Training in racing flats?

How many of you folks feel like you've killed your legs during the transition to light shoes? How light do you guys go? What do most of you weigh in at also? Just started running in a pair of Adidas Resp Comps & I feel like there is too much plastic crap on/in the shoe, I can feel that heel tiedown strap thinggy. Has anybody attempted to run in the NB rc150? What is the lightest & best flat you guys have liked or used?

the herman munster training shoes to racing flats is a move in the right direction ,one I took several years ago.The next step is a "shoe" that allows more proprioception and foot function:

http://www.teva.com/Apparel_Detail.asp?dept_id=1&sku=6658&c=hydro&sc=1

The shoe has no midsole or support.

The real unique and revolutionary feature of the teva proton is it's curved/rounded edges like your foot!Notice the curve of the heel and outer edge your barefoot.The teva feels alot like running barefoot.The thin layer of rubber provides just enough protection from rocks,glass,etc.

At 35 bucks a pair(At Rei) you can't go wrong.

For those who have had injuries cleared up and have been injury free since by switching to racing flats, what type of injuries did you have?

i'm gonna try to find those tevas this weekend. if they work, that would be great. you do any trail running in those things?

I occasionally do runs with racing flats. Last year when i was doing a few 100 mile weeks my calves simply couldnt take cusioning...it was like night and day in a day between max moto's and a pair of fila flow. my coach would murder me if he knew i did some runs in flats though...i have been injured a lot this year.

bump

I'm curious about that also...what kinda of injuries did they prevent/help.

I run in the mizuno wave riders which are trainers but almost like racers in my opinion. The nike skylon, which many think is a very light weight trainer, has a much higher heel. I tried on one of each and was shocked to see how much lower the heel was in the riders.

I can see both sides of this discussion. I sometimes where a brooks beast, feels like they make my legs stronger. but i mostly train in the riders.

I was told, long ago, when I was a sprinter, that as a sprinter you'd want a low heeled shoe to use your calves more effectively. I could see that a low heel would help efficient runners as well.

I've never trained in racing flats (except to use them for track workouts), but I've always used the lightweight trainers and had less injuries that way. I do use some store-bought insoles in them because of a slight leg length difference, though.

If you had access to trails, I'd think that the move to flats would be easier to make (and more sensible). A friend use to do his long trail runs in something like the Waffle Racer. His regular distance shoe was the Neftenga.

ruben jozast wrote:

... Has anybody attempted to run in the NB rc150? What is the lightest & best flat you guys have liked or used?

I train in NB RC150s. I am a new runner and had about 8 months of trouble trying to run in several bigger shoes before switching. I am only up to about 35-40mpw, but no serious problems with the flats. It took about a month for my calves to get used to the increased load. My latest pair has about 450 miles on them, and the sole is getting very thin under the ball of the foot. I can actually feel the texture of the asphalt when running. Another 100 miles and I'll probably be able to tell the date of a penny just by standing on it. I've been trying to get a new pair for weeks now but cannot find them in my size (8). I am 5'9" and 160-165 pounds.

Joe how do you size the rc150, do you wear the same size as any other trainer or do you go up from 7-7.5, a half to a whole size? You also seem a tad "heavy" to be using them?

Ruben,

I wear the same size as my other trainers and my street shoes. I posted my weight to illustrate that even somebody heavy can wear flats with no ill effects (yet).

As a followup:

About 18 years and 30 pounds ago, I used to run around barefoot alot. Nothing real long... maybe 3-5 miles at a time. But I never had any trouble during my barefoot days. My reason for training in the RC150s is to get as close to barefoot as possible, realizing that the skin on the bottom of my feet is not as thick as it once was.

I had achilles problems and MTSS (medial shin splints) and sharp pains in my arch before I switched to racers...

caveat: I still do about 30% of my runs in the supernova classic, which is a lightweight trainer but with a low heel.

The main difference between trainers and flats is most trainers (that are around now) are very support oriented. That means they have a "medal post" which protects against pronation. The reason running in flats feels better is because they don't have a medal post (besides the fact they weight 8 ounces less). If you don't pronate (which puts in in the large minority of the population) the medal post can be very harmful. If you are injury prone I would imagine that training in flats is a bad way to go.....I can't imagine anyone who is exclaming that flats work fine is doing over 70miles a week on soft surface (and even that much sounds like a sure way to a stress fracture). Granted I could be wrong......I am more interested to hear what type of trainers everyone was wearing that were causing these problems......just naming brands doesn't help (unless its Asics or New Balance which only have medal post shoes....just to different degrees).....And just for reference I had the same injury problems and recently switched out of Asics to the Adidas supernova cushion and have had no injuries at all.

RD wrote:

I can't imagine anyone who is exclaming that flats work fine is doing over 70miles a week on soft surface (and even that much sounds like a sure way to a stress fracture). Granted I could be wrong

I know a 50 year old guy who regularly (and consistently) does 100+ mile weeks in nothing but flats on nothing but pavement. He's got over 1000 miles on a pair of Nike Air Triax TC(+)s and they have less wear on them than my pair do at 300.

I still train in trainers - albeit lighter ones. But I'm thinking of giving racers a shot one of these days.

I am currently running about 50-60 mpw. Some years ago I was doing 80-90 all in racing shoes, and on a variety of surfaces, some grass, trail, road, ect. Never a single problem. Prior to my enlightenment, I ran in an Adidas Torsion something or other...not sure the exact name. Foot problems included constant arch pain and achillies/calf soreness, both of which went away when I switched to racers. I believe the benefit of training in light shoes is multiplied at higher mileage. Look at it this way: restrict the foot's natural motion 8,800 times in a ten mile run (880 strides a mile), and that's asking for trouble. Also look at the weight issue: shave just one ounce from your shoes, times 880 strides per mile, times, say 10 miles, and that's 550 pounds of cumulative weight you don't have to carry around with you. It makes a difference.

RD wrote:

And just for reference I had the same injury problems and recently switched out of Asics to the Adidas supernova cushion and have had no injuries at all.

I had the same experience. After years of wearing the Asics GT-2000 series and having horrible achilles problems I found out I was an underpronator. I switched the neutral shoes (Adidas 'Nova Cushions) and have eliminated the problem. I'm tempted to try racing flats (I already wear the Fila Racer for workouts and tempo runs), but so far neutral shoes have been working just fine!

Just soft surface,they work really well on muddy or wet terrain.I can move much smoother than people wearing the boots they call running shoes.

The one surface I had a problem on was sharp 1 inch jagged rocks.There is room inside the shoe for an insole if you want to add some padding.

I would be very interested in your opinion.

What surfaces do you guys run on the majority of the time?