So i've been doing my morning runs in road flats and am considering buying a pair of the Nike Free's. My question is, as far as lower leg strengthening, how different is training in flats compared to the fress? Can I achieve the same desired effect without spending another 85 bucks?
thanks.
The Free doesn't feel as natural as my Saucony Fastwitch. The heel is higher and the shoe doesn't have that novelty if you run in flats with any sort of regularity.
yeah i don't understand why the heel is higher. can anyone explain why the free doesn't follow the actual slope (i.e. zero) of the human foot?
does anyone fast actually do this crap with the flats?
tomjohn wrote:
yeah i don't understand why the heel is higher. can anyone explain why the free doesn't follow the actual slope (i.e. zero) of the human foot?
It's in a series of shoes, the idea being that the Free 1.0 will be the "closest" to running barefoot.
Why in the world would you do your morning runs in a racing flat and what is this so called "desired effect" you are talking about. Nike free is a good shoe to wear around and strengthen your feet but I wouldn't run any kind of mileage in them besides maybe a warm up and cool down. Running in racing flats at a slow pace is a stupid idea and won't make ya any faster.
kadilak wrote:
Why in the world would you do your morning runs in a racing flat and what is this so called "desired effect" you are talking about. Nike free is a good shoe to wear around and strengthen your feet but I wouldn't run any kind of mileage in them besides maybe a warm up and cool down. Running in racing flats at a slow pace is a stupid idea and won't make ya any faster.
Will it make you slower? Why is running slow in racing flats any more of a stupid idea than running slow in higher heeled shoes? If it helps prevent injuries it seems like a good idea to me.
I wear racing flats for workouts on the track and in races that require them. Doing workouts in spikes is okay occasionally too. The idea of running around easy in racing flats holds no purpose and makes you more at risk of injuries. I know guys that run around in racing flats and they get injured all the time but love how they are so LIGHT. I would not sacrifice my health for the feeling you get when you jog around in light shoes.
asdjklew wrote:
does anyone fast actually do this crap with the flats?
Hicham El Guerrouj and all other Moroccans do it.
The great Japanese marathoners do it.
Kenyans and Ethiopians, by extension, really don't NEED to do it because they spent their formative years developing the very lower leg strength Americans and Europeans lack.
The idea behind wearing light racing shoes for training is sound, backed by podiatrists, and reasonable.
Shoes in the 1970's and 1980's were made like today's racing flats.
As the heel and bulk of shoes has grown, so has the incidence of weak lower leg muscles, stress related lower lef injuries, Achilles tendonitis, other foot problems, and SLOW TIMES.
That's cool that the WORLD'S BEST runners do it and have good luck with it. I know for a fact occasional bare foot running and workouts in spikes and road flats can strengthen your feet and lower legs. However, I would not advice any type of daily running with a nike free or racing flat of some kind especially over 3 miles. Training shoes have gotten a lot more developed in the last 15 years as far as support and cushioning goes but that doesn't mean people should run in flats all the time just da kenyans do!
kadilak wrote:
I wear racing flats for workouts on the track and in races that require them. Doing workouts in spikes is okay occasionally too. The idea of running around easy in racing flats holds no purpose and makes you more at risk of injuries. I know guys that run around in racing flats and they get injured all the time but love how they are so LIGHT. I would not sacrifice my health for the feeling you get when you jog around in light shoes.
Well I find it hard to believe the purpose of a lightweight trainer (to strengthen feet) is not being accopmplished and is actually harming the runners. I would be highly suspicious if the cause for their injuries were due to the proper use and progression of using flats/lightweight trainers. I don't understand how you can argue that running in cushioned shoes will help you more than wearing shoes that will strengthen the correct muscles used in racing.
kadilak wrote:
Training shoes have gotten a lot more developed in the last 15 years as far as support and cushioning goes but that doesn't mean people should run in flats all the time just da kenyans do!
You don't know what you are talking about, sadly. America is both slower and more injury prone than ever years after "developing" shoes so well.
"Support" and "cushioning" come from the natural protection afforded you by the MUSCLES and the ARCH.
Well, I'm talking about my experiences with flats and dumb shits i know that wear them when they aren't use to them on runs that are long then get injured. I understand progression and that by getting use to training in light shoes can help get your body/muscles/tendons ready for racing. I was talking about RACING FLATS NOT LIGHTWEIGHT TRAINERS. There is a difference between an adidas cubato and an Asics DS trainer. However, I would consider the Nike free a lightweight trainer and for a neutral runner that is looking for that barefoot effect, its fine to run in but wouldn't recommend them on a regular basis if mileage is high.
Unfortunately, most of us don't live in primitive conditions where we grew up walking to school barefoot or running around without shoes all our lives. Kenyans, and other great African distance runners might have or might not have but this attribute doesn't account for their great success. Stop dissing on the American running population by sayin we suck... what that Kadilak guy is saying is true. If I could wear my barefeet more often, I would...but living in a big city makes this hard and i like my comfy shoes, but I still wear flats and spikes in workouts. :)