Should I buy Track or Cross Country spikes?

Question

I am freshman guy in Spring Track. I have a season of Winter Track behind me and plan to do Cross Country for the first time next season.

I am interested in the Brooks Mach 9 spikes for Cross Country and the Nike Rival D Plus III spikes for Track but can only choose one. I want the best one for durability and speed in 800m, 1600m, and the 5K.

I run the 1600m in 5:36 in trainers (specifically the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8s) and the 800m in 2:28 in my friend's spikes(by the way, are those good times for a freshman guy like myself?)

I also have a bit of a tight budget

Please leave thorough answers, thank you.

Answer 1

well, im a freshman guy who is running outdoor and only did indoor but is going to do xc next year, so i can see where you are coming from.  First, the spikes.  I know this isnt what you want to hear, but you should probably just get both track and xc.  xc spikes are heavier, but track spikes, even distance ones, will have very little support and could no way stand up to an xc course.  If you really cant get both, than go with xc cuz that way you at least will be able to run both in them, while the rack ones will practically fall apart in XC.  Also, if you do plan on getting only XC spikes, you will probably want to get the Nike Zoom Miler Xross Country spikes, as those are the closest XC spikes to track spikes.

Now for the times.  i can run a 5:15 in my running shoes, but my pr is a 4:53, so in a race with spikes you should be able to go a lot faster than a 5:36(id guess around a 5:10)  thats pretty good, not great, but if you work hard you should be able to drop it a lot.

Your 800 is not very good.  i run a 2:10, so you should work on that.  You can drop it a lot though, just make sure to do 800 repeats/400s.

I hope this answer is thorough

Answer 2

xc

Answer 3

Track

Answer 4

if you're doing distance on track  i'd say the xc flats, you could probably use them all season