Racing flats for indoor track

Racing flats are probably your best option, but eventually you will want spikes on the smaller indoor tracks with tighter turns. As you said though, you need to follow the facility rules for spikes that won't damage the surface.

Carl Spackler wrote:

Racing flats are probably your best option, but eventually you will want spikes on the smaller indoor tracks with tighter turns. As you said though, you need to follow the facility rules for spikes that won't damage the surface.

Thanks. I should clarify that the facility allows 1/4 inch pyramid spikes, but like I said, not sure I can get my hands on a decent pair before the weekend. I'm not looking to run super fast, just sub-5 mile and sub-10 3000m.

flats are fine for indoor track. I ran my best times in the streak xc. Sure, they might not be great on tracks smaller than 200m, but how often do you race on undersized tracks?

You'll be fine in racing flats. If possible, run the curves in both flats during warm up and see which pair feels better.

When you do get spikes, there are basically three types of track spikes. Sprint, mid-distance, and long distance. Sprint spikes have no heel and should only be used up to 400m. Mid-distance have a small amount of heel and can be used at all distances. Long distance spikes have a bit more heel (about the same as some racing flats) and can be used at all distances.

fisky wrote:

When you do get spikes, there are basically three types of track spikes. Sprint, mid-distance, and long distance. Sprint spikes have no heel and should only be used up to 400m. Mid-distance have a small amount of heel and can be used at all distances. Long distance spikes have a bit more heel (about the same as some racing flats) and can be used at all distances.

To be nit-picky: there are also PV spikes, LJ spikes, TJ spikes, generic jump spikes, HJ spikes, and Javelin spikes. There even have been attempts to market specific hurdles spikes. I wouldnt want to wear any of those in a distance event.

@kvothe you’re right, it’s unlikely I will be racing on anything smaller than 200m as most of these tracks are open meets at college tracks that are at least 200m (although unbanked). The short tracks from back in the day were mostly in high school field houses, which typically don’t hold open meets.

@fisky, thanks for the spike breakdown. If I do get spikes, I will go with long distance or even cross country spikes so I can use them for the occasional cross country race. If I recall, I used to wear XC spikes on the track for the 1600/3200 because my feet didn’t respond well to the hard forefoot on track spikes (Kennedy XC, ftw).

I was looking at some of the Nike racing flats that had reviews saying they had good enough grip for track workouts, but most of those have a pretty high stack height and heel-to-toe drop and weight as much or more than my current arsenal. I figure the thin Mizuno Ekiden will give me a good feel of the track and also would be great to use for the occasional road mile or even the 5k if they are comfortable enough. We’ll see.

Bump. Wondering if there are more opinions about this.