After the last 6 weeks of half marathon training, and the actual time trial itself, I thought it would be useful to condense my thoughts on the shoes that were used in this training block.
Nike Alphafly - this is the king of marathon shoes at the moment. Great speed, easy on the feet and legs, I used them for the actual time trial itself and made a 3.5min PB. On the negative side I would say a twisty road course might be tricky to handle as this shoe is not made for turns. The durability is also questionable around the giant air-pod areas. I only have 150km on them at the moment and they look a bit worn.
Nike Vaporfly Next% 2 - what a handful of a name. I didn't like the fit of the shoe at first with the weird asymmetric lacing but it worked itself out after a few runs. I did a variety of long runs and pace runs in these and they went very well. I suspect with time I will actually prefer these to the Alphafly.
Hoka Rocket X. Traditional looking shoe with lots of technology, at a lower price point compared to the 2 Nike super shoes. These are probably best for shorter tempo runs, or track repeats even. I wouldn't consider them for marathons, and frankly not my first choice for a half marathon either. That said, I really like this shoe, it feels quite natural.
Nike Air Pegasus 38. I really wanted to like this shoe but it has been unimpressive. I took it for a couple of recovery and long runs and they didn't feel particularly soft, nor did it improve when I tried some surges. So for me - neither long/slow or fast/short... I might try to resell this since I haven't put much kilometers on these.
ON CloudStratus - I used this for a marathon about 2 years back, haven't used it much, used it for 1 long run in this block and remembered why. For a max cushion shoe, it was anything but. Not quick either. So I sold it.
ON CloudX. While this is officially on the running roster, I didn't use them for any programmed runs at all. Maybe slow jogs outside my kid's school while waiting to pick them up. They are however, my preferred walking shoes at the moment as I really like the aesthetics on these. For running - they will be at the bottom of the table.
INCOMING: I have ordered a BMAI 42k Carbon Shock plated shoe to play around. It ain't cheap either but I have seen good reviews so quite excited to try them. The search continues for a durable trainer type that the Air Pegasus 38 was supposed to be - Skechers MaxRoad 5 and Asics Novablast 2 are on the shortlist.
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