Racing Spikes- The Facts (a question from an average high school frosh) (Read 676 times)

Are spikes going to take you from a 59 to a 55, nope. You gotta put in the miles/workouts to reduce the times significantly. Spikes are like shaving your hair to swim, they only will give your fractional differences. In a tight race where split seconds count they might be the difference. Nice times for a freshman, especially if they were on a 200 m track, keep up the good work. I was about a 52 400m and 2:05 800m awhile back when I was a senior.

I didn't use to "believe" in spikes, partly as a joke, for the first three years of high school. It was mostly because I wasn't good enough. I was good enough for 27, 25 and 20-minute 5ks in grades 9, 10 and 11. In grade 12, I ran 4:45/10:42 for 1500/3000, which still isn't very good, though I made the provincial championships in cross country with our team. I wore spikes in both the 4:45/10:42. I figure the difference was maybe 3-4 seconds in the 1500 and 6-8 in the 3k. It's not huge, but why run slower? The idea is that you'll run one second per mile faster as your shoes get an ounce lighter. So, going from an 11-ounce trainer to 7-ounce spikes means that you'll gain 4 seconds in a mile, 12 seconds in a 5k and so on. You'll also feel faster going from trainers to spikes, and that'll help get you excited and ready for the race mentally. That's definitely a good thing.

Spikes make the most difference in cross country where they can help ensure that you have good footing. You get that to a lesser degree in track as well, although you are less likely to slide on most tracks that allow spikes. Think of it this way - how much do you need to slow down to take a 90 degree turn in wet grass without spikes? How about if you knew your legs would stay under you as you made the turn because you had spikes on? If you don't like the idea of racing in spikes, then I recommend getting waffles. They give you the bonus of having less weight to carry with a small amount of grip, but don't give you the metal in the bottom of your shoes feel. They do feel a lot different than trainers, and I love racing in them. I don't do enough races where spikes are necessary to justify buying them now, though, so I stick to waffles and road flats.