Daily Carbon Shoes
- Thread starter AlanRuns
- Start date
Plates training shoes are an effective simulation of what you will be racing in. For track workouts, it can be nice to have a carbon plate to make your landing not feel so squishy and saggy. The plates shoes are more expensive though than most non-plates trainers. Depending on your biomechanics, a carbon plate can be overused and lead to an injury in the long term.
I’d say that if you would really like to try training in a carbon plated shoe, do so for your faster workouts first. If you’re the kind of person who wants one and only one shoe to do everything, don’t train carbon plated. It can just become too much, especially on easy runs. But if you have a rotation, I’d say fill in a spot with a carbon plated training shoe!
I’d say that if you would really like to try training in a carbon plated shoe, do so for your faster workouts first. If you’re the kind of person who wants one and only one shoe to do everything, don’t train carbon plated. It can just become too much, especially on easy runs. But if you have a rotation, I’d say fill in a spot with a carbon plated training shoe!
@AlanRuns This is a great question and one that is definitely relevant with even more unique carbon plate shoes coming to the market over the next year. In general, i've tended to shift all my road racing and a good chunk of my speed workouts (twice a week) to carbon plated shoes. The efficiency benefits and added cushioning makes running faster, easier. I also notice my body doesn't feel nearly as beat up the next day when compared to a traditional minimal racing flat.
As for daily training, i tend not to use carbon plated shoes but I know some people who sprinkle it in. It will mainly come down to personal preference. With the current offerings on the market, I wouldn't recommend daily training to most people due to the fact that elite racing shoes do not have great durability and are very costly. Also the aggresive nature of the shoes could lead to injury for some runners. But recently we've seen shoes like the endorphin speed and tempo next% use next gen foams with less aggressive plates (non-carbon fiber). These are definitely more suitable for daily training as they are more durable and not quite as aggressive.
As we move forward over the next year, we will start to see more plated options solving different needs. We are still just starting to explore the possibilities with plated shoes, but I have no doubts that we will see carbon fiber plates in many more avenues other than elite marathon racing.
Connor
RW Staff
As for daily training, i tend not to use carbon plated shoes but I know some people who sprinkle it in. It will mainly come down to personal preference. With the current offerings on the market, I wouldn't recommend daily training to most people due to the fact that elite racing shoes do not have great durability and are very costly. Also the aggresive nature of the shoes could lead to injury for some runners. But recently we've seen shoes like the endorphin speed and tempo next% use next gen foams with less aggressive plates (non-carbon fiber). These are definitely more suitable for daily training as they are more durable and not quite as aggressive.
As we move forward over the next year, we will start to see more plated options solving different needs. We are still just starting to explore the possibilities with plated shoes, but I have no doubts that we will see carbon fiber plates in many more avenues other than elite marathon racing.
Connor
RW Staff
To tack onto the commentary from @Ben Anastasoff & @Connor, I see one particular downside as being a sort of dependency. Same reason many knowledgeable sources encourage training in a variety of shoes. Some soreness (and fatigue) is good, it's stimulus for the body to adapt via rebuilding. Take that away, to any not insignificant degree (provided it isn't chronic and maladaptive which leads to injury), and you lose some degree of the efficacy of training which is also about adapting the connective tissue of the musculoskeletal system in addition to the cardiovascular system.
Here is my two cents:
Pros:
- I think that there are some good options of shoes that are durable and versatile enough for daily training. I’ve gone through 5 pairs of Zoom Flys (350-400 miles on each pair). I have always rotated them with other shoes (which has been proven to reduce overuse injuries by slight changing force patterns). However, I have used carbon plated shoes for every kind of run (slow/easy, speed workouts, long runs etc.)
- It was seemless to train in the Zoom Fly and race in the Vaporfly. No changes to stride and the vaporfly just made it feel like I was lighter and had more pop in my legs.
Cons:
- Some people struggle with some of the instability of high stack carbon plated shoes every day. Although I do strongly believe in rotating different shoes, I don’t think that running only in a carbon plated shoe is really any worse than only running in a different pair of shoes. However, a more “traditional” shoe is potentially more forgiving for a wide range of people. I’ve found that I do ok with high stack carbon plated shoes. I’ve actually had less injuries since I started using them regularly (although there are many factors to them).
Pros:
- I think that there are some good options of shoes that are durable and versatile enough for daily training. I’ve gone through 5 pairs of Zoom Flys (350-400 miles on each pair). I have always rotated them with other shoes (which has been proven to reduce overuse injuries by slight changing force patterns). However, I have used carbon plated shoes for every kind of run (slow/easy, speed workouts, long runs etc.)
- It was seemless to train in the Zoom Fly and race in the Vaporfly. No changes to stride and the vaporfly just made it feel like I was lighter and had more pop in my legs.
Cons:
- Some people struggle with some of the instability of high stack carbon plated shoes every day. Although I do strongly believe in rotating different shoes, I don’t think that running only in a carbon plated shoe is really any worse than only running in a different pair of shoes. However, a more “traditional” shoe is potentially more forgiving for a wide range of people. I’ve found that I do ok with high stack carbon plated shoes. I’ve actually had less injuries since I started using them regularly (although there are many factors to them).