Finding spikes- can anyone help?

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1

Hello all,

I have a few questions about sprint spikes. First of all, here is my situation;

I am a novice level (masters) sprinter (12.61 last year) and will be a bit faster this year.

I have a size 12 foot, and I am a B width, which is far narrower than the standard D.

My questions are as follows:

  1. Is there a manufacturer that makes anything narrower than standard D width shoes that I can special order?

  2. Does anyone in particular have a typically narrower fit? I have heard that Nike and Mizuno are narrow, is this generally true?

  3. How stiff can I go for the footbed? I feel like I need extreme stiffness because my feet are so long and narrow. Will an extremely stiff shoe affect my achilles, etc?

  4. Has anyone tried the Brooks F1? My coach told me they are extremely heavy. Any comments?

  5. I am in Toronto- is there anywhere besides Running Free that I should check out? They have zero shoes in a size 12.

2

I don’t have narrow feet, but I have large feet (US size 15) and may be able to help you out. I order all of my spikes off of eastbay.com and find they have really good deals.

My favorite plates are the Nike Superfly plates. They’re very stiff, but your feet may be too narrow. Instead of them, I would recommend the Nike Zoom Celar 3s. The plate is stiff too, but they’re too narrow for me, meaning they’ll probably be perfect for you.

Here’s a link to them:
http://www.eastbay.com/catalog/productdetail/model_nbr--97704/sku--33502141/cm--GLOBAL%20SEARCH%3A%20KEYWORD%20SEARCH/

3

Thanks RJ,

I will try to find a pair to try on if at all possible. Has anyone tried the Mizuno Tempo or Tokyo? I can’t find them in my size, but they seem very stiff and narrow overall. I would love to get my hands on a pair to try out.

4

If you have the time and money consult a podiatrist on the type of running shoes best for you. Sometimes a real stiff plate can lead to problems under the arch of the foot (plantar fasciaitis) and if that happens you’ll be spending a lot more time - and money - getting it fixed :rolleyes:

5

This probably needs to be emphasized as Charlie has been quite emphatic about the connection between VERY hard plates and achilles problems (I still wonder in those very hard Adidas Beijing things–which Tyson was stuck with due to contract with Adidas–was the real root cause in his OT/no Beijing problems).

Both Nike with the Maxcat (the old one more than the new one) and Adidas with the Adistar Sprint have fairly light spikes with a “glovelight” fit which should be good for a narrow foot. But I wouldn’t touch those Beijing-demolisher things with a million dollar insurance policy.

6

Are you sure he wore that type of plate at the trials? If so, it might well have been his choice (or he was talked into it).
Often a top athlete can wear the plate of their preferance put onto the upper they want to promote, with the spectators none the wiser. We were always able to do that in the old days.

7

I’d sure like to know because, otherwise, it’s a rather interesting coincidence, don’t you think?

I do know that the plate in the off-the-shelf version of that spike is extremely hard, and for the OP that is actually what matters.

8

Thank you for the input everyone.

The point about the stiff plate leading to Achilles problems is a great point. My feet are already so long and narrow that my Achilles are always a bit sore no matter what shoe I wear.

I have a few followup questions.

  1. Can anyone recommend a good podiatrist in Toronto?

  2. Can I use a less broken-in pair of shoes for racing, and a more broken-in pair for training, or is that a no-no?

  3. Do any manufacturers make a Narrow (B-width) sprint shoe?

  4. What particular shoe would you recommend I try knowing I have a long, narrow foot?

Thank you,

T