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Footwear – be sensible

Choose the right shoe

I've spoken a few times over the last few months and to a few individuals again yesterday about making sure you are wearing appropriate footwear for the activity you are doing.  I'm still surprised to see people warming up in spikes or doing their steady running in racing flats.  This can only lead to injury, and indeed a couple of people are now complaining of niggles.

Training shoes - With suitable cushioning, some stability and designed to be harder wearing, these should be your default.  Wear them for warming up, steady runs, easy runs, long runs, warming down, longer sessions if the underfoot conditions allow.

Racing flats - A luxury item.  Wear them for road races, longer track sessions or grass sessions when it isn't slippy.  They are not designed for your day to day running - they don't have the cushioning required and what cushioning they do have will soon be lost if you are wearing them too often.

Spikes - Designed for racing.  Normally only for sessions on grass when it is slippy or sessions on track when slippy or running at 1500 pace and below.  They don't have the cushioning your legs need for longer sessions on the track or for warming up.  Wear them all the time and you run the risk of getting injured and you lose the mental boost of slipping your light racing spikes on.

Don't be the next person to get injured.  Follow the advice you've been getting.  Go to Sweatshop and the racing flats and spikes are on a completely different display to the trainers.

Wear decent trainers, please!