Does Training in Minimalist Shoes = Faster Racing?

You fat bastards are supposed to wear the Brooks Beast, not some flat with your toes sticking through the sole.

I alternate a neutral, NB 753, and a lightweight, NB 900 usually every other day. In addition to the minimalist 900, I also tend to run barefoot on grass for a mile or two 3-5 days a week and I can tell the difference in my stride. I am more light and efficient when I land, causing me to look more smooth and it undoubtedly has helped me drop time.

I would recommend that you start off alternating between a neutral and a minimalist instead of going straight into a full time minimalist.

For me personally, we will find out. Remember, I made the switch following a long down time as the result of injury, so I'm just now rounding back into old form.

But my improved efficiency and strength (in my legs/feet) are obvious.

My understanding is not that training in flats is supposed to directly somehow "make you faster". Rather, the idea is that the adjustments they force you to make allow you train more consistently, with far less interruptions due to injury. This consistency should lead to improvement.

I have been training in flats since Dec. 2003, and I have dropped my 5K road PR from 18:29 (Oct. 2003) to 17:23 (April 2005). Also, last fall I was able to run my first 10K in 36:22 and a 15K in 55:46. I will probably run a new 10K road PR this Sat.. I'm a woman and am looking to get a qualifier for the 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials, something I never imagined would be possible until last fall. Yes, I do contribute the improvements to flats, which have allowed me to stay healthy and train consistently for the first time ever in the 10 years I've been running.

Are there instances when a good runner needs to wear custom orthotics?

I believe Paula Radcliffe wears orthotics.

is nike katana a good flat?

thanks

no

I got injured, though

So the answer is no. No one actually knows why you should train in flats besides just because it seems like the cool thing to do on here.

less chance for injury + greater strength and efficency = faster

trackhead wrote:

less chance for injury + greater strength and efficency = faster

Training in flats will do none of the above, proper training will.

Over the last year, I've moved from conventional trainers (structure triax, 2080/90) through lightweight trainers (ds trainers, nb 900) and now do all running in flats (streak vapor, wave aero (though the heel isn't low enough). I have pr'd in the half marathon and hopefully will do so in the marathon within a few weeks. Faster times are the result of a variety of factors (consistent training, improved nutrition, perfect weather, improved efficiency). Aside from all of the comparisons, I will say that it does make sense to do a lot of running in whatever shoes we race in. And my legs do feel stronger and more efficient.

running in high heels so far off the ground is not conducive to good training. Lydiard had it right forty years ago.

trackhead wrote:

running in high heels so far off the ground is not conducive to good training. Lydiard had it right forty years ago.

Why bother with you. Some day you will look back and realized you wasted all your time with this stupid stuff and then your running "career" is over.

Questionable wrote:

So the answer is no. No one actually knows why you should train in flats besides just because it seems like the cool thing to do on here.

Actually the answer is yes. A number of reasons were given. You lack reading comprehension. Flats will not help you in that department.

explicame

Tell me the advantage of high heels and insluation, given the additional work your knees have to do once the mobility of your ankles has been limited from the lift. Or all that foam, lifting your center of gravity thereby creating the opportunity for instability and deadening your feet to the ground.

What advantages exist? Please. If you have valuable information, I implore you to post it.

trackhead wrote:

explicame

Tell me the advantage of high heels and insluation, given the additional work your knees have to do once the mobility of your ankles has been limited from the lift. Or all that foam, lifting your center of gravity thereby creating the opportunity for instability and deadening your feet to the ground.

What advantages exist? Please. If you have valuable information, I implore you to post it.

You talk a good game, but it isn't about that. We can post back and forth all day long. I run in flats my feet and legs are beat to shit, I run in trainers they aren't. That's simple enough. Yeah yeah I know you have to "adjust" to it, but why? Clearly it doesn't make you run faster, just the trendy thing to do because you won't stop talking about it.

Gordon Pirie claims that he was coaching a 50ish year old marathon runner whose best was 3:28. Pirie got him into very light simple shoes and the guy improved to 2:58.

Anne Audain told me that wearing conventional training shoes slowed her by about a minute per mile from what she'd run in racing shoes, which is what she normally trined in.