Forums >Gears and Wears>Lifts in racing flats?
flatland mountaineer
My everyday trainers are wave riders with a pair of Nexus mixed in for longer runs. I do most of my speed work and 5 and 10k's in Elixars. In the past I have had bouts with Achilles Tendonitis that I can still feel during peak training weeks but not at problem levels. I bought a pair of Mizuno Musha's for a 5k goal race, I am not fast nor a skinny runner mind you but I need all the help I can get, even if it's psycological. I have incorporated them into a few training runs and I seem to feel the achilles After doing faster stuff in them. Stuck some heel lifts I had around from when the tendonitis was really bad 2 yrs ago and it made them feel really nice. I haven't weighed them vs the elixars but am thinking they are still lighter even with the lifts.
Soooo should I race in them or go back to the Elixars?
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My everyday trainers are wave riders with a pair of Nexus mixed in for longer runs. I do most of my speed work and 5 and 10k's in Elixars. In the past I have had bouts with Achilles Tendonitis that I can still feel during peak training weeks but not at problem levels. I bought a pair of Mizuno Musha's for a 5k goal race, I am not fast nor a skinny runner mind you but I need all the help I can get, even if it's psycological. I have incorporated them into a few training runs and I seem to feel the achilles After doing faster stuff in them. Stuck some heel lifts I had around from when the tendonitis was really bad 2 yrs ago and it made them feel really nice. I haven't weighed them vs the elixars but am thinking they are still lighter even with the lifts. Soooo should I race in them or go back to the Elixars?
When you switch your shoes for the race in hopes to shove some weight off, just for the race particularly, that could result disaster; most likely in a form of Achilles problem. Naturally, what you're shoving off is not just weight. I'm more or less a minimalist and run both training and racing in pretty much the same shoes. I don't see much necessity in "protecting" my body from training runs, assuming as if running is bad for you.
I didn't switch to minimalist shoes overnight. In my transition, I used to do speed training, even including strides, in heavy bulky training shoes and did long run and easy jog in racing flats to ease into it. Most people wear racing flats for fast workout but I went the opposite because, when my legs were not used to it yet, the time my feet needed most "lift" and "support" was when I ran fast (or tried to run fast! ;o)). It was so much easier to get used to low heel profile when I was running slower.
I spent about 3 weeks with the 7th fastest marathon runner (female) in history at her training camp in Flagstaff last summer. It was quite interesting to see what kind of shoes she was wearing throughout the training camp and when she wore them. Of course, I should know anyways because I was one of those professional corporate team coaches in Japan years ago. They wear training shoes too but they rotate a lot more than most Western people would. They may go for a 2-hour jog in racing flats. Any time when you introduce a new stress, particularly if that particular stress is demanding, you risk injuries. It seems to me, that's what you're doing right now. So watch out.
Nobby
Wise words as usual, I feel honored you replied to my post. What you said makes a lot of sense. The first time I wore the Musha flats was about a month ago for a little 1 mile tryout and couldn't resist an all out 100 meters. That run by itself fired up the achilles. I have worn them about once a week since on just little runs trying to get used to them, and with almost always a little impromptu tempo increase for short distances just because they felt so light and fast, and almost always an imediate increase in tenderness in the Achilles.
I would risk tenderness to do well in this race but risk of real injury and not running is not a particularly attractive option. I can stay healthy in the Elixars so at present they look like the best option.
The change in stretch length in Achilles would affect you a lot more than most people realize. Young kids seem to be able to handle it a bit better and that's why we see a 16-year-old boy slipping off his heavy training shoes, goes straight into spike shoes and run 1600 and seem to get away with it--but the damage is still there I'm sure. We, oldies, certainly feel the effect; yet a lot of us do do that.
Switching to lower proflie shoes affects your Achilles. Running faster, because you tend to get more on your toes as well as, because of the angle, you'll get more "pull", also affects your Achilles. Put them together at once, it's a sure way to hurt your Achilles. That seems to be what's happening to a lot of people today when they try to switch to barefoot running. However, that's also what seems to be happening to a lot of people--they conclude that it's no good and forget about it (or worse yet, post it everywhere on the internet message board how wrong it is to run in minimalist shoes or barefoot...). You do need to strengthen your feet/legs before you can run hard and fast in the minimal type of racing shoes.
Jon Brown, now of Canada, went to Japan to race 2 races in 2 weeks; a half marathon and a cross country. He wore extra light racing flats (I think he might have wore Musha back then...this was a couple of years ago) which he said he wasn't quite ready for. Half way into the race, he pulled his calf. He said they were too light and too thin to run fast for so long (half marathon). Those things can happen to even an Olympian like Jon Brown.