Former Altra devotee due to feet issues. I personally think that you should stick with the Altras if they keep you injury free - injury free is faster than any shoe, IMO. However, Altras are not the same as they used to be. I have moved on to other faster shoes since the Altras no longer offer the benefit of preventing injury (for me).

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Move on. Keep training. Be an adult.

I don't know how old you are but 1:35 half is a really good time. I've tried several different shoes in the past and Altra was not for me. There's a reason you don't see many Altras at the marathon races. Try Vaporfly 3. Big toe box, light and pretty fast too. Hoka Rocket X2 is very smooth and comfy as well. Altras killed my calves and I was wondering why people use them. They have a crappy quality from the begin with just like you said.

@s13tx : I don't mean to be hurtful to anyone, I'm 32. I just know that people who swim or bike at my pace usually run much faster, based on the last decade of racing results. Altras killed my calves at first due to the O drop, but I got used to it and now I don't even feel that I'm forcing myself to run like that.
I know there are not much Altras in marathons, that's why I am currently asking if sticking to Altra is not time Im loosing.
Especially, if the early part of this season goes well, I might try to find a 70.3 race to grab a 2025 slot. I think in my age group, It's possible with my current swim/bike form, but I need to gain a few minutes for the run.


@Omelette : What other brand have you tried to replace Altras ?


Just to be clear, I will not race in a new brand in two weeks but I would like to consider my options for the rest of the season/ next year racing.

You should invest and get a couple of different pairs. I've been doing a lot of brick workout lately and I try to run as fast as I can right after the bike. Bike distance is somewhere between 15 to 50 miles with hard/race effort. After that, I use a couple of different pairs of shoes to see what is best for me and that's how I picked my race shoes. Nike is right shoes for me. I've tried Asics, Mizuno and Hoka too. Get some advice from shoe stores, local run clubs and whatnot and narrow down to what's best for you. Lionel Sanders has been running with Asics Metaspeed Sky and I've seen him trying Alphafly 1, Puma and Hoka. I guess Asics is what he likes so he's sticking to them. I also check what pros with no shoe sponsors use. They know better and I'm sure they pick what makes them run fast and comfortable. Think this way. If you don't have a right shoes for you, you are wasting energy and you could have run faster with something other than Altra.

I've also had pretty bad ITBS problems in the past. I'm doubtful that shoes were the cause and solution. If you continue to strengthen your hips and glutes there's probably no reason why you couldn't run and race in traditional super shoes.

Super shoes may or may not drop your run time, but at the very least your legs would probably feel fresher after the race.

I'm a dedicated Altra guy for the toe box shape despite their durability issues, and enjoy the zero drop after years of running in them. I just got the Fwd Flow with 4mm drop and like them, but drop does feel strange to me now. I'd consider trying the new Vanish Carbon 2 that just came out if you have the wallet for it, they have much better reviews than the first version. Here's a review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rKmH4I88v4

altras are of the minimalist running movement, most people before modern drop shoes ran in these style shoes. if you want to crap on their durability but then say the nike carbon plate shoes are great in that department??? (last less as long).I get about 500 miles in a pair. Im not sure about the altra carbon shoes, its pretty much a snuff to their fan base of more natural running shoes. I love the wide toe boxes, and found that helps on trails.

I do believe the crap part, I never had any shoe fall apart as fast as all of mine did. The only exception is a pair of Torin 4 I think, which lasted something like 800km. However, so far I really enjoyed running in Altras, so I accept the fact that they don't last long.

As you mentioned, what I am afraid is that the carbon shoe version is only here to please the fanbase (myself included), and that the foam is not as efficient as the other supershoes. I would have loved to hear from someone who tried a "Mainstream" supershoe and compared it to the Altra Vanish Carbon. I raced a little bit in them, they do feel a little bit faster, but that might just be a placebo effect. Just as I can't really feel if a disc wheel is faster than a 60mm, however I'm trusting slowtwitch for that.

I've been running in Altras off and on since the beginning and have loved some of their shoes. As I get older, I find I love max cushion shoes and they don't really make any (my personal definition of max cushion is 40 or more). Plus, I'm not sure max cushion words in a zero drop platform.

I was pretty late to the super shoes that came along, but finally tried them when I found some Saucony Endorphin Pros for $100. There is no question they were faster; maybe as much as 2-4 seconds per 400 when I was doing intervals. They are 39/32 so 7mm of drop. I alternated them with some Altra Olympus for and Asics NovaBlast for a couple of years.

I would try some super shoes in a few runs between now and your race. I never found that they caused me any issues. Going from a shoe with drop to zero drop is more likely going to be a problem.

Yes, I think that I am now safe to do a few races with low-but-not-zero shoes.

I might try the Vaporfly, as it seems the consensus is that those are on average the fastest (or its what I read).

I'm I right then to assume that Altra Vanish Carbon, are not really supershoes ?

If you use Altra, you will have a hard time getting your feet on a vaporfly, they are very narrow compared to Altras.
I love Altra but I have been running o Alphafly and they work really well.
But I will probably get the Vanish Carbon 2 since I run with the Vanish Tempo along with the Alphafly.

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Tiago
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Sponsors: : Blueseventy :

You probably want to try a lower drop super shoe. I use the Asics Metaspeed Sky, which I think has a 5mm drop. I believe Nike's Alphafly has an 8mm drop. Going from 0 to 8 would be tough. Just my two cents though (I'm 45 and quite a bit slower than you, so grain of salt).

The Hoka Rocket X2 are also 5mm drop and wide toe box. Plenty fast, but great stability for a super shoe.

Seems to me you're far more likely to be causing injuries during training miles, especially something like ITBS.

If I were you, I'd get a pair of super shoes that you run in a couple times to make sure you're comfy in, do your training in the shoes you like, then race in the fast shoes.

I'd definitely recommend looking into some physical therapy and strength training if switching up shoe types in that way causes injuries.

Thank you all very much.

Something like 5mm drop should be completely fine for race day, I included a pair of Hoka Clifton in my rotation and never felt the ITBS coming back.

I fully intend on keeping the race shoes for race day, except as you mentioned a couple of training rides. I went running with the altra vanish carbon v1, I didn't remember but they indeed feel faster than regular shoes.

I will find a local store to try the fit for a pair of Hokas or Asics. Both appears to be available at "reasonable" prices. Paid less than €130 for two pairs of vanish carbon last year, couldn't resist.

Once again, the vaporfly last 250-300 miles... so ?

But anyways, the altra carbon shoes has the foam and plate - that is in ALL of super shoe class. People respond differently to different brands and models. nike will work for some while asics,etc for others

I would avoid the Nike shoes. They tend to have a very aggressive heel to toe transition. I've had issues with my calf muscles and peronial tendons the last few years ever since companies stopped making normal racing flats and I started doing workouts in carbon shoes. What is missing from a lot of these shoes are lateral stability which I think comes from the high stack and the fact that runners/triathletes in general have weak hips. Things get exponentially worse as we get fatigued so you can imagine what is happening 3-4 hours into a race. About a year ago I went with Adidas. I started using the Takumi Sen shoes for interval training (lower stack but still has carbon roads and super foam) and the Adios Pro 3 for races and threshold work. This last build I tried the PrimeX for long runs to see if I could benefit from the recovery that super foam gives you. I haven't had any peronial issues. This line of Adidas (not the Pro 2's as just walking in them they felt like they were going to toll my ankle) seem to be the most stable of the bunch I have tried (Orange Fly Knit 4%, pink Next%, white Next% 3, AlphFly original, MetaSky orignal and MetaSky+ and the MetaSpeed 2). I actually realized Adidas makes an old school'ish racing flat in the Adios 8 (the 7 was shit) which I plan on using for shorter intervals/strides.

Hope this helps!

Thank you, it certainly helps my research, as my goal is to avoid as much as possible the risk of injury without missing free speed. DNS is certainly slower than my current shoes.

The outsole on the Vaporfly can last that long, but there's a pretty quick degradation of the middle. I use last year's pair as speedy trainers sometimes and the difference between ~150 miles on those and brand new ones is very noticeable. The springiness is next level.

I'm not sold that just having a carbon plate and some variant of Pebax makes a shoe fast. Look at what unsponsored high level runners are wearing. Nike, Adidas, Asics. Not a lot on Hoka or Altra. Maybe it's just marketing.