Should I wear super shoes for my marathon even though I'll run 4 hours?

Do whatever makes you feel the fastest on race day, who cares what the basement dwelling 15:30 5k letsrunner nerds think! It’s your life 🙏

I felt out of place at Boston, Monday because I wasn't wearing some sort of super shoe. use what you want.

The positives are a faster time, faster recovery, and less wear and tear on your legs. Why not if you're only planning on running the marathon once, want to run the fastest possible time, and money is not a factor?

If you're worried about appearance, the

Sucony Endorphin Pros are almost as fast and much less noticeable/flamboyant (and cheaper).

Of course you should!

How else you gonna win da race. 🤔

Yeah, I wish the Nikes were less flamboyant, but since I like the Nike Pegasus Turbo 2s so much, it seems like my best bet is to stick with Nike. I've never run in Saucony.

qtips wrote:

The positives are a faster time, faster recovery, and less wear and tear on your legs. Why not if you're only planning on running the marathon once, want to run the fastest possible time, and money is not a factor?

If you're worried about appearance, the

Sucony Endorphin Pros are almost as fast and much less noticeable/flamboyant (and cheaper).

Don’t listen to this person. Who cares what shoes look like and…uh…flamboyance. The Sauconys are a rocker shoe and the foam is stiff and somewhat hard. You like the pegs so you’ll almost surely love the next%. Get them because they’re just a better, faster, more fun shoe, and what are we trying to do in the marathon other than go fast and have fun. The super shoes are better for racing…so so much better. Don’t put your head in the sand out of some misplaced idea. Just get them. You’ll love them.

Yes.

arunnerinwa wrote:

Yeah, I wish the Nikes were less flamboyant, but since I like the Nike Pegasus Turbo 2s so much, it seems like my best bet is to stick with Nike. I've never run in Saucony.

They come in tons of colors nowadays, it's not like you need to wear neon pink

arunnerinwa wrote:

Master's female, trying to break 4 hours for a BQ. It's my first marathon. I'm not sure I'll run another, and I would like this one to be as fast as it can be. (CIM) I'm following Pfitzinger's 12 week / 55 mi program. (I've been running 25+ years if that matters, just always stuck to shorter stuff.)

I normally train in Nike Pegasus Turbo 2s. I LOVE them.

I'm wondering if I should buy Vaporflies for the race. 4% of 4 hours is nearly 10 minutes. That's huge. I can afford it. But I feel stupid wearing them because I am so slow.

Thoughts?

TV doc Bob Arnot wrote in one of his books that the competitive advantage of the older athlete is discretionary income. So get some Vaporflies. Make sure to get some miles in them before the marathon.

You're trying to run as fast as you can, so no reason to feel stupid. Go get a BQ time.

I have the Endorphins, and raced marathons in the Alphafly and Next%2. As a 61 year old hobby jogger it isn't about the speed anymore but preventing injury so I can continue doing the thing I love.

The only shoe I can run long distance and not be completely wrecked is the Alphafly. I now use a beaten down pair for my recovery days. It is probably the only shoe I will buy from here on out.

Which book? Not all master's athletes are rich. I don't doubt you, but I'm wondering where/how he came up with that.

Plus there's no need to save your new pair of Next% for just marathons. They've worked great for me for everything from track mile races up to marathons.

Thanks for the feedback, all. I think I'm going to order a pair and see how they feel.

I train in the Nike Turbo 2s as well! They are great shoes. I tried the Vaporfly Next % and they felt really awkward when I first tried them. After a few runs they feel better now. Run in whatever shoe gives you the most confidence.

Do whatever the heck you want. It’s your money and your dream and has no effect on those around you. But be realistic. I doubt us regular humans get the same advantage from the super shoes. They were designed for the more efficient, faster people of the world. They are an esoteric tool that is probably only effective for a small percentage of people. It’s like a 20 minute 5k kid buying xc spikes. They serve that kid no purpose. They aren’t running fast enough to gain the benefit of spikes. But if the kid likes them, and they feel ok and they want to run in them, then by all means. Same with you. If they feel good and you’re comfortable, then go for it.

Second hand... now third hand info since I'm telling you... feedback from a 4:20 marathoner older tiny woman is that they make a noticeable difference, but she no longer races for time so she doesn't have a real improvement time to point to. Her cadence is around 200 so that might be a factor even though she is slow.

arunnerinwa wrote:

Master's female, trying to break 4 hours for a BQ. It's my first marathon. I'm not sure I'll run another, and I would like this one to be as fast as it can be. (CIM) I'm following Pfitzinger's 12 week / 55 mi program. (I've been running 25+ years if that matters, just always stuck to shorter stuff.)

I normally train in Nike Pegasus Turbo 2s. I LOVE them.

I'm wondering if I should buy Vaporflies for the race. 4% of 4 hours is nearly 10 minutes. That's huge. I can afford it. But I feel stupid wearing them because I am so slow.

Thoughts?

Yes. Get used to them in a couple of long runs. They make a difference to runners of your speed, just as much as for elite runners.

If shoes act like springs, stiff springs will work best for fast runners with short ground contact time. Slow runners would do better to match up with less stiff springs, so the rebound will be timed just right. If you have a real quick cadence then go for it.

Wear em.

I'm mid 60s ( old and slow ) marathons about 4 hours to 4:15 depending on pretty much

everything. I don't know how much faster I might be in the Next% but I know my body

feels a whole lot better the next day. I use older pairs to do my long runs in, just

don't feel as beat up afterwards.