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After my first half Ironman I looked at my results. They were pretty bad. I really didn’t know what I was doing. I had no coach and was totally inexperienced.

My T1 was almost five minutes long.

What was I doing for five whole minutes? Well, besides the three litres of energy drink I was wrestling with under my bike (!) I was tying my shoes.

The first loop, the tree, the rabbit goes around the tree, and through the hole. At least that’s how I learned it.

Shoes with orange elastic laces

But then I started seeing runners with elastic laces, held in place by plastic clips. It took me a while, but I realized I could probably cut at least 10 seconds per shoe off by using those.

Slip one on, slip the other on. You don’t even have to adjust the clips.

This is one of my first and best hacks.

I sometimes wonder the benefit of traditional laces and why shoe manufacturers even use them. Each time I buy a new pair I pull the old laces out and replace them with elastic laces.

I’ve even found myself reusing the elastic type in new shoes as they typically outlast the shoes.

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Buy Your Laces Now

Below are three good brands. I’ve used the first two extensively, and in the past have bought them locally.

They’re like $20 a pop in the store.

But I see now that via Amazon you can get them in multiple packs for a lot cheaper. Check them out below.