When running becomes an intimate part of your life, whether you’re a track sprinter, or a long distance runner or a cross country trekker, the first thing you need to do is get hold of the right equipment. This is even more important if you have reached a high degree of skill in your chosen discipline, and run in competitions rather than just for fun. Often the difference between gold and loser is measured in only hundredths of a second, and if you follow Olympic swimming, you will know that even a seemingly simple change, such as the material the swimsuit is made from, can make a real difference. The same is true for running, and the main necessity for competitive runners is their running spikes.
There are different tools for different jobs, and so you will find that the best running spikes for a 100-meter sprinter will not necessarily be ideal for 10,000-meter events. Sprinters run mainly on the fronts of their feet, whereas a longer distance runner will spend time with the whole foot on the ground, and will need more heel padding to absorb shock and for added comfort. The sprinters’ track running spikes will be much lighter than those used by a distance competitor, and often will have a zipper to fasten them rather than laces or velcro straps. This will allegedly shave critical hundredths of a second off a sprinter’s times, whereas such measures are not too crucial as the length of the race increases.
Another factor to consider is the spikes for running shoes; they come in a variety of lengths to allow grip in different race conditions, but there are also different shapes to think about. The running spikes size tends to get longer if the conditions are more likely to be slippery, such as in the wet, or if you venture away from the track and do some cross country courses. As for the shapes, the most commonly seen these days are the pyramid spikes. These are conical in shape, wider at the screw thread end and narrowing to a point where they contact the track. These are great for modern track racing.
The next type is needle spikes, which are pretty much shaped the way their name suggests; thin and pointy (these are the type I wore myself in my highschool competition days). They perform quite well in sprint racing on amateur gravel or sand based tracks, but on modern ones they can stick slightly. This is good for grip, but obviously will be slowing you down!
Christmas tree spikes – sometimes called compression tier spikes – are different to the pyramids and needles as they are made not to grip the track by penetration.
These spikes look like a cone built up from several tiers, like a wedding cake! The contact end is flat, unlike the other spike varieties, as it is intended to squash the track surface and then rebound to increase the runner’s speed. There is still enough friction to prevent the feet from slipping, and an extra advantage is that grip is provided in several directions, which makes these types of spiked running shoes ideal for sprint hurdlers.
If you are serious about your running, make sure you get clued up not just on which kind of running shoes with spikes to buy, but think carefully about the type of teeth those shoes will need for your particular event. And if you want to experiment, buy a single pair of running spikes with threaded teeth, and then you can simply get one of each type of shape and try them out.
Running Spikes Info