I did all my long runs and tempo runs in carbon plated shoes last fall. No achilles issues. If anything, I felt they took a lot of load off the lower legs and put them in the quads. Anyway, any performance advantage of these shoes does go away pretty quickly. By some estimates I’ve seen as soon as around 100 miles. I would not use a pair with over 50 miles as a goal race shoe. But, they do stay light and maintain good shock absorption for a good while after that.
On the other hand, Jacob Ingebrigtsen uses the high priced Nikes for everything, and he’s got an achilles boo boo. But I am going to guess it’s not shoe related.
How you like the Pro 3 and the elite?
Have 2 Pro 1s, but one is ready to be put down, and the other to be moved to workout shoe.
Debating about getting a pro or elite.
Also… Updates…
Last week I had a great wo on Wed. Hit all the targets and felt great, until i got the the car.
I suddenly had a MASSIVE spasm on the mid back and it got much much worse as the day progressed!
I was in agonizing pain all day, couldn’t sleep at all. Now is MUCH better… started running yesterday (3 miles). Today did 6 easy miles and tomorrow running 8 with some strides…
Ah, slight correction on the route details. The Cadel Road Race indeed takes off and returns to Geelong, weaving through Torquay along the way.
However, the event in question kicks off a bit further south in Lorne and makes its curtain call in Apollo Bay. The stretch along the Great Ocean Road mirrors quite closely to what you’d experience in the “Amy’s Granfondo Road Race”.
I still haven’t run in the elites - i’m waiting for some good weather so can’t give a full side-by-side comparison
However, I will say that I absolutely love the Pro 3 and would fully recommend them, so much so that I am doubting my decision to buy the elites for my marathon.
What I love so much about the Pro 3 is that they really do give a massive performance boost over something like my speed 3s but they do so without feeling weird or forcing me to run in a certain way. They feel strange to walk in but as soon as I start running - at any pace - they just seem to disappear.
I bought the elites because I wanted the same again but better. I wanted the same feel as the Pro 3s but the performance of the best Nikes…
I can already tell that the elites are very different to the Pro 3s though, the shape of the toe-off is more aggressive and they feel firmer. My concern is that all the reasons I picked up the Pro 3s rather than something like the Nikes in the first place, that they didn’t feel a chore to run in, will be present in the elites.
Also, if you are the type of person who likes to keep shoes for a while - I don’t think the elites are the shoes for you, part of the reason I haven’t worn them is because the tread is almost non existent - I don’t want to wear it off pre-race or slip over in the wet.
EDIT: Also, the Pro 4 is around the corner. From first reviews it looks like they have tried to differenciate the Pro 4 from the Elite by positioning it more as a marathon shoe - it looks like they have made it less aggresive than the Pro 3 which I’m not sure I like the sound of. Makes me worried that the Pro 3 might actually be the perfect shoe for me but they wont be around forever
Interesting, can’t say I’ve noticed a big difference between the Pro 3 and the speed 3.
Pro 3 lighter yes and slightly more performance I estimate only about 1 - 2 seconds per km over my “best pair” of speed 3s, this might be within the measurement margin of error, however it seems to be consistent at a HR of around 140 bpm during mutiple tests.
Why did I say “best pair” of Speed 3s? Well I have three pairs and the first pair, which I was amazed by are nothing like the most recent two pair of Speed 3s, I therefore think the is quite a variance in quality of the speed 3s. I estimate a few seconds per km. Oh and btw, the fast pair of Speed 3 does feel slight unstable when walking but the pairs that are a like, not so much.
As I only have one pair of the Pro 3s I cant comment on the variance of those.
I would guess though it just depends on the actual pair you have.
Best Speed 3 vs Pro 3 (ave, worst, who knows) not much difference.
Worst Speed 3 vs Pro 3, yes there is a difference, depends on the luck of the draw imo. Might be 3 - 4 second per km
Placebo effect is still a thing with shoes. But also there are responders and non responders to super shoes, and some people actually run slower in them. Usually faster runners get a bigger benefit.
I thought that. Until I got my first pair…
I refuse to buy plated shoes. For 2020 Boston marathon i got myself a pair of adidas adios 4. Since the race was cancelled I never got to wear them on a race. Then in 2021 i got 2 pair of plated shoes, and my friend… I could definitely tell the difference. Like night and day. At the VERY least, your legs have better turn over and the much softer material and stack feels great on your legs, while not being marshmallow soft like many other before. The plate made it possible to add road feeling to very soft materials. And this is probably the pinnacle of running shoes. I do not think shoes will get any better than plated, unless they find materials that can add even more bounce!
I predict that in 10 years most running shoes will be soft mid soles with plates in the middle.
They work, without a doubt. I love my Pro 3, they feel great, and I feel fast in them. But even marketing only claims 4% running economy improvement for the best carbon plated shoes out there, and if marketing claims 4%, you know you’re probably not getting that much.
Yeah, I haven’t had a lot of luck with super shoes so far unfortunately. That being said I certainly haven’t tried them all so there may well be something out there, but I got kind of tired of shelling out 2-3x the price for something that ended up being slower and less durable than a pair of ‘traditional’ racing flats.
interestingly I settled on the Magic Speeds which I think I’m liking more, but I hear most people hated those.
Plated shoe benefits depend heavily on running form. For lack of a better term, runners who “trudge” along might get no benefit. If you are a forefoot runner with significant time off the ground, you will see bigger benefits
Sure, a few seconds here and there are definitely worthwhile. I am running the United half marathon in March, and I qualified for an entry in another half marathon by 44 seconds. That’s your 1.5% difference right there. Actually, probably more like 0.7%.
I think the most important thing for a racing shoe is still that it is as light as possible, while providing adequate cushioning for the distance. Taking 2-3 ounces off a bike part will not make a measurable difference (in spite of what some cyclists think), but taking 2-3 ounces off your shoe definitely does. You’re accelerating that shoe twice per stride, thousands of times per race, and that extra mechanical work from a bit more weight adds up.
I’ve heard a lot of people say weight makes a negligible difference, but I’m pretty strongly preferential to lighter shoes.
I’m not sure if that’s skewed a bit by me being a 95lb lady, though- I think most shoes are tested on average-sized males, so maybe the weight makes a relatively bigger difference in my case? I suspect my ‘extra cushioning’ needs are a little lower given I’m not hitting the ground as hard either, and that’s usually where the extra grams come from.
End of the day I just go for the old ‘goes fast with minimal interference’ philosophy.
