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Running shoes
- Thread starter Golum
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Since one month I have these Trail VFF:I am running since 2011 in Vibram Five Fingers.......and love them
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I also just started running in January for the first time at the age of 49 (had been power zone training on a Peloton bike for 8 years but had become frustrated with their programming content). Recently upgraded from Saucony Ride 17 to Saucony Endorphin Pro 4 to experience the benefits of a carbon fiber sole. Definitely a better shoe but do not feel the supposed power benefits of carbon fiber unless I am doing high speed intervals. Conversely, high quality carbon fiber was very apparent with cycling shoes.
This carbon plate effect is an interesting thing. I have Hoka Carbon X3 and initially I felt additional bounce effect and maybe even certain improvement in timings but seemed that this effect kind of fade out despite super regular running sessions. I would say that now even without carbon plate shoes for example On Running Cloud surfer I'm achieving better times. Overall for recreational runner I'm not confident that they add to the mix as I was hoping they will.
I think those VFF shoes are actually fantastic thing to develop proper feet muscles, strength & stamina, etc.
I have the Saucony Endorphin speed 3 which I use as an alternative to the Hoka Carbon. They are great. Using the speed 1 and now the latest version
The carbon degrades faster than normal shoes so your effect might have worn off. Recreational runner won’t benefit from an increase in time. But the bounce and ease of running reduces post running fatigue. Also, increase in time can be motivational to the competitive audiophile.
Hoka are also great for long distance walking. When I walk around London with friends or my wife and I visit other cities we walk around, at the end of the day with Hoka there is little to no fatigue.
I now have the Hoka Clifton which are non carbon, but they have Goretex so they are waterproof which is ideal for London and for walking in parks, as your feet/socks don’t get wet.
There was a lot of debate on using such zero drop shoes Vs drop shoes (heel inclined with thicker soles). While I have seen some recreational runners swear by the zero drop, I haven’t seen pro runners or most marathoners use it, they use the likes of Nike, Hoka, Asics Saucony etc. I prefer heel for walking as well.
I have them on me at this very moment - great walking shoes (non-Gore-Tex variant)
I have had zero issues running more than once a week since pandemic started. So with these things, what works, don't change. I find that my heel stretches too much on zero drop.
Anyway now that I substitute zone 2 non-impact cardio with only one high intensity interval run per week, Hoka/Saucony are required only for the 1 run and for walking, and for the occasional 5k. I use different hard soled shoes for squats and deadlifts within the gym.
No problems at all with zero drop. I run about 3 times 12km per week with my VFF. I always do stretching of the heel at the end of the run only and get easily 45 angular degrees between foot and lower leg.
I am 45 years old and I run 10km every morning .Somehow, I believe among audiophile community there must be a candid number of runners doing it either for fun, health or even competitive reasons.
Until last year I was a big hater of running, despite the fact that till age of 18 I was involved in competitive tennis, running was always my pain point. Since stopping with tennis, I did all kinds of sports but never tried to run until boredom of the summer vacation killed me and I did not know what to do anymore so I said to myself - let's try to run.
Since then, I'm doing it regularly, minimum 3x per week sometimes even more, with a goal to increase the distance and pace and develop a proper running technique. I already did one 10k race and getting ready for the second one at the end of this month. All this at the age of 50 ain't to shabby
And there of course running shoes come into the picture as the most important part of the gear (I would say).
As I do love ON Running shoes, I started with them (Cloud 5) and later moved to Cloud Flyer and Cloud Surfer models out of which Cloud Surfer were the best ones for running. Best cushioning, transition and "bounce" effect while at the same time being super comfortable.
Later @bonzo75 opened my eyes with Hoka Carbon X3 which I use now and to my legs/feet feeling, those are quite ahead of ON running in sense of those particular parameters. Design wise, which I find important, I kind of prefer HOKA as well.
With regards to longevity and overall quality ON went down in last few years while HOKA I still can't judge objectively as this is my first pair (ON Running I had like 8/9 pairs in total over the years).
Cheers and keep running
I wake up 5:30 AM and run.
my race running pace is around 3.5 min/km
I love running for fresh mind state
I use Nike alphafly 3 and change my shows every 3 month (900km).
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That's very fast. I tried Alphafly and Vaporfly (which were the ones to start the carbon plate trend). Alpha did not fit me at all, Vapor seemed very good except for sole being a bit narrow for me in the centre.
Personally I would not run daily long distance - it will increase your slow twitch fibres but will do nothing for your fast twitch fibres, which are the ones that will start disappearing as you grow older. Hope you are throwing in strength training between those runs.
Whooah 3.5 pace is a Sci-Fi for me even when I do interval training.
But at the end of the day fresh mind state is what matters the most and each sec of the progress is just a bonus
Forgot to mention regarding carbon plate shoes (at least with my Hoka X3) - as soon as I leave the track, concrete/hard ground and move to some gravel/trail, they are becoming super unstable, and I don't like that feeling at all...
have you tried the trail shoes for gravel? . I don’t do gravel I do concrete, and parks with some grass
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