi
Have read a bit lately that it is better to have normal laces in your shoes than elastic for running a marathon.
Any suggestions or thoughts?
Jonboy
Personal preference
Some people like the secure feeling of normal laces, they don’t move after you tie them.
Some people like the ability of a lace that can move around a little and give your foot some wiggle room.
Personally I would choose normal laces for a run outside of a triathlon but that’s just me.
jaretj
I put elastic laces on non-running shoes. I’m far too lazy to tie anymore.
I just tie my shoes with normal laces in such a way that I can get into and out them without having to tie and untie them… It serves the same purpose as elastic which I cannot use because they hurt my feet…
Joel
Hi
Have read a bit lately that it is better to have normal laces in your shoes than elastic for running a marathon.
Any suggestions or thoughts?
Jonboy
That depends upon…
I have 4-5 different types of elastic laces, which again can be mounted different ways - of course giving different results.
Main challenge with elastic laces is the flexibility - if a foot starts moving a bit forward inside the shoe the result after 40k is much pain, blisters and damaged nails. If I get a firm enough hold, elastic laces are OK. (Almost no problems in the hilly IM Wales 3 days ago.
Hi
Have read a bit lately that it is better to have normal laces in your shoes than elastic for running a marathon.
Any suggestions or thoughts?
Jonboy
All my running shoes have elastic laces
I find that at my age my OCD was getting too extreme
With normal laces…
Age 20-30 - retied them twice before I was happy with the tension before a run
Age 30-35 - retied them three times before each run
Age 35-40 - four times (and one loo trip)
Age 40-45 - five times (and two loo trips)
Elastic laces save me a day per year and reduce the perceived exercise time for my wife
Hi
Have read a bit lately that it is better to have normal laces in your shoes than elastic for running a marathon.
Any suggestions or thoughts?
Jonboy
I’d like to read what you read. I’m curious as to the reasoning. Got a link?
I double knot regular laces in races / training.
For sprint and Olympic triathlons, I use elastic laces and tri shoes. 70.3 I use regular laces and regular shoes.
If you don’t use Velcro shoes, you’re just leaving time on the table either way.
.
I only use elastic. I’ve never understood why everyone doesn’t use them. They provide a consistent tension but offer wiggle room because they give a little. You won’t get either of those in regular laces. Plus the obvious time savings in transition. Elastic for the win!
Regular laces for trainers, Lock laces for races (standalone or tri). I don’t “feel” any difference in my case, and regular laces do have some give. However, I really abhor having that “great” run at the end of a tri only to be interrupted by a loose shoe lace.
I’m finding that my elastic laced shoes are more comfortable. Mainly they don’t slowly loosen during the run. I have to slightly over tighten my standard lace shoes to compensate for this.
Plus I always race tri’s and running races in elastic, so might as well have them on my training shoes as well.
For me it depend on the shoe. Some feel great with elastic laces, other don’t feel secure.
I switched from laces to elastic specifically for transitions, having spent 30 or so years using laces. Two reasons: it was faster (obviously) AND I no longer had to stop for an untied shoe. Now that I’ve done it for a few years, I like the elastic laces much better. Laced-up shoe tightness for me was always a bit of a gamble (too tight, too loose) especially when I was in a hurry, and adjusting for either was time consuming or (suck it up) painful. With the elastic types, it seems easier to get the tension right AND if I get it wrong it’s a two-second adjustment process - losing maybe a stride or two.
They are FABULOUS for getting kids running too. Mine tended to under or over tighten their running shoes, and/or tangle the snot out of them. So a run with the kids no longer starts with the 5 minutes of adjusting / tying their laces.
Never going back, personally.
I put elastic laces on non-running shoes. I’m far too lazy to tie anymore.
I was thinking the same thing. Pretty much all my shoes that aren’t dress shoes (and now that I think about it I may use them there too) or have velcro (Tevas), have elastic laces in them. When I retire them as running shoes they become walk around shoes then later garden shoes. Someday I’ll forget how to even tie shoes.
Shoes? Didn’t we all learn long ago that barefoot was the only way to go?
My old running shoes, now my walk around shoes, have elastic. But for running, so far, my foot slides around too much so still tie and still get blisters. I suspect I’ll try elastic again this traing season.
My racing flats (Newton Tri Racers) came with elastic laces out of the box and it’s been my first pair. When I laced them up properly they worked pretty good. My other “mileage” shoes are regular laces and I still sway towards this.
I’ve read recently that BOA is going to release a retrofit kit to make their system work on running shoes but I’ve yet to try it. Seems like the best of both worlds (speed vs tightening)
http://blog.boatechnology.com/category/triathlon/
http://blog.boatechnology.com/2013/07/22/boa-technology-helps-outdoor-retailer-attendees-get-closure/
I’m one who can’t stand the elastic laces. At least for me, if they’re snug enough to keep enough tension so they’re tight enough for my taste, they end up being too tight. With the normal laces, since the tightness is fixed, I don’t have to overtighten them so they don’t accidentally loosen with some steps.
I don’t tie/untie on races, just slip in my feet into tied regular laces, has worked great.
Elastic for me - both for my only standalone marathon as well as all my tri’s including my only IM. However, I had one pair of shoes where the laces snapped twice in two weeks of each other and both sets were relatively new. I attribute that to something on the shoe that must have rubbed them the wrong way so I made sure to have an extra pair of laces in my SN bag for my IM.