How fast should you be to use racing flats for 5k/10k?

I don't think it really matters. If you want to wear them, go ahead. If you are not intending to "race" an event but are there for social reasons, etc. you might as well not wear them.

It's a psychological thing. For me, when I was in bad shape and first trying to break 20 after taking a few years off of running, it felt great wearing clunky trainers for all of my long runs and then putting on a pair Saucony Grids. Sent the message to my head that it was go-time. It probably wouldn't have made a big difference regardless.

Sub 18:30?

Pablo1997 wrote:

How fast should you be to use racing flats for 5k/10k?

If you're in a road race, then use racing flats! Fast is relative. Clunky training shoes can slow any runner down at any pace.

King Ghidora wrote:

It's a psychological thing.

I can tell you that flats vs trainers can make a pretty significant difference. Depending on efficiently you run, it may vary, but the difference in weight and flexibility is significant.

Anyone who cares about thier race should use flats. Obviously on tracks and all dirt/grass courses people should use spikes.

If the shoes feel comfortable to you, I think it is a great idea, especially if you are closing in on a pr or are trying to place in your age group/ win a race. Some studies suggest someone can run about 4 seconds faster per mile with racing shoes versus traditional running shoes.

I used to own some Nike Zoom Streak shoes that were extremely lightweight. I was alternating between the Zoomstreaks and a much heavier pair of shoes. I felt more graceful and a lot faster while wearing the nike zoom streaks than my other shoes, but found my actual times training and racing in each pair of shoes did not seem to be significantly different. I did hit my 5K PR while wearing my Zoom Streaks, but was only about 10 seconds faster than the previous race that I had run with my heavier shoes.

However I am a forefoot runner with very flexible ankles and find that trail shoes help stabalize my ankles. I am nowhere near my PRs right now, and my priority is to not get injured and stay pain-free.

26:17.52 is the cut-off point. Anything slower than that and you may as well have run in trainers. You hear that Bekele?

Hobo w/shoty wrote:

Anyone who cares about thier race should use flats. Obviously on tracks and all dirt/grass courses people should use spikes.

good answer, this is not a hobby jogger vs runner question. this is as simple as, do you want to run faster? if so, put them on.

i wear flats all the time. i prefer it, and i don't get injured so what dafuq.

It's not a question of how fast you are. It is a question of what surface you're running on. If you're running on a track or XC course, wear spikes. If you're running a road race, wear flats. This seems pretty straightforward to me.