Marathon Shoe Choice: Trainers or Flats if running slower than 6:00 min per mile?

If you are used to training in the Brooks Launch you might almost be good to go with that as it's a responsive, lighter weight shoe.

What I've noticed from my 3 marathons is that in 2 of them my first feel to shambles before my legs were totally done. Make sure you have a bit of cushion in your shoe to withstand the pounding in the later miles that you may not be used to.

Like many others, I think the Saucony Kinvara is a great choice as it's a good mix of lightness and cushioning. I am a relatively heavy and slow runner (6'2", 200 lbs, 4 hour marathoner), and the Kinvaras worked well for me. I ran one in Nike Zoom Streak XC 3s and while they were very light, I got a little beat up in them.

1st- dont do anything on race day you haven't done in training. So pick out a pair of racers or very light weight trainers and do an 18-20 in those.

For me I'm going with the lightest shoe I can wear. If it makes 1 sec per 400m difference you're giving up 1:30.

heyyo wrote:

My main question, if you're not running faster than say 6:00 min pace does it make sense to wear flats? Should trainers be sufficient?

sure. But do some long runs in the flats as a test.

Runner Number One wrote:

Think about how many Letsrun posters are actually faster than 6:00 per mile.

Then think about the percentage of Letsrun posters who wear flats for a marathon.

Now think about the likely response you'll get to your question.

Now ask yourself whether it was worth asking your question at all. You have no new information, your initial guess was confirmed but not supported by any reasoning that's not just common sense, and you're probably not going to buy any of the shoes people reccomend.

"Hey guys! I am not a 4 minute miler but I'd like to be one. Is that okay?"

"I'm not either but yeah, go for it, if you run good you can do it."

"Okay thank you! Bye! I'm a looser!"

Huh? That's 2:37. Lots of us are that fast.

Runner Number One wrote:

Think about how many Letsrun posters are actually faster than 6:00 per mile.

Then think about the percentage of Letsrun posters who wear flats for a marathon.

Now think about the likely response you'll get to your question.

Now ask yourself whether it was worth asking your question at all. You have no new information, your initial guess was confirmed but not supported by any reasoning that's not just common sense, and you're probably not going to buy any of the shoes people reccomend.

"Hey guys! I am not a 4 minute miler but I'd like to be one. Is that okay?"

"I'm not either but yeah, go for it, if you run good you can do it."

"Okay thank you! Bye! I'm a looser!"

False.

Last night I ordered 3 shoes recommended and will be following the advice of some of the posters by testing them out on long runs.

Now go take your meds.

Your trainer choices aren't too different than mine, and my last few marathons have been in T6's or NB 1400's. They were all in the 2:50's and my legs/feet weren't any the worse for wear.

But I agree, do some long runs in things like those and see how it goes. I normally do 2 long runs and about half my track work in things like the 1400's.

wigwam wrote:

"Okay thank you! Bye! I'm a looser!"

Huh? That's 2:37. Lots of us are that fast.[/quote]

What would your recommendation be if I started out at 5:50 pace the first 18 and slowed to 6:20 pace the last 8.2?

Thanks. I just ordered a pair of 1400s. I will try them out and see how it goes.

One of the reasons I started this thread is because I don't trust/don't like the Shoe categorization on runningwarehouse /roadrunnersports etc. For example, they give "suggested" ranges for some of the flats but they aren't terrible consistent. The manufacturer specs like weight sometimes appear to be a little off too.

Also there are way too many shoes to keep track of so. With all this minimalism/maximal-ism non sense, the number of shoes in the Neutral "Super" Performance shoe category is quite low. There's a lot of 4oz flats and there's also a lot of 9-10oz shoes.

I just want a regular shoe that's trimmed down a bit from a trainer but isn't a pair of slippers. I used to do all my runs in Gel Magic Racers and even some of the older hyperspeeds. The newest versions are awesome for racing and the track but are like a pair of vibrams on the road.