Nike or Adidas for running shoes?

I'm really undecided whether to go for Adidas or Nike when I get my next pair of running shoes that I use for races.

Past experiences
Since I started really enjoying running around two years ago I have kept two pairs of running shoes at a time. One for training and one for races.

The Adidas Ultraboost has been my choice for training.
Pros:
- Sturdy enough to run on trails and rough surfaces
- Good cushioning
- Last really well

Cons:
- Feel a bit heavy when doing speed work.

Every 800km - a new pair of Ultraboosts!
When racing (anything from parkrun up to half marathon and even an occasionally 5,000m on the track) I've been running in the Nike Vaporfly 4% Flyknits.

Pros:
- Very lightweight
- Hug your feet like a glove
- In my experience, celiver times 5-10s faster per km than any shoe I have ran in

Cons:
- Really poor grip in wet conditions - try and run Hexham parkrun on the wet grass and not fall over
- Starting to edge toward £200 for a pair of trainers!
The best shoes I have ever ran in - Nike 4% Vaporfly
Future choices
But now I have a problem, I'm at about 850km of racing in the Nike 4% Vaporfly and they don't sell them anymore.

So what do I buy next?

...and more importantly, as of July 2020, how can I buy them? - my money is ready to spend - but neither Nike or Adidas seem to be able to make their premium shoes available!!!

So, I'm monitoring the internet for what comes available first - I'm going to either get:

Option A - Nike Air Zoom Alphafly Next%
Alphafly from Nike
Option B - Adidas Adizero Adios Pro
Adios Pro from Adidas
Both have the carbon plate tech and maximum foam for returning energy as the foot strikes the ground. Both are extremely light...

...I just cannot currently find any to buy. Whichever comes first will decide my choice of shoe for races for the next 18 months or so.

UPDATE
Got a pair of the Alphafly - check out my review below:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The day before the marathon

Image
Manchester Marathon tomorrow. My fourth marathon and have trained harder than ever before. Back in January I blogged what my plan was for the marathon training block . I've pretty much followed it. Only difference being instead of two runs on a Tuesday I just started the day with a double session. But in summary: Go into the training block doing 90km (55mi) a week. Take it up to 120km (75mi) a week. 12 weeks of increasing efforts, with a three week taper at the end. At the maximum do four weeks in a row with 36km (22mi) long runs on the Sunday. Long runs to be at decent pace with at least an 8km (5mi) mara pace section on tired legs. Run every day - alternating between efforts and recovery Tue - hard session (Typically 4x1mile efforts followed by 5k tempo) Thu - hard session (Typically three sets of 5km at mara pace with floats inbetween)  Weekly distances Not sure how much to read into the Strava Fitness and Freshness chart. But fitness went from +59 to +103 to +86. Form went from
Read more

Running goals for the year

Image
2023 was a good year. PBs in parkrun, 5k, 10k and Marathon. With the right conditions I feel I could have got 10mi and HM too - but cannot grumble. Particularly happy with parkrun as that is now eight years of incremental improvement through improved training and focus. Power of ten score card So what are the 2024 goals? It's a big year as I am 50 in July. Entering the V50 category gives me a real chance to pick some goals that weren't possible in recent years at the top end of the V45 category. So I'm intending on training harder than ever - and putting down some stretched goals that may not be possible - but are worth going for. Goal 1 - 2hr55 marathon Goal 2  - Top 50 in the UK runbritain ranking for V50 at 5k distance Goal 3  - England masters vest for V50 Goal 1 - 2hr55 marathon With hindsight I think I should have done around 2hr55 at London last year but a few things didn't go to plan and I ended up with a 2hr58. This year I'll try and put things right and
Read more

Bamburgh - Half Marathon Route

Image
Check out the route on Strava: https://www.strava.com/segments/26248649 This route was actually part of a RunNation organised race. That means that the route below is a lap that needs to be done twice to get to the half marathon distances. The main carpark in Bamburgh is at the post code  NE69 7BJ  - but if you look around the side streets you can get parked for free somewhere. The run starts just before the castle, it then goes up through the beautiful village of Bamburgh before turning left onto some narrow back roads. The day of the race I did it was very windy, but the hedgerow gave some great cover from the cross wind. The road eventually winds around the coast with views of the Farne Islands. Then back to the village again. Keep looping around a second time until you hit the 21.1km mark! Selected photos... Bamburgh Castle Each lap started and finished near the historic castle The Farne Islands Strava Segment of note : Bamburgh HM - One lap - A great little 10k route Useful links
Read more