Do you train in racing flats?

you should train in those. Get rid of those shoes with big heels. They only give you bad habits.

Track fan 33 wrote:

you should train in those. Get rid of those shoes with big heels. They only give you bad habits.

The great one Lydiard said it best: Pick shoes with fairly thick rubber soles and a flexible arch. Now run your balls off and don't use drugs.

Yes, been training and racing in AdiZero flats for the last few years.

But recently picked up a pair of saucony kinvara 2 and they feel like so much more shoe. Without changing my form too much, I feel they are much better for recovery days.

So I'm going the opposite direction, from "minimalism" (flats) to getting a little more shoe for training. I feel it gives me a little more cushion (pun intended) when I want to spike (big increase) my mileage some weeks.

I was thinking about getting something like the kinvara 2s for my recovery days, and the Nike Zoom Streak XCs for my workouts. But just wanted to get some ideas on good shoes.

Nike Lunaracer 2. Lightness of a flat (6.8 oz), good cushioning, very durable (800+ miles. And quite a lot of that was done on pavement).

Asics hyperspeed 4 for tempos and such. Low to the ground, good tight fit.

Have also used Banditos and DS Racer 8 in the past. Couldn't get much more than 500 miles out of a pair though.

For reference, I do about 80 mpw all in flats.

Would you use the lunarracer, or hyperspeed for long runs? And then the hyperspeed for wrkts and lunarracer for recovery?

What I Use wrote:

Nike Lunaracer 2. Lightness of a flat (6.8 oz), good cushioning, very durable (800+ miles. And quite a lot of that was done on pavement).

Wow. Wish I could get that mileage out of LR's. I've been in the first model, the 2's and now the new version. About 400 miles and my legs start feeling it. Use them as my main shoe with Free's and LunarTrainiers mixed in.

I'm a big fan of the Streaks, but probably not enough cushion for every day training. Great for mile repeats on anything but roads though.

I wear heavy Nike Structure Triax for all my easy and long runs. Twice I week I slip into something lighter. For tempo runs, I wear my saucouny fastwitch (marathon flats). For intervals I wear my Nike streaks (racing flats). I need the triax most days for the support.

But for the those speed days, I want to teach my legs to go fast and get used to the flats, so I wear them.

I've had all kinds of problems with different shoes in the past, but always felt good when I raced in the Nike Mayflys.....I decided to start training everyday in them. I haven't missed a day of running in over 400 days (minimum 5K)....and feel great. But I also know it's not for everyone.

big jim slim wrote:

Yes, been training and racing in AdiZero flats for the last few years.

But recently picked up a pair of saucony kinvara 2 and they feel like so much more shoe. Without changing my form too much, I feel they are much better for recovery days.

So I'm going the opposite direction, from "minimalism" (flats) to getting a little more shoe for training. I feel it gives me a little more cushion (pun intended) when I want to spike (big increase) my mileage some weeks.

Which Adizero's are you running in? Because except the rocket, they all have between 10-12 heel/forefoot offset. I would not classify that as minimalist. The rocket has 6mm which is a nice compromise*.

*Disclaimer: never ran in rockets.

Nike Waffle racers. They are relatively heavy for flats but they have little heel lift. I get ~2000 miles out of a pair, almost all on soft surfaces.

This blows my mind. My freshman year I used May's for workouts and by the end of fall I could barely walk. Hats off to you. You must have some VERY strong feed/ankle/everything.

I've used the streak XC 2 and put in 120 miles/week without any problems. The heel - toe drop is only 3 mm, lower than any other shoe I've found so far.

clearing the bs up wrote:

I've used the streak XC 2 and put in 120 miles/week without any problems. The heel - toe drop is only 3 mm, lower than any other shoe I've found so far.

You must not know of Vibram Five Fingers.

J/k, Streak XC 2 is an awesome shoe. Look at the reviews at runningwarehouse.com, people love this shoe. Lightweight, breathable, flexible, low heel/toe ratio, looks sharp...

Didn't Dathan Ritzenheim run a Marathon in the Nike Streak XC 2?

Don't keep up with the Ritz shoe choice but I've marathoned (and 5k and 10k and 10-miles and 1/2ed) in ZoomXC several times. Currently in the jelly bean green shoe... Hearing the tounge stays in place better in the newer version.

half life wrote:

Don't keep up with the Ritz shoe choice but I've marathoned (and 5k and 10k and 10-miles and 1/2ed) in ZoomXC several times. Currently in the jelly bean green shoe... Hearing the tounge stays in place better in the newer version.

Yeah, the tongue was weird in the last version. Still have the orange one. The green looks sick. In a good way.