Who uses them for distance running? Curious if you use them for all of your training or just for speed work and race day?

I'm training for Houston full and have been exclusively training in a non-plated shoe (Saucony Triumph) and wanting to dip my toes (pardon the pun) into something more aggressive, but not sure how to make that leap.

TIA!

I am not well versed in carbon shoe training vs racing but I ran the Houston full this year in a plated shoe - New Balance FuelCell RC Elite 2. Prior to the marathon I ran a handful of tempo runs and long runs in them to get a feel for the shoe. My concern with running too much in plated shoes is that most of them seem to be built for speed and are designed to be light not durable. All that said, I have 180mi on my RC Elite v2, and they seem to be holding up fine and still have plenty of pop. There's a chance I run the Aramco half in them, as well.

ETA my current shoe lineup:

New Balance FuelCell SC Trainer for slower/longer runs (this is a carbon plated shoe but is soft, slow, and heavy)
Suacony Endorphin Speed 3 for most training runs and tempo runs (this is a nylon plated shoe and I really like the rocker shape of this shoe)
New Balance FuelCell CR Elite V2 (carbon race shoe)

I agree carbon plated shoes are at their best at faster paces. My favorite by far has been the Nike Vaporfly Next% 2 (great from 5k to marathon). Planning to go max running geek and wear Nike Alphaflys at BCS, though I'm not fast enough to truly do them justice.

Generally save these kind of shoes for race day but you need to try them out before that, maybe in a tempo run or a long run with some race pace. If you can try them in a running store, esp with a treadmill, even better.
Saucony Endorphin Speeds are great shoes and are kind of transitional (between trainer and plated racer) if you're not quite ready to make the leap.

I'm a shorter distance runner (10K to Half Marathon distance races), and I've got two plated shoes in my 3-shoe Saucony rotation.

I use the Endorphin Speed 2's (nylon plate) as a fast trainer and on faster paced group runs and I use the Endorphin Pro 2's (carbon plate) only on 'race' day. Both are fantastic shoes and were fast/comfortable right out of the box. Both comfortable even into the half marathon distance. I had the Speeds first and only bought the Pro's when Saucony put them on 60% off recently.

If I had to choose between the Speed and Pro, I'd buy the Speed. It's fast, light and comfortable and will save ya' about $40.

I liked the speeds more when I tried them on. They have a nice heel cup that I wish other shoes would incorporate.

I really wanted to like the speeds but they made my toes go numb. They aren't even that comfortable for me to walk around in for a long time.

Speed 2 or 3? I experienced that with the 2's but not the 3's.

They were the 2s. I've stayed away from Saucony since then

aggiespartan said:

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They were the 2s. I've stayed away from Saucony since then

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I was the same until I read reviews of the 3's. If you care to try Saucony again, the 3's might work for you.

My Ride 15's are getting near their mileage retirement and I'm trying to decide between another pair of Ride 15's or the Endorphin Shift 3 for my daily trainer.

Seems like it's getting more difficult to find a 'moderate' cushion trainer these days with everything going 'max cushion'.

Nike Winflow or Pegasus for every run, including races.

Flats for track races 1600 or under.

Alphafly has been tested once. I ran a 5K PR on my home course in my Pegasus, a 2 year old record. Then I broke it by 10 seconds the next day with Alphafly. I will run a half marathon with them, followed by the Houston full...if the half goes well.