Running For Trevor

I'm obviously biased, but the Type As are great for 5K... there is not much to them, though. The Fastwitch is a great blend of a lightweight flat that isn't going to beat your feet up. If you like the Mirages, you'll love the FT. It feels similar, just a lot lighter.

seriously??? :D.

Jake- thanks for the suggestion. I think I just might have to invest in a pair of fasttwitches. Maybe the will acutally make me "fast". :)

Julie - I can't answer my phone when I am working on the phones. I will call you back this afternoon.

Rachelle, I wanted to tell you about accidentally happening upon the best racing flats in the world (for me anyway) so I just had to buy them. I was turning in another pair to Runner's Corner that just did not work for me with walking around in them. They kept giving me more and more shoes to try (okay only 6 or 7 pairs) and I narrowed it down to the Fast Twitches and the pair I got. Fast Twitches were close but not really---WOW. I got Saucony A5s. Awesome I tell you. Fast twitches were going to be the ones and then he went back to get me these. They are light as a feather. I will use them for speed work and racing 10ks to the half marathon and possibly the marathon. Happy hunting. Thought I would let you know. You can't go wrong with the twitches-- Melanie raves about them. Also, are you available to run with on Friday....14 miles?? easy pace a brief pick up at the end nothing major--- like maybe 7:20 pace for four miles.

Jake, do they really beat up your feet??? they felt super wonderful on my feet even with my residual PF. I was going to use them for track work and as I wrote above. Rachelle-- do you wear mirages??? I actually really liked those as well but the color was mostly grey with turquoise bottoms with the lacing an off color turquoise and it just was too ugly for me. The FT are in pink and black. SWEET!!!

1000 Saucony fan points for Julie! :-)

The A4s/A5s are AWESOME. Seriously you don't even feel like you are wearing shoes. The outsoles are also very cool - very GRIPPY... good for running fast when you need traction to push off. I wear them for 1/2s when I am really going for a fast time. I can't wear them for the marathon though - they beat up my feet too much.

Oh I absolutely love them on the track and for shorter road races. I guess it depends on the surface too (ie. if there is lots of concrete). The fit is amazing, like a glove.

Here's my 2 cents:

I have the Adidas Adios and they are similar in traction to the Saucony A4/A5. Not sure about weight though?

Personally, I think the Fasttwitch, which I own two pairs is more suited for the marathon and 1/2 marathon (for those running over 1 1/2 hours).

A 5K is something you could get away wearing a very minimal light weight shoe. In fact the lighter the better in my opinion for anything under a 10K. I wear the Nike Zoom Streak, which is about 5.8 oz in size 11. Just make sure it fits snug, some of these minimal shoes are really light, but they allow the foot to slide around too much.

Once you get to 10K I think that's when the A4/A5 is a good fit for protection and weight.

In the ideal world it's best to have a shoe for 5K down, 5K-15K, 1/2 to Full marathon, and a spike for the track and cross country races.

Thanks so much for the feedback on the shoes everyone. It is very much appreciated. I have been incredibly aprehensive about switching towards flats because I was told from 26.2 Running company about 15 months ago when I finally went to get a gait analysis (before that I was running in a pair of Fila's from Ross. ha) that I overpronate. They suggested I needed extra support. But I am pretty sure that my pronating is pretty slight and that I am ready to make the switch. I know that just going from the heavy mizuno's to the lighter Mirages has made a huge difference.

I do have a pair of asics flats that I bought on a whim but my calves get way sore if I wear them for anything more than 5k so I am just looking for a happy balance.

FTs are one of the few (if not the only?) racing flats that has a small medial post, which prevents overpronation. So if you've never worn flats before, it would be the most seamless transition for you.

I'm pretty sure your pronation isn't a problem w/ all the miles and workouts you have done in the past year - jeez, if it was, you would have been hurt a lot! :-) Pronation is a natural motion (its how the bones in the foot are articulated) and I don't think your average running store employee is qualified to tell people if they overpronate.

Brooks also has some good models of flats that are geared towards longer races... the Racer ST appears to be a similar design to the Fastwitch.

A5's!I know you've had to of seen me in mine! Try them out!