As I’ve gotten more and more into endurance sports, I’ve been learning more about what is and isn’t needed for gear, nutrition, training, etc. I’ve also learned that I’ve made a lot of mistakes with my running shoes since I started running back in 2016.
Fast forward to present day, I’m still trying to figure out what super shoe is best for me. I train in Saucony Triumphs, which I like a lot. I also will do some tempo-based runs in Carbon X3’s, which I’m not a huge fan of - I have ran all of my races in Nike Alphafly 1’s, with the exception of my Ironmans, which I wore Saucony Triumphs.
The one and only marathon I ran in my Nikes (October 2023), they left a massive and very painful blister on my left foot. I also just raced a 15k and they hurt the arch in my left foot as well.
I’ve put about 150 miles on them since I first got them back in April 2022. With that being said, I’m trying to figure out what my next pair of carbon-plated super shoes will me. It’s very impressive to me how much faster of a runner I am in my Nikes compared to my Sauconys. However, I’m really not a fast runner at all, but they certainly help. I am a woman in my mid-30’s, and my race PR times are the following, if that puts anything into perspective
Ironman Marathon PR: 04:42
Marathon PR: 03:58
Half-Marathon PR: 01:48
5k PR: 00:22:03
I really do like my Nikes, but don’t want to deal with blisters or arch pain - I have somewhat flat feet, which may be a contributing factor. I plan on waiting until February/March to buy my next pair of shoes considering I won’t need them until April and want to wait until newer editions come out, but I’m at a loss of what to get. I don’t want to buy and return 10 different pairs of shoes just to figure out what I like the best. A local university’s kinesiology lab offers a gait analysis, so I’ve considered that, but any help regarding what and how to decide would be great.
I’ve considered the following:
-Nike Alphafly
-Nike Vaporfly
-Asics Metaspeed Sky
-Asics Metaspeed Edge
-Saucony Endorphin Elite
-Adidas Adizero Prime X 2
Pros/cons, or thoughts regarding how you all figured out which shoe to get? Thank you in advance.