Lacing your Running Shoes (Read 2856 times)

I lace my shoes the way the come. I'm not sure what difference it makes.

No when it comes to constructing the bow. I have followed the example that appeared in Runners World several months back and I have never had a shoe come untied. FWIW....I still double knot if I'm racing though.

I think the ONLY important thing is to make sure they don't come untied during a race.

Well that is what I would 'think' but every time I start thinking, someone comes along and shows me what I DONT know......Lydiard foundation are some pretty smart guys so if they are publishing a different way, I suspect its for a reason and not just to be different.....

Thus - I ask my question cause there must be something to it...

John - I use Lydiard's lacing system for my running shoes. I noticed improved comfort from the first run so I'm sold. I do not lace this way for my football boots (sorry soccer cleats) but I need a tighter fit across the top of the foot for this. Not so much for running.

I don't know Lydiard; I've heard the name around the running community but am not familiar with the work. Has he been around for a long time? Does he *really* deserve credit for a shoe lacing method that comes with no explanation of its benefits (on those slides, anyway) that is identical to the one my friends and I (and every other 4th grader on the planet) figured out independently 20 years ago because it looks cool? Again, if he gave some kind of -- bs or not -- explanation for why this system "helped running economy" or "stabilized foot control motion biomechanics" (ok that last one is not real), that might be different.

The real contribution I want to make regarding this is that I've definitely had some recent top of foot pain, and I'm actually going to try and employ this lacing system in an effort to make some trail racing flats work for me. 

If it's from you, John, I'd need to reply, huh? ;o)

Arthur came up with that lacing in the late 70s~early 80s.  He noticed that some people get sore on the top of their foot.  By lacing this way, instead of criss-crossing (the way he used to put it), you do remove some pressure off.  Besides, the way it's (lace) placed on the side, I noticed that they won't slide too much, meaning you can sort of tie it tighter on the top but not the bottom...kind of thing.  Many people swear by this lacing; but it's kind of complicated so that was the purpose of adding that diagram.  I guess it's a good idea to tell public why it's good--I guess we sort of assumed those who wanted to try it already thought it's good for them but couldn't quite figure out how to do it (in fact, my trying to put it together was because I had received quite a few e-mails, asking how to do it).  But also do US a favor as well--honestly, if you're involved in running at all and never heard the name Arthur Lydiard is kind of sad.  Even if you're not a physics major (you might), I'm sure you've heard the name Issac Newton?  I guess our puspose of starting the foundation is to let people know so I guess we haven't done a good job as yet.  Perhaps you can start from here: http://www.lydiardfoundation.org/about/aboutarthurlydiard.aspx

Now, that being said, I just switched 2 pairs of my shoes last night from Lydiard lacing to "regular" lacing simply because they weren't feeling right.  Some of todays shoes are made from very thin fragile material and this lacing CAN wrinkle things up a bit.  With SOME shoes, I'd prefer tying a bit tighter and I found out sometimes, this lacing is good for removing pressure off but not so much when you try to tie them tighter??? 

Lacing actually COULD mean more than most people think.  Somebody mentioned "regular" or "normal" lacing but, of course, there are actually 2 ways for this so-called "regular" lacing.  One, going upward toward the middle; the other coming upward and outward from the middle (does this make sense?).  Some people actually swear that the latter holds it better.  I like the former simply because, well, I kinda like the way we pull the lace this way.  Some of the elite runners who do Lydiard lacing are; Rob de Castella, Carlos Lopes, Dick Quax, Pricilla Welch, Eriko Asai...(you guys know who these runners are?).  I also noticed Patti Dillon always laced with the middle part skipped.  I asked her why--she looked a bit embarrassed that anyone actually noticed--and she said she had very high foot (on her top) and regular lacing really press it down too much and hurt her foot.  Sometimes when you have a sore spot, you can try this--or even cut the lace in half and tie top and bottom separately so you can tie with different pressure.  Of course, I know of a world class marathon runner who simply ties the shoe the way they come out of a box.  When I noticed it and scolded her, she just looked a little embarrassed...  She developed a stress fracture on the top of her foot and had to withdraw from Berliin world champs...  Well! 

Just to add one more thing; whether this Lydiard guy actually *deserves* credit for shoe lacing...  He had coached/influenced numerous Olympic champions and world record holders; he'd been involved in running for almost 50 years; he served as a national coach of 4 different countries; he *started* a jogging movement; he worked in a shoe industory for 40 years himself; he developed running shoes also...  I hope you know that Japan is one of the strongest distance running, particularly marathon, country in the world--in Berlin, their man was the first non-African (Atsushi Sato 6th) and woman winning the silver medal.  I was reading the most current T&F magazine from Japan and it was a panel of former federation head, Mr. Chosa, and the current head, Mr. Sawaki.  Chosa pointed out how Lydird turned things around in the 1960s and made the Japanese marathonig it is today.  I was in Berlin because one of the corporate teams in Japan invited me; the coach of Yoko Shibui, the 7th fastest marathon runner in history, and I had been friends for over 10 years through Lydiard--I went to New Zealand in 1984 and he did the same in 1995.  He also coached the bronze medalist in 2007 Osaka WC, Reiko Tosa.  When I came back from Germany, I turned around and went to Japan with Lorraine Moller for 2 clinics.  They invited us to talk about Lydiard.  No, he never coached any of those Kenyans or Ethiopians; he didn't even coach Ritzenhein though his old coaches, Hudson and Wetmore, both are a huge fan of Lydiard, and his current coach's coach, Bill Squires (I'm sure you wouldn't know who he is...) was also.  And, no, he didn't invent Nike Free either.  Would that make him less deserving to make a comment n shoe lacing?  Well, we'll let you be the judge of that.

If it's from you, John, I'd need to reply, huh? ;o)

 

Well Nobby -- i sure do appreciate it  --- that's for sure.....