RE: How many seconds do spikes take off per lap?

Probably depends on how fast you are.

This season so far I've run slower in spikes than flats, but there were other factors.

If you want a number. I'd say .25 to .75 seconds per lap on an indoor track, so for a 3000, about 4-8 seconds.

Actually, scratch that. I wouldn't say more than 3-4 seconds, but wth do I know? I'd like to hear what others say about this since I was wondering myself. My coach says nothing for 3000m and longer.

why are you wearing trainers in a race????

Spikes are made for better traction, so they probably save less time as you go up in distance but they feel and look faster. I also dont see Bekele racing in trainers so spikes must do something.

It's somewhere around 10-12 seconds. It's an acknowledged fact Jason Rexing would have run about 11:57 for 5k a few years ago.

I always guestimated 4-8 seconds per mile for spikes/super lightweight trainers to everyday plodders. Depends on your everyday shoe, I guess.

Is this thread an elaborate ploy to get lots of highlighted words on one thread?

I've always thought the benefit of spikes is mostly mental (i.e. feeling fast in the shoes). Obviously the lightness is crucially important, but flats are usually a bit easier to get even lighter, and I don't seem to notice much of a difference between spikes and flats even in something as short as a mile. I do prefer, for the shorter distance races, the agressiveness of the spike-plate over just a flat, but for 5k and up I feel faster in a flat because it is a smoother footstrike, though I do feel like this is atypical.

Do any elites wear flats on the track for 5k or 10k?

when i was in college i did a 12 hour 1 mile relay race that was on a grass track. i did my first three legs in spikes, then flats, then barefoot. i ran 4:44 for all three splits.

i have always prefered flats over spikes and in fact this weekend i ran in zoom forever xc with no spikes for a 1600 and it seemed fine.

i really do not think there is a time advantage between flats and spikes. but there is somewhere around a half second a lap vs. trainers.

i would think the difference would become greater with distance with a trainer as the weight would get the best of ya over time.