kook wrote:
People really buy shoes just for tempo runs? Why? Why can't you just use your regular shoes?
Don't get me wrong, you certainly could.
However, as has been pointed out, if you do all of your training in normal trainers, and then go to spikes to race, it will be a far bigger adjustment for your body. I don't know about you, but I like to have as much control over things on race day as I can, and if I can prepare my body to handle one small factor just by wearing different shoes in practice, then I certainly will.
Would I want to wear my racing shoes for everything? Certainly not. Besides the fact that I don't want to do all of my tempos on a track in spikes, that is simply just not practical. But if I can go with some in between shoe (i.e. something with SOME cushioning, but that is lighter and a little less built up) that will get me closer to that feeling of running in my racing shoes, but that will not completely trash my legs if I do a 40 minute tempo in them, then I absolutely will.
For me, I am currently training in the adidas Boost, doing tempos in the adidas adios 2, longer track repeats in the (now discontinued) adidas rocket, and shorter track repeats in the adidas avanti. Is it excessive? Maybe. But in my mind, it is just another small piece of the puzzle of preparing for racing.