The benefit in general should be higher in slower runners. Can't remember what the cut off/ sliding scale was, but IIRC each %age of efficiency was about 0.65 in pace for elite but was nearer to 1 to 1 for non-elites.
I bought 2xpairs of New Balance 1080s. These are usually £110 but I got them for £82.50 each. I also got a pair of Adidas SL20 just because the reviews were so good.
I usually race in Asics Roadhawks which are cheap and cheerful but I enjoy them and I’ve done literally dozens of events in them.
All things are relative, Big_G I'd be trailing more than five minutes behind you over 5k. I don't think you can be sure how your own running will respond to the shoes until you try them. Comparing race times immediately before and after getting the 4%, I think I run only marginally faster in them and all the benefits are on the flats and uphills, but I enjoy the feeling of running in them enough to pay a little extra over the cost of next-level-down shoes.
I don't think the benefits are universal across similarly paced athletes though, some people get better results than others, which is thought to be linked to differing biomechanics, but not sure I've seen any more detailed analysis on this eg would be interesting if they could say forefoot strikers likely to see x% gain, midfoot y%, heel striker z%, etc but don't think it's even as simple as that, could be linked to other aspects of your gait, eg ankle flex, hip movement, etc, etc, who knows......
BG I'd like to think that the biggest benefit of these shoes is in actual training, your training workouts are relatively easier and the shoes more or less save your legs.
In terms of racing, you're usually at your fittest and having a shoe that makes your stride/gait (never sure which is which) more efficient can only be a good thing.
Besides, I've run 2 marathons in vaporflys and my feet weren't as battered as when i ran in other shoes.
Big_G, what I hear over and over is what SKR said, that these shoes help your legs feel less beaten up at the end (and over the ensuing days). One of the suggestions I've read as to why they are improving marathon and half marathon times so much is not that they are faster per se, but that by reducing muscle fatigue they reduce the slowdown which is common in the later stage of the races for most runners. So if this applies to you , you'd probably find a worthwhile benefit.
The top runners will already typically run even or slight negative splits - i.e. there is no slowing down later in the race. But presumably the fact that they know they are less likely to fatigue with these shoes will allow them to be slightly more ambitious with the pace for the first half.
In my slightly odd justification to myself, I've just sent the Adidas SL20 back and will get a refund of £60 for those, so that kind of helps I suppose. I liked the Adidas and I was totally happy to keep them until that blasted Nike voucher came through.
I do have a 10% code as well as they gave me that after there was a slight mix up with a return of some shoes a couple of months ago, but that wouldn't work.
Changing the subject entirely, has anyone seen the trail shoe from Nike with a carbon plate? I'm not some Seth fanboy, but he wasn't impressed! Any thoughts?
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Nike Pegasus
Jul 2024