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Speed Work
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I have just begun doing some speed work on the track and would be interested to know what sort of shoes people recommend. I over-pronate slightly on the left side but dont like running hard (i.e. fast for me) in my cushioned sauconys.
Should I think about spikes?
Should I think about spikes?
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Comments
I do a fair bit of track work with the club I'm a member of and have a pair of Mizuno Wave Phantoms that I use for quite a lot of that. They're a good compromise between being lightweight and flexible for speed work but still giving a reasonable amount of protection to my feet. They also have a reasonable amount of medial support, particularly for a racer, so they might well suit you if you overpronate mildly.
On the track, I use them for longer runs and endurance sessions where we're doing lots of longer efforts in one session but they're pretty flexible and you can certainly pick up the pace in them for speed sessions. Others in the club use similar lightweights/racers, for much the same reasons.
I also have a pair of spikes - Asics Hyper MD - that are good (for me) for running miles and less and are what I tend to use for speed sessions, although I use them with sorbothane heel inserts for just a little bit more protection.
I use a pair of Asics Pro-Countries for the steeplechase as they're a bit more sturdy over the longer distance, while still giving me a bit of grip over the hurdles, and they don't suffer from getting very wet!
I found spikes do make a difference to my track running but when I use them I need to be very careful about making sure I warm up/warm down/stretch properly before and after the session or I really feel it in my calves the morning after, much more so than I would with a pair of racers. I use the Phantoms for the first part of the warm up and for all of the warm down and only switch to spikes during the session itself.
Dave
Dave
My calf muscles dont like synthetic tracks at the best of times, so I think I will start off with the lightweights until I get a few months under my belt and perhaps get some spikes next summer.
Have a go at the Asics Gel DS Trainer, which is light, but has some of the protection of a support shoe. Best of both worlds!
DC