Cross Training Questions

Should i wear my spikes to practice??

at my old school we were only allowed to wear our spikes (or flats) to meets.. our coach said we'd be used to our big cross training shoes and would go much faster at the meets if that was the only time we wore our spikes. but the coach at my new school recommends wearing them any day we have a speed work out...even tho he hasnt given a good reason why some ppl will wear their spikes to practice..but take the actual spikes out any suggestions?? kk thanks guys.. i tried wearin my spikes to practice for a few days and they did make my legs a lil tight, so you were right. ill jus keep wearin my clunky trainers to practice so i can smash at meets lol. thanks!!

Public Comments

1. do not wear your spikes to practice. They are not helathy for your feet. Spikes are light shoes designed for speed and traction, so they lack support, which is not good for your feet, ankles, and legs. You only need to run in them on meet days, when you need to be at your absolute fastest. They are not necessary in practice. A good pair of trainers will do much better.
2. I only wear them at meets because they don't have as much cushioning so they are higher impact and could possibly hurt your knees or something if you wear them to often,also if you practice in heavier training shoes you'll be slower at practice but faster at meets because the heavier shoes will build more muscle.
3. Don't wear your spikes for practice. It can create shin splints or even shorten your achilles tendon. Also, it will wear your expensive spikes out much faster. Do bring them along incase you want to work on balocks with them for a little bit.
4. Instead of spikes i would go with flats- spikes have very little support. Taking the spikes out doesn't make a difference. So bottomline-no spike at practice unless you are breaking them in
5. i would say no. flats are meant to make you feel extra light on race day to help you be the best you can be for the race. their purpose would be ruined if you wore them all the time.
6. It depends what even you are doing. Pretty much all track ppl except for the distance runners (800-3200) wear spikes, cause they are always practicing on the track doing their practice, but distance ppl usually go off campus and do mileage and you don;t want to do that in spikes. Soooo....if you are a distance runner, don't wear them, if you are anything else, you should probably wear them.
7. I only wear my flats for races. They are like my special race day accessorie. and races feel a lot different then practices. If you are wearing just flats then still don't wear them because you can wear down the bottoms
8. Most of your practice should be done in trainers. Spikes are designed for speed and racing. They do not give you the support you need in a serious workout. However, you should practice in spikes (on the track) once or twice to break them in before you race in them. Also, as someone pointed out earlier, if you are practicing your starts as a sprinter, it is a good idea to do that in spikes.