I'm a 18:30 5k guy. Do racing flats make a difference?

at 18:30 5k's , if you gain 30 secs in flats , that means your light weight trainers don't fit . trainers vs flats , maybe 2-3 seconds per mile difference .

no way 30 wrote:

at 18:30 5k's , if you gain 30 secs in flats , that means your light weight trainers don't fit . trainers vs flats , maybe 2-3 seconds per mile difference .

People are undoubtedly talking about a heavier trainer relative to the prospective flat of choice.

There’s no reason to be racing in Cliftons. Buy yourself a decent light weight shoe and try it out.

spotter of trollishness wrote:

Don’t forget that for race day:

You’ve trimmed the weight;

You’ve tapered;

You have warmed up thoroughly;

You are chasing faster runners;

You are wearing lighter shoes;

You are in the zone;

Etc.

Shoes are ONE variable!

this is going to be my mantra every race for a while--actually really helpful!

CKidd wrote:

Of course you'd be faster, who knows by how much but maybe enough to make a difference if you're out there trying to win things or care about your time.

You don't need to spend $200 either. I snagged some Takumi Sens from Runners warehouse for like $60something back in the day. They're great. Flats can usually be found for reasonable prices. I like the ones with the DSP style outsole, the hard rubber lugs, which are nice for traction and are fun on the track.

This--about a month ago I bought a pair of Adios for ~$80 and they're great race shoes. There are deals all over the internet on them, I bought that particular pair off Amazon

You don’t even need a deal, nb1400s are regularly priced around $100

Yes they make a difference. I picked up a pair of the reebok pro (they have a really long name) on sale, I much prefer them for a 5k versus even my next %. I don't care about the cost of shoes, but everyone is different with that. If i was worried about shoe cost i would say the pros would last over 100 miles and that would be over 30 5ks which to me is a lot of races.

I do easy days in Ultraboost which are heavy turds, so going into a really light flat for race day is a big difference. I would say in a 5k ultraboost vs reebok pro would be 20-30 sec difference. I have no idea about your hokas and the ultraboost are heavy turds.

By your logic, you should be able to say a 3% improvement in that scenario.

I'm a 16:15 5K guy back in the day. Age and injuries have slowed me down. My gola is to get back under 20 minutes for 5K and take it from there. I'm running a 5K next weekend with the goal of breaking 22 minutes. I fully intend on wearing the Next %s. Any help I can get I'll take. You should definitely take advantage of a racing flat. You'' probably break 18.

Maybe a few seconds a mile . I'll give you a 18:18-18:20 .

But if you were a hobby jogger ( above 7 min /mile ) it wouldn't make a damn of difference what you did ( even the best EPO) !

15 seconds with typical flats

sub 18 with Vaporfly

I’m all in for Hoka now (after a long Brooks stint) and I have definitely found improvement as the shoes get lighter and more flexible. I run in Cliftons for miles, Rincons for workouts, and Tracer 2s for the races (and track work). The lighter shoes let you really stretch out a full stride, and like the others have noted, the lighter shoes also get you in the head space to run fast. And racing flats, if just used for track work and races will last a full year (or more) unlike trainers, so amortized the expense is a good investment.