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Shoe Thoughts

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Shoe Thoughts Empty Shoe Thoughts

Post  gvey Fri Aug 26, 2011 1:27 am

I've got a couple of questions about shoes. Without (intentionally) generating a barefoot/minimalist discussion, I'm looking for some advice. A little background...after my second back surgery, I changed my running style from a midfoot/heel strike to a midfoot/forefoot style to try to lessen the impact on my spine. Since then, I've had no issues and even gotten a little faster (may or may not be related, I don't know or care). As part of this change, I've gone from my old standard Asics GTs to Newtons, then Brooks Green Silence and now I'm running in K-Swiss K-Ruuz racing flats. I love these shoes, they are light (6.5 oz) and really comfortable. I wore these for a half iron in June and recently, a half marathon, and PRed it. Next year I am planning on running a stand alone (what...no swimming or biking first?) marathon and I'm wondering if these shoes will hold up or if I should get back into a more cushioned trainer for that long of a distance. Since there is practically no forefoot cushioning, I can definitely tell that I've been running 13 miles, but it isn't painful or problematic. My second question is whether I should wear these exclusively while training or wear a heavier shoe for training and then race in the K-Ruuz? I guess when it comes time, I could just ramp up my milage in them and see how it feels, but since ya'll are way smarter than me, I figured you might have some input.
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Post  Nick Morris Fri Aug 26, 2011 9:38 am

gvey wrote:I've got a couple of questions about shoes. Without (intentionally) generating a barefoot/minimalist discussion, I'm looking for some advice. A little background...after my second back surgery, I changed my running style from a midfoot/heel strike to a midfoot/forefoot style to try to lessen the impact on my spine. Since then, I've had no issues and even gotten a little faster (may or may not be related, I don't know or care). As part of this change, I've gone from my old standard Asics GTs to Newtons, then Brooks Green Silence and now I'm running in K-Swiss K-Ruuz racing flats. I love these shoes, they are light (6.5 oz) and really comfortable. I wore these for a half iron in June and recently, a half marathon, and PRed it. Next year I am planning on running a stand alone (what...no swimming or biking first?) marathon and I'm wondering if these shoes will hold up or if I should get back into a more cushioned trainer for that long of a distance. Since there is practically no forefoot cushioning, I can definitely tell that I've been running 13 miles, but it isn't painful or problematic. My second question is whether I should wear these exclusively while training or wear a heavier shoe for training and then race in the K-Ruuz? I guess when it comes time, I could just ramp up my milage in them and see how it feels, but since ya'll are way smarter than me, I figured you might have some input.

How many miles do you have on the racing flats? They are not meant for a lot of mileage and will break down faster. If you have a lot of miles on them, I would suggest that you get a new pair of them to just race in.

What I do is race in flats, but train in a little heavier trainer that lasts longer is is more cushioned for the weekly mileage that I am putting in. My flats are 7.4 oz and my trainers are 9.0 oz.
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Post  mul21 Fri Aug 26, 2011 10:00 am

If you're concerned about maintaining the mid/forefoot strike, you might want to consider a pair of Nike Free Runs. They'll give you that foot strike and have a pretty decent amount of cushion as well. That would be for training.

As for racing, I'm not familiar with that shoe, but I know there are several here who race full marathons in the Brooks T7, which is only a 6 oz. shoe. It's certainly doable, but you'll probably need to wear it on an 18-20 mile run and see how it goes to really make a determination for yourself.
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Post  Ed Mon Aug 29, 2011 1:38 pm

gvey wrote:I guess when it comes time, I could just ramp up my milage in them and see how it feels,.



Probably makes sense. I have always found it tough to do more than about 1/3rd of my weekly miles in flats. Maybe it's easier for the smaller/lighter runners to do???
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Post  Ben Z Wed Aug 31, 2011 3:37 pm

All I want to add is that there is a HUGE difference in handling a half-marathon in a shoe compared to using it for a full marathon.

Case in point - I can get away with wearing the Nike Zoom Streak XC 2 in a half - this is a 5.4 oz shoe. Heck, I even used it in a downhill half where I was striking on my heel most of the time I assume.

But I would NEVER consider using this shoe in a full marathon. It's just not enough shoe. And I'm not light enough IMO (~166 lbs) despite the fact that I'm a forefoot striker. Even the 120 lb Nike-sponsored East Africans still use the Streak 3 or Zoom Marathoner (7-8 oz shoes).

The key for a good marathon shoe IMO is having enough cushion / support for those last 4-6 miles when your form falls apart. Don't kid yourself - if you are racing it hard your form will suffer. This is why a 6-7 oz shoe like the Lunaracer or Kinvara 2 is a great option. Still light enough that you don't mind the extra weight yet cushioned enough to take you the distance. Plus, both have small heel drops of 4-5mm like a racing flat.
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Post  gvey Thu Sep 01, 2011 5:48 pm

Thanks for the replies. I kind of figured they would be too light for me (195 lbs) in a full marathon. I will try some of the suggestions ya'll tossed out.
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