Ok - So I've had a request to write about who should and shouldn't wear racing flats. I'll keep this to road flats and not talk about track or XC spikes.
I love racing flats. My very first pair of Nike American Eagle flats are on display in our store. I got these is about 8th grade. One of the greatest racing shoes of all time. You can see a whole history of my racing shoes in our store but man I love those Am Eagles, red white and blue pimped out with red laces. Still sweet to this day.
Down to business.
First off what is a road flat? Racing flats are designed to be light weight, low to the ground and flexible. All things that might make you run faster. They can be as light as sub 4 ounces, trust me that's crazy light
The less weight you need to carry the better. There is a reason elite runners are tiny people. Bill Bowerman believed in reducing shoes down to the bare minimum. For elite athletes I agree, but how many of us fall into that category? He also custom made each pair for his runners, so each guy got what they needed.
Lower to the ground is more responsive and gives a better feel for the road. That's a good thing for going fast.
Flexible also good so your foot can transition from heel/midfoot to forefoot as quickly as possible.
So you ask why shouldn't everyone wear a flat during races? Many reasons.
First one is that low weight factor I mentioned. Yup it is great to not have to carry the extra weight of the shoes but the reason they don't weigh much is because they don't have much protection. Road Flats have very little cushioning, and a good one will have firm cushioning, not squishy like so many people like to feel. Firmer will be more responsive hence faster. At the same time they will absorb less shock, meaning that the body has to take that abuse.
A second reason to not wear flats is your biomechanics. If you are one of the gifted few with great foot biomechanics go ahead and get some flats. For the other 90+ percent let's think about it. Let's say you are an extreme over pronator (that is your foot rolls way past neutral towards the inside) A racing flat will do nothing to help control that. When your foot is out of alignment it is very inefficient (one of the reasons it is hard to run on sand). This will lead to a loss of power. Loss of power equals running slower
So lets say you are 10 seconds a mile faster because of the weight savings but 20 seconds per mile slower due to being inefficient, overall you are now slower. Money well spent there don't you think.
There is also that low to the ground factor. Most regular training shoes are built with a 21- 25 mm heel height and a 12mm drop to the front of the foot. Road flats might be as low as 9 mm in the heel. with as little as a 4 mm drop. This difference increases the strain on the lower leg by a huge amount. So if you have calf or Achilles issues use extreme caution. If you have no issues break racers in slowly or your lower legs will be killing you.
So who should wear flats in road races. Overall anyone can, I mean who am I to stop you. I've only been racing for 29 years, studying footwear for about 26 years and have fit numerous runners that have made it to the Olympic Trials. If you want them go for it, they feel great and I sell shoes. Remember I said I love these things. Of course I don't really ever wear them anymore and those that I do are really more like light trainers not true racers. I'm old, running slow, bad calves and Achilles and bio mechanically crap these days so I stay away but there are still people behind me at races wearing flats.
If you are efficient and want to go faster give them a try.
If you are not efficient you could get away with them the shorter the event, maybe up to 10k. Over that switch to a light weight trainer. If you are a tri geek remember that you are already fatigued at the start of the run so your biomechanics will already suck, use caution.
You can also do what we have done for a few fairly elite guys. Go with the flats but them trick them out with some SuperFeet Premium Inserts. The inserts will help with the efficiency (more then you can imagine) and they don't add much weight. So you can get that low to the ground benefit, the lighter weight and not lose too much in biomechanics. Wouldn't it be cool if you could cover the same distance while taking less strides just because we increased the efficiency of your footstrike, guess what we can.
So in review. Everyone can wear flats, most people I see using them shouldn't be though. For the weekend warrior out trying to have fun it might lead to a PR or it might lead to an injury. The best thing to do is to stop into the shop and discuss goals and let us look at your feet. Let us work with you to determine if road flats will help. We want everyone to be out on the roads enjoying running, we don't want runners to be injured.
I hope that somehow helps and isn't too confusing. If anyone has follow up questions shoot me an email
Live FIT.
Boots
I love racing flats. My very first pair of Nike American Eagle flats are on display in our store. I got these is about 8th grade. One of the greatest racing shoes of all time. You can see a whole history of my racing shoes in our store but man I love those Am Eagles, red white and blue pimped out with red laces. Still sweet to this day.
Down to business.
First off what is a road flat? Racing flats are designed to be light weight, low to the ground and flexible. All things that might make you run faster. They can be as light as sub 4 ounces, trust me that's crazy light
The less weight you need to carry the better. There is a reason elite runners are tiny people. Bill Bowerman believed in reducing shoes down to the bare minimum. For elite athletes I agree, but how many of us fall into that category? He also custom made each pair for his runners, so each guy got what they needed.
Lower to the ground is more responsive and gives a better feel for the road. That's a good thing for going fast.
Flexible also good so your foot can transition from heel/midfoot to forefoot as quickly as possible.
So you ask why shouldn't everyone wear a flat during races? Many reasons.
First one is that low weight factor I mentioned. Yup it is great to not have to carry the extra weight of the shoes but the reason they don't weigh much is because they don't have much protection. Road Flats have very little cushioning, and a good one will have firm cushioning, not squishy like so many people like to feel. Firmer will be more responsive hence faster. At the same time they will absorb less shock, meaning that the body has to take that abuse.
A second reason to not wear flats is your biomechanics. If you are one of the gifted few with great foot biomechanics go ahead and get some flats. For the other 90+ percent let's think about it. Let's say you are an extreme over pronator (that is your foot rolls way past neutral towards the inside) A racing flat will do nothing to help control that. When your foot is out of alignment it is very inefficient (one of the reasons it is hard to run on sand). This will lead to a loss of power. Loss of power equals running slower
So lets say you are 10 seconds a mile faster because of the weight savings but 20 seconds per mile slower due to being inefficient, overall you are now slower. Money well spent there don't you think.
There is also that low to the ground factor. Most regular training shoes are built with a 21- 25 mm heel height and a 12mm drop to the front of the foot. Road flats might be as low as 9 mm in the heel. with as little as a 4 mm drop. This difference increases the strain on the lower leg by a huge amount. So if you have calf or Achilles issues use extreme caution. If you have no issues break racers in slowly or your lower legs will be killing you.
So who should wear flats in road races. Overall anyone can, I mean who am I to stop you. I've only been racing for 29 years, studying footwear for about 26 years and have fit numerous runners that have made it to the Olympic Trials. If you want them go for it, they feel great and I sell shoes. Remember I said I love these things. Of course I don't really ever wear them anymore and those that I do are really more like light trainers not true racers. I'm old, running slow, bad calves and Achilles and bio mechanically crap these days so I stay away but there are still people behind me at races wearing flats.
If you are efficient and want to go faster give them a try.
If you are not efficient you could get away with them the shorter the event, maybe up to 10k. Over that switch to a light weight trainer. If you are a tri geek remember that you are already fatigued at the start of the run so your biomechanics will already suck, use caution.
You can also do what we have done for a few fairly elite guys. Go with the flats but them trick them out with some SuperFeet Premium Inserts. The inserts will help with the efficiency (more then you can imagine) and they don't add much weight. So you can get that low to the ground benefit, the lighter weight and not lose too much in biomechanics. Wouldn't it be cool if you could cover the same distance while taking less strides just because we increased the efficiency of your footstrike, guess what we can.
So in review. Everyone can wear flats, most people I see using them shouldn't be though. For the weekend warrior out trying to have fun it might lead to a PR or it might lead to an injury. The best thing to do is to stop into the shop and discuss goals and let us look at your feet. Let us work with you to determine if road flats will help. We want everyone to be out on the roads enjoying running, we don't want runners to be injured.
I hope that somehow helps and isn't too confusing. If anyone has follow up questions shoot me an email
Live FIT.
Boots
