3000 metres track spikes or flats

surfjunky

Thats the question, first time running 3000 metres on the track tonight in Morton; should I wear flats or spikes? I know this can be a personal thing but I'd be interested in hearing what other people do?
I've worn asics hyper md for 800 and 1500 on the track
I've worn asics ds trainer for short road races, from a mile up to 10k
Not sure what to do tonight for the 3000 on the track (I'll be choosing between those shoes).

thirtyfoot

The new Mondo track is a reasonably hard track so that needs to be taken into account. Over the winter it has been hard on the calves for people who have been regularly training on it and after a session of lots of intervals there can be soreness. You might want to bear this in mind. When dry it has very good grip in flats, but with of moisture it can be slippy enough. While its not a rock hard mondo, it is probably harder than the previous tartan track that was in Santry. Also, as its a mondo, xmas tree or pyramid spikes in your shoes are recommended as opposed to needle as they are the most effecient on the surface but that could be going into too much detail.

ecoli

surfjunky wrote: »

Thats the question, first time running 3000 metres on the track tonight in Morton; should I wear flats or spikes? I know this can be a personal thing but I'd be interested in hearing what other people do?
I've worn asics hyper md for 800 and 1500 on the track
I've worn asics ds trainer for short road races, from a mile up to 10k
Not sure what to do tonight for the 3000 on the track (I'll be choosing between those shoes).

Given that this is probably one of the first races of the season i would ask how much track work have you been doing in training? Normally i would say spikes for anything up to 5k on track however if you haven't worn them in a while your calves will burn something fierce so i would play safe and go flats

surfjunky

@Tingle: thanks for info on condition of Morton track
@ecoli: I only transitioned from cross country training to training on the track three weeks ago, I've been using flats on the track (I normally do this anyway and save the spikes for races). Track training has been tough on the body and have been feeling very tender in the groin since sessions last Thursday and Saturday. So I'm thinking of using the flats to be safe but was unsure over this distance if it would be a significant disadvantage, though I suppose staying injury free is more important at this stage.

ecoli

surfjunky wrote: »

@Tingle: thanks for info on condition of Morton track
@ecoli: I only transitioned from cross country training to training on the track three weeks ago, I've been using flats on the track (I normally do this anyway and save the spikes for races). Track training has been tough on the body and have been feeling very tender in the groin since sessions last Thursday and Saturday. So I'm thinking of using the flats to be safe but was unsure over this distance if it would be a significant disadvantage, though I suppose staying injury free is more important at this stage.

You are better off staying safe. Its better to stay injury free and have a few attempts at fast times over the course of season than have one shot and suffer from an injury. Between now and the next race i would however at the end of a session or easy run try to incorporate 100 or 200m strides nothing major but wearing spikes during these will help you get used to itas i d the same myself and do very little track work in spikes like yourself

kennyb3

anyone know what surface the track in alsaa is just out of interest?

surfjunky

Thats the one I train on, don't know what its made of but all I know is that the inside lane is pretty beat up and a lot of the lads are picking up little injuries here and there from it (though this could be in part due to recent transition from xc to track). As an aside, was lovely training there last week without airoplanes skimming metres above our heads! An ill-wind ....

thirtyfoot

That would be bog standard tartan, that would be the limit of my techinal knowledge on track types - tartan and mondo!

notsofast

for more info on different track types see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-weather_running_track

Won't tell you whether to use spikes or flats though !!:)

ecoli

AFAIK mondo tracks are usually harder which seem to suit the sprinters and produce very fast times for the shorter races.
In terms of distance i would say that the mondo is more taxing on the body and as such tartan is a bit more forgiving in terms of times and on the body.
In terms of performances spikes should be worn for anything from 100m to 5000m. Different running spikes are custom built for their race specific distances (though there are some versatile models)
These are just general outlines and are by no means 100% clarifications as there are exceptions to every rule

oldrunner

anyone know what surface the track in alsaa is just out of interest?

Originally, the track in ALSAA was built as a tarmacadam track. Then in the early 90s (if I remember right), a tartan track was laid on top of the tarmacadam. At this stage, the tartan is so thin, you may as well be running on tarmac. It's no wonder people pick up injuries.

I have been training on the new Santry track since it opened. I find it much easier on the legs than the old track. I also think it is faster even for distance running. It's a real joy to run on it. I think the reaction after the Graded tonight will be very positive.

surfjunky

Thanks for the advice lads, tried the spikes on the new Morton track before the race ... they felt good, decided to go with them instead of the flats. Posted a PB for 3k and didn't pick up an injury. Lots of positive comments from other runners about new Mondo track.