Do most people train in Race specific shoes or use more stable running shoes for training ?
I race in the same shoes I train in.
My shoe of choice over the last several years is the New Balance 900 series - very nice. I wasn’t a big fan of this years model, and I’ve always had issues with them getting really soggy on long runs and longer races.
I’m trying out some Zoots and will probably give Kswiss a shot - regardless with what I end up using for 2011 - I’ll run 90%+ of my miles in the same model of shoe.
The point of racing flats is to reduce weight so that you have higher cadence and lower your pace. I train in a heavier, more stable shoe to build more strength during hard workouts and of course lower your chance of injury. Once you put on your racing flats, you will move! I coach cross country and we found most of our runners lower their 5K time by 60-45 seconds with their flats compared to trainers.
there is a huge psychological effect at work there, probably somewhat similar to the placebo effect. i am all too familiar with how much faster you end up running when switching out of heavy training shoes and into racers, but the difference is not accounted for by any property of the shoes.
I do open training runs in my long course (13.1/26.2) race shoes, but they’re not flats. I do brick runs in my short course (sprint/oly) race shoes.
it depends on the timing of the year and the distance of the event. i have been training in ds trainers for 12 years. love em. i choose something lighter for race day both running and triathlon. when it comes to marathons, 70.3’s and up…i usually go with my ds trainers. one time i wore flats for a 70.3. i dropped 5 minutes and i couldn’t flex my legs for 10 days. so if i can afford to recover for ten days with out messing up the rest of my schedule then I will go for it.
Do most people train in Race specific shoes or use more stable running shoes for training ?
I encourage everyone to do sessions in their race shoes. So many athletes pull up sore from races particularly in the lower limb because their racing flats have much less offset than their training shoes and they only ever race in them.
I do both race speed and overdistance work in race shoes.
If you can’t run 15km easy for Olympic, and long runs in your race shoes for other distances then I question how are your legs going to go during the actual race and after…
I train in a good durable, well cushioned and supportive shoe… expecially since I developed planter fasciitis last summer. They are light enough to race in if needed, but I remeber from X-country in high school that racign spikes compared to training shoes were good for at least 30 seconds in a 5k. Mainly in that 1st, very fast mile going out.
But I do speed work on the track, practice transitions or short bricks and race in racing flats.
I’ll probably need a little better padded flat this year with my injury. Maybe one designed for 1/2 or full marathons.
race shoes were meant for racing. training shoes don’t have to be stable or heavy…just more than a race shoe.
Same shoes for racing and training since 2004…literally, the same pair of shoes! I think I can get another 2 years out of them.