wangus12 said:

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Half Marathon world record broken this morning. Down to 56:51

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Nice consolation prize for Kejelcha after running a sub-2 hour marathon in London, and losing.

bmac_aggie18 said:

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Anybody have experience running the Cowtown or The Woodlands Marathon?

Deciding between one of those at the end of February

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I done Cowtown and run the half every year. Rolling hills through the first 15 miles and then starts to flatten out. Very well organized. Spectator support is loaded on the front half before the split. Does empty out after the HM splits off. Good post race with food.

Cowtown and BCS are the 2 guaranteed races I do every year

18 miles in Houston weather yesterday was miserable

Looking for race day shoes recs; what do yall like? I've been in Brooks Ghosts for daily trainer, but hoping to find something a bit lighter and springier for Chicago Marathon without going full carbon plate

Goldie Wilson said:

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Looking for race day shoes recs what do yall like? I've been in Brooks Ghosts for daily trainer, but hoping to find something a bit lighter and springier for Chicago Marathon without going full carbon plate

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I'm curious of this, as well. I've only ran in Nimbus 26's and currently in Nimbus 27's. Smart idea to look at different shoes for my actual training block and races?

Goldie Wilson said:

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Looking for race day shoes recs; what do yall like? I've been in Brooks Ghosts for daily trainer, but hoping to find something a bit lighter and springier for Chicago Marathon without going full carbon plate

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I've gone to the dark side of running (trail running) and don't spend much time in road shoes.....but when I used to run half / 25K I loved the Saucony Endorphin speed series. It has a plate, but it's not carbon (so more flexible and less $).

It was a great compromise between the relaxed daily trainer and the carbon plated 'super shoes'.

Goldie Wilson said:

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Looking for race day shoes recs; what do yall like? I've been in Brooks Ghosts for daily trainer, but hoping to find something a bit lighter and springier for Chicago Marathon without going full carbon plate

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Just curious but why no carbon plate? What's your expected finish time?

Goldie Wilson said:

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Looking for race day shoes recs; what do yall like? I've been in Brooks Ghosts for daily trainer, but hoping to find something a bit lighter and springier for Chicago Marathon without going full carbon plate

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I've run a marathon in Endorphin Speeds and multiple halfs, it's a great line of shoes. Much lighter feeling than the Ghosts but not a super punishing ride like some plated shoes can have at slower paces.

I'd also look seriously at Adidas EVO SLs, I've never run a full in them but they are light and bouncy right out of the box. Some of the bounce dies down after like 200 miles but the comfort is still there.

If cost is the barrier to carbon/super shoes, Saucony is selling Endorphin Elites at 50% off right now and Adios Pros can be had for like $130.00. I've even seen Alphaflys for around $160. All of those options are still pretty comfortable as long as your pace is suitable for a super shoe.

Average Joe said:

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Goldie Wilson said:

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Looking for race day shoes recs what do yall like? I've been in Brooks Ghosts for daily trainer, but hoping to find something a bit lighter and springier for Chicago Marathon without going full carbon plate

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I'm curious of this, as well. I've only ran in Nimbus 26's and currently in Nimbus 27's. Smart idea to look at different shoes for my actual training block and races?

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If the goal is just finishing then I personally don't see a lot of benefit in playing around with a race day shoe. Just run in what you are comfortable in and used to. If you have time goals, than maybe a race day shoe makes sense.

Just using my own situation for context, I'm racing for time because I want to qualify for Boston, so if a shoe can give me 15 seconds a mile, that's potentially 7 or 8 minutes off my final time and the difference between running 3:06 and not BQing and running 2:59 and BQing. I'm targeting an April race here in Indy to try and BQ and I will 100% be wearing either Elites or Alphaflys when I make my attempt because every minute counts for what I'm shooting for.

As EP said, Endorphin Speed is a good choice. It has a rocker feel that seems to propel you forward, and you don't really notice the nylon plate.

New Balance SC Elite has a carbon plate but a less aggressive feel than the Nike plated shoes. I like the Elite for long training runs and pacing half marathons. Might try racing in them soon.

For racing, Nike Vaporfly has been my favorite. Even at my not-so-fast race pace, the cushion and bounce of the foam, and the rebound of the plate really help reduce leg fatigue.

AggieEP said:

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Average Joe said:

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Goldie Wilson said:

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Looking for race day shoes recs what do yall like? I've been in Brooks Ghosts for daily trainer, but hoping to find something a bit lighter and springier for Chicago Marathon without going full carbon plate

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I'm curious of this, as well. I've only ran in Nimbus 26's and currently in Nimbus 27's. Smart idea to look at different shoes for my actual training block and races?

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If the goal is just finishing then I personally don't see a lot of benefit in playing around with a race day shoe. Just run in what you are comfortable in and used to. If you have time goals, than maybe a race day shoe makes sense.

Just using my own situation for context, I'm racing for time because I want to qualify for Boston, so if a shoe can give me 15 seconds a mile, that's potentially 7 or 8 minutes off my final time and the difference between running 3:06 and not BQing and running 2:59 and BQing. I'm targeting an April race here in Indy to try and BQ and I will 100% be wearing either Elites or Alphaflys when I make my attempt because every minute counts for what I'm shooting for.

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That makes a lot of sense. I kept seeing the recommendations for race specific shoes but no one gave any logic as to why.

Alpha Fly 3s on sale for $147. Bought a pair just to say I've tried them.

Link if you're interested: https://www.scheels.com/p/19872664282

Sweep4-2 said:

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Goldie Wilson said:

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Looking for race day shoes recs; what do yall like? I've been in Brooks Ghosts for daily trainer, but hoping to find something a bit lighter and springier for Chicago Marathon without going full carbon plate

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I've gone to the dark side of running (trail running) and don't spend much time in road shoes.....but when I used to run half / 25K I loved the Saucony Endorphin speed series. It has a plate, but it's not carbon (so more flexible and less $).

It was a great compromise between the relaxed daily trainer and the carbon plated 'super shoes'.

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I'll check out the Speeds. Thanks

Good Poster said:

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Goldie Wilson said:

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Looking for race day shoes recs; what do yall like? I've been in Brooks Ghosts for daily trainer, but hoping to find something a bit lighter and springier for Chicago Marathon without going full carbon plate

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Just curious but why no carbon plate? What's your expected finish time?

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I don't like the feel of carbon plates at my target MP: aiming for 3:30/3:40. I have some Vaporflys that are really fun for tempo/interval work, but don't like them for distance.

Goldie Wilson said:

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I don't like the feel of carbon plates at my target MP: aiming for 3:30/3:40. I have some Vaporflys that are really fun for tempo/interval work, but don't like them for distance.

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If your only experience with a plated shoe is with Vaporflys, you should try another model. Vaporflys are fast and feel good at 5/10K, but I found them actively unpleasant at 13.1. (I am a bad overpronator with congenitally flat feet, but tolerate Alphaflys reasonably well out to marathon distance. If I tried to run a marathon in Vaporflys I am quite sure that I would hurt myself.)

You are more than fast enough to benefit substantially from a carbon plated model. (I would submit that short of intending to walk the whole thing, almost any runner will be faster in the right plated shoe, but that's another story.)

Goldie Wilson said:

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Good Poster said:

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Goldie Wilson said:

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Looking for race day shoes recs; what do yall like? I've been in Brooks Ghosts for daily trainer, but hoping to find something a bit lighter and springier for Chicago Marathon without going full carbon plate

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Just curious but why no carbon plate? What's your expected finish time?

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I don't like the feel of carbon plates at my target MP: aiming for 3:30/3:40. I have some Vaporflys that are really fun for tempo/interval work, but don't like them for distance.

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Great intro to carbon shoes:

Puma Deviate Nitro Elite 3 or 4
New Balance SC elite v5 or v6
Saucony Endorphin Pro (whatever the newest volume is)

All are carbon shoes, but very much mimic non-carbon shoes.

Both the Vaporflys and Alphaflys have gone through pretty substantial changes with each of their versions, so it's more nuanced than just "this works for this" and "this doesn't". All of this is just my experience, but I have run a considerable amount except the original Vaporfly.

• Vaporfly 2 - lots of people still talk about it being the best shoe Nike has made, super snappy and there were tons of marathons run in it as it was Nike's option at the time it was introduced, product marketing was half marathon and marathon distances, remained popular with elites even with the introduction of the 3 and the Alphafly
• Vaporfly 3 - my favorite shoe Nike has made, it was wider and had a more substantial platform than the 2, lots of people thought that it lost pop relative to the 2 and that was true but the other changes actually made it a better ride at the marathon distance, product marketing was half marathon and marathon distances
• Vaporfly 4 - a complete shift back to a more scaled down, sleeker shoe that offers less protection than the 3 and even the 2, clear move by Nike to actually differentiate the Vaporfly from the Alphafly and have a 5k to half marathon shoe and a half marathon to marathon shoe, they have been open about the intention of the shift

• Alphafly 1 - super poppy but a pretty harsh ride, really harsh on the arch, took a lot of mechanical work to get them cruising but when you did, they were magic
• Alphafly 2 - heavy, disjointed, an absolute clunker
• Alphafly 3 - lighter than the 1 and 2, has all the pop of the 1 but doesn't have nearly as harsh of a ride, some people think Nike democratized them too much but Nike also has been open about their desire to democratize them, they are legit

ptothemo said:

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Alphafly 3 - lighter than the 1 and 2, has all the pop of the 1 but doesn't have nearly as harsh of a ride, some people think Nike democratized them too much but Nike also has been open about their desire to democratize them, they are legit

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Maybe my coffee hasn't kicked in yet, but would you mind expanding on the bolded? I've read that sentence like 5 times and I still don't understand what it means.