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Running Shoe Questions Answered: Points of Shoe Episode 4
3.3k Plays7 months ago
In this series from The Run Testers, the team answers your running shoe and tech questions.
This week Tom and Nick talk about remaining neutral when reviewing running shoes, if you need to take your pace into consideration when buying super shoes and if we've ever changed our mind about a shoe after we've reviewed it.
If you have a question about running shoes that you want us to answer on the pod, send us an email to [email protected] with "Points of Shoe" in the subject line.
Big thanks to Fear of Tigers for the killer intro music. You can listen to more of his stuff over at https://www.patreon.com/fearoftigers
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Transcript
Introduction to Points of Shoe Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Hey, Tom here from The Rantesters and welcome back for another Points of Shoe podcast. In this episode, myself and Nick are going to be talking about various things that you have asked us, including how do we retain our non-biased views when we're reviewing shoes? Do you really need to buy super shoes when you're running a marathon? And do we ever review a shoe and find out later that we've changed our mind about it? Right, let's dive in and see what answers we've given.
Nick's Boston Marathon Experience
00:00:34
Speaker
All right, Nick, how's it going? Good. Good. More to the point, how are you? Just back from the big... Has Boston got a nickname? I don't think so. Okay. The Big Boston.
00:00:45
Speaker
I'm back from the big Boston, yeah. Well, I've got to put my video up about this. Well, the video will be up by the time this podcast goes up. Yeah, well, tough day. Humid, it sounded like. Very unsuccessful day. Yes, it was very hot, very humid, not my ideal marathon. Probably won't go down as one of my fondest runs, but I did enjoy the actual events and going to Boston.
00:01:08
Speaker
Very hard on the tracker, Boston, just because me and Michael are tracking you. It's going quick there. Then you have to go to the elevation profile and go, okay, that's a downhill section. Then you go, is he slowing down or is it a hill? You don't really know what's going on until you're running 10 minute miles. Tell you what, it is such a hard, even without the weather, it's so hard to pace that race because you have to stop yourself from running fast on the downhills and then you've got to work out whether you try and maintain your pace. It's very hard to work out how long you're actually taking.
00:01:38
Speaker
because you can't quite plan it out. So it's a really, really difficult race, but with the heat, it was incredibly difficult. And yeah, I think I'll just focus on Valencia. Yeah, Valencia is better. It wasn't meant to be that hot, was it? The forecast before the... No. No, it just came out in the air. Well, you still... I mean, to be honest, it obviously is a bad time for you now, but it's pretty similar to what you used to do when you rocked up and ate McDonald's and just walked out and ran it.
00:02:01
Speaker
Well, it's still faster than that. This is probably like my fourth fastest marathon still. Oh, right. Okay. Considering I walked for the majority of the last 10K. I went across the halfway line at 1.29 or something. Yeah, well, it was 5K, it was sub 20, then it was 40 minute 10. Yeah. And then when's Heartbreaker was 20 miles? 20 miles, yeah. Is it notably worse than the other hills?
00:02:27
Speaker
Yeah. But only, it depends. I don't think if I had hit that hill in Berlin, I don't think I would have minded that much because I was in such a state by that point anyway. But it's just long. So like all the other hills, it's probably about, they're not massive hills, but you can see them coming up and they're probably like, most of them are 30 seconds to a minute. Whereas this is like a whole four minutes of running uphill.
00:02:49
Speaker
which at that point really sort of gets you. It really felt like me and my watch again. I think I'm really worried he's injured and he's going to not accept not finishing because he's spent a lot of money and bought an incredible amount of Boston Marathon gear. So he's like his calf is hanging off his leg, but he will finish it. I tell you what, there is a thing with Boston, like a lot of people, I was chatting to a guy on the flight who didn't finish it because he went to hospital at about 18 miles and he was saying,
00:03:19
Speaker
I really wanted to finish it. And they said, you're not allowed to finish it because obviously you're so bad, but you go over and you spend so much money on it. And obviously some people have trained for that and they might never get the opportunity to do it. So you sort of think I've got to do it now because I can't just just not finish it. But for me, for me, when I got to about 50 girls thinking, well, I'd much rather just come to be finished and risk not finishing it and then having to spend all the money again. That's true. Anyway, we'll cover all this in the proper marathon's pod.
00:03:46
Speaker
Yes. This is points of shoe, Tom. This is points of shoe. Yeah. Right. Well, as you're pushing me along, because I'm sure you've got other things to do. You're a busy man. Let's start with the first question
Editorial Independence & Integrity
00:03:57
Speaker
then. So this is a really good one, actually. This is from Edward. He says, some of the shoe reviews videos posted online are done by running shoe shops.
00:04:06
Speaker
Other shoe reviewers are often sponsored by particular brands. How do the run testers maintain editorial independence in an industry where shoe companies are keen for good reviews? Very good question and one that we talk about quite a lot in the current world of shoe reviews.
00:04:22
Speaker
It's a tricky one, really. And I can see why on the outside looking in, it all looks quite similar and not great. So we're all journalists, so we've always been journalists. We've always done impartial reviews. Journalism has always worked like this, as in things coming to the eye. Whatever branch of journalism you're in, I know it sounds amazing to get pairs of free shoes, but there are people reviewing laptops.
00:04:41
Speaker
Yeah, holidays also. Yeah, I did a bit of travel journalism for a couple of months and it was loads of holidays, it was great. But the point is, it's kind of your job to be impartial. And actually, I would say when you are in that sphere, the brand, it's quite actually
00:05:00
Speaker
There's no brands, I think, that really are that worried about negative reviews to that extent that they're like pushing. I've never been pushed to give a positive review of anything. I would say that. And brands treat you the same way because that's how that's just how it works because we are like we journey. Obviously, in YouTube, we do reviews differently, I guess, but we still view ourselves as journalists just on YouTube. And it's just never something that ever in my mind like we do try and avoid any kind of partnerships that would
00:05:24
Speaker
create conflict of interest. We say no to lots of things that would create any kind of conflict. It's fair to say. Um, even if we were confident that we wouldn't have a conflict of interest, we don't.
00:05:33
Speaker
anything to make it look better and all that, make it look like it would be a problem. It is a bit different, I think, the way the brands work with journalists and work with other people in the area, I'd say. Yeah. When you work for publishing companies, you have to basically sign bribery forms and things. It's all very carefully vetted when you're a journalist working with companies. I think
00:05:58
Speaker
I think it really comes down. This sort of question is probably more prescient these days because there's obviously so many non-journalist people reviewing shoes and influences and things doing it. And for them, it's a very different thing because getting the shoes is
00:06:13
Speaker
the benefit as opposed for us where we would be getting the shoes and brands don't expect journalists to give a good review. They expect honesty because they know we're not allowed to lie about things. So I think
00:06:30
Speaker
I suppose there's a couple of ways to look at it. One is the simple one that is, you know, we're journalists and we have sort of rules on how we do stuff. And to be honest, if you watch the channel, it's pretty clear that we're being honest quite a lot of the time, because very often we don't like shoes. And then from the same brands, from a review that we've said we like the shoes. And then the other side of it as well is that we all have other jobs. This isn't our only job. So it's not a job really at all. It's very much three times.
00:06:59
Speaker
It's very much a free time thing. We're doing this because we have access to these things anyway. It's not, we're not doing the channel to get free things. So yeah, I suppose there's nothing we can say to sort of completely rule out any of these things, but essentially, and I suppose the other part as well is that we actively don't take advertising from any conflicting, which you said earlier. So you will never seen as reviewing a shoe and it's in partnership with anyone.
Journalistic Feedback vs. Positive Reviews
00:07:28
Speaker
We don't do that.
00:07:29
Speaker
Yeah, it is. I always think the biggest thing to do is, you know, you watch, you just watch things and, you know, you can work out basically. But I will also say that people get a lot of things like, you know, here people throwing stuff at other people going like, Oh, I just really want a positive review. Brands want coverage. They don't actually really care what the view of negative. I think probably they've done the research and it actually doesn't matter if the thing is positive or negative. As long as their coverage is there, they've done their job and it's in people's minds. So I'll get the same thing. Like, okay, if I get, if I put a review up of the shoe,
00:07:59
Speaker
the response will be probably the same if I've given it a five-star review or we've trashed it because the job was to get a journalist to review it impartially and that's what we've done. In the end of the day, like you say, people will always have their own thoughts on this, but I always think if you watch the reviews, hopefully we come across as trustworthy and honest because we are and we feel we are, but at the end of the day,
00:08:23
Speaker
You know, there's a, the only way I guess you could do it is, I don't know, there's no other way to do it. Well, I mean, I mean, if you look at, if we were taking massive chunks of money from shoe brands, that would probably have an impact on, on things, but we're not, we're just getting, we're getting shoes. And for us, cause we get a lot of shoes because of the jobs we do, that's not really enough to make us buy
00:08:45
Speaker
I will say that we're all quite very entitled people as well. Getting a pair of shoes doesn't really fight them, but yeah, it's kind of what next. The other thing as well is that we do work with some brands closely, purely from what shoes are getting released, what sort of technologies are coming out and things. And a lot of brands we speak to are actually quite, they like the feedback
00:09:08
Speaker
from the shoes. Brands work quite far ahead. They're looking at shoes three or four years ahead at the moment. And if they watch one of our reviews and we give them a bit of feedback on a shoe now that is useful to them, that's a smart way of using our feedback instead of just going, oh, good. They like that shoe. Good. That's that job done.
00:09:25
Speaker
I also think it's a very short-termist idea that brands would pay people to give good reviews because people then would come across bad shoes and they would stop buying the shoes anyway. I think it's quite a different thing to something like fashion, where the industry actually sets what is good. Whereas we don't set what is good, we just tell you something we think is good and if everyone agrees, that shoe becomes very popular.
00:09:46
Speaker
Yeah. It's not like if we went, this is the best shoe in the world and then you tried it and it was terrible. We go, well, Nick said it was good. So I guess it is. That would be, I mean, we'd really know about it if we said a really bad shoe was great. Yeah. And everybody in the comments started going matters because it is an absolutely awful shoe. Sometimes you do get disagreements in the comments, but I think generally people are sort of understanding of what we're saying about things. So, yeah. So hopefully that answered the question. A very good question. Important one to keep mentioning and answering.
00:10:16
Speaker
ring as well, because I mean, there was a lot more blurring of lines. When we started, there was nothing like the industry was very different. It was like we all wrote for print, print on the odd website. And now the influences didn't exist. And now it's very different. Yes. Yeah. Okay. Right. Let's jump on to another one. This isn't a good question as much. This is from Phil. And he says, gents, love your
Changing Opinions on Shoes
00:10:35
Speaker
work. My question is how often have you reviewed a shoe, used it further and then changed your mind about your initial conclusion for better or for worse?
00:10:43
Speaker
So I guess it's from a full review, because from a first run to a full review will change your mind a fair bit. I think he's thinking more like a full review to like six months later when you picked up a shoe again. Not that often, I would say. One big one for me was the Endorphin Pro 3, which obviously Tom still loves and loves forever, but I loved to the point where I was considering using my main shoe. I gave it glowing reviews and I used it
00:11:03
Speaker
passed probably. And after a while, I just went off it slightly. I still thought it was amazing shoe to be fair, but like, I don't think I've ever had my, I've never completely changed my mind. I think I've just, there have been shoes that I've warmed to probably, I think we're running shoes. If you use any shoe a lot, you will warm to it at least a bit more, but there's nothing that's really, I've had my head turned too much on.
00:11:24
Speaker
Yeah, I've got, there's two ways of... The ones you've broken, Tom, after reviews, those kind of... Yeah, well, no, I've never picked them up again after I've broken them. So one way to look at this is I think sometimes I think it happens for me depending on the sort of level of training I'm doing throughout the year. So sometimes shoes don't really come into their own until
00:11:46
Speaker
uh say marathon training for example in a given week normally i run four times a week and i'm not doing a lot of long runs so um you know i might begin up to like 15 20k whereas i mean most shoes you can probably gauge from 20k if if you're going to find that shoe contour for longer but sometimes that's not true and i there's certain shoes i think something like the hokomak x
00:12:08
Speaker
which I don't think is the best shoe in the world, but I really wasn't a fan of it when it came out and I've used it for a few long runs as part of this marathon training blog and I have warmed to it quite a bit more. I still wouldn't say it's the best one out there, but it's definitely my view has changed based on the volume of training that I'm doing and the types of runs that I'm doing.
00:12:26
Speaker
Yeah, that's definitely true. There's definitely shoes that will work better at different times a year and will hit you. Sometimes shoe hits you at exactly the right time. Like I just got the cloud surfer trail in, for example, just as the forest turned from a muddy bloodbath into like quite a solid trail. Trail shoes are definitely going to change over time. Yeah. But also, I just arrived at a time where I'm about to look a lot of easy running after the marathon. It seems like quite good, dibbly-dobbly shoes knock around the forest, you know. Yeah.
00:12:51
Speaker
You know, if I was trying to do quite a lot of progression runs and stuff like that in the forest, it wouldn't be making my face. I don't know. It's hard to know. But generally, I don't think it changes that much because you can get quite set in your opinion on a shoe quite quickly. Yeah. Just because, yes, the feel. But yeah, definitely there is something about what you're doing.
00:13:07
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I'm talking small percentages here, so I'd say 95% of the time, no. But then there are occasional ones that could crop up. And the other example I would say is that sometimes it's based, it depends how long you've not run in the shoe. And this is probably a bit more common recently, where I've really loved a shoe. And I bang on about a shoe being the best shoe in the world. And then a year later, two years later, after I've tested
00:13:35
Speaker
60 70 other shoes I'm still banging on about it and I'll put it on and I'll go oh it's not it's not actually as good as I remember because all the other shoes I've ever taken it in over the past year and a half so so I do try and pick like pick up some old shoes and just give them another running if I if I'm still talking about them I'm not gonna
00:13:55
Speaker
pick up a Brooks Glissor in 10 and start checking it out. I saw some Brooks Ghost, oh some like proper original Brooks Ghost the other day, my friend and I did not run a, it was like silvery, they were amazing to see. I said the one time, I sometimes change it, actually this is the one time I'd say, and this is a red flag, look out for more of my reviews actually, because I
00:14:13
Speaker
If I use a shoe, when I'm coming back from an injury, I'm just excited to be running again. I tend to like it more than I probably should. And then if I use it again a lot later, actually talking about the cloud surfer, there were clouds of a road shoe I was obsessed with because I used it and I loved it. I know there's some longer runs in it. I didn't like it quite as much, but yeah, there's no reviews on the channel or anywhere I've written that I think I don't really stand by to some extent. I probably couch some of them a bit, but pretty happy with all my reviews. I don't think I've
00:14:38
Speaker
Well, I was thinking about the fuel cell TC issue that I wouldn't show up about for two years. Yeah. And I don't know if it's because I'm hoping it's because when I picked it up, like two years later or whatever, the phone had maybe gone a bit hard or something like that. But I definitely put it on and thought, oh,
00:14:56
Speaker
This isn't as good as I remember. I was sure I used combat from injury when I first used it. And I was again, yeah, I thought it was amazing. But I'd actually, I used that one for long enough before reviewing that I'd, I realized my, my initial feelings of joy had been. Well, by that, the field cell TC was one of the first, probably like the first three.
00:15:12
Speaker
Training, super shoes, wasn't it? That came out. And that was a really good one as well. Yeah. Yeah. But after maybe a year or two after it was released, there were probably another dozen shoes that were doing the same thing. And then suddenly it wasn't actually that exciting anymore. And when I ran in it, I was thinking, Oh, maybe it wasn't that good. But I think, yeah, she's the progression of shoes just shifts your view on what's good.
00:15:35
Speaker
Okay, so let's do another question. Right. Okay, so this is from Ali. And they say, as a novice runner, I recently got the on cloud surface seven, and they're amazing. Now I'm considering adding either the Nike Pegasus 40 or the Hockum Max six tomorrow rotation, which do you think are suitable for beginners like me? Interesting.
00:15:58
Speaker
Nearly all the buying guides I write, I always say the Pegasus is a good shoe for beginners because it's got a very neutral, normal ride, a high drop, good outsole, usually in a sale. So I do think that's probably more different to the Cloud Surfer than the Hocker is to the Cloud Surfer if you are riding a second shoe, because the Pegasus is just a durable, pretty cushioned shoe. But then the Hockers, if you really like the Cloud Surfer, the Hockers are more rocket shoe. It will probably feel more akin to the Cloud Surfer.
00:16:25
Speaker
I'd say the Pegasus is more of a beginner-friendly shoe, but if you like the Cloud Surfer, I would be happy to say the Hoka is the more similar and nicer shoe than the Pegasus all round. It's just a better shoe than the Pegasus for sure. It depends what you're talking about when you're adding to your rotation because
00:16:43
Speaker
The Mach 6 would be an addition to the rotation that does a different thing. Yeah. And the Pegasus 40 is basically just going to be another shoe that you can use. I don't really... It's a cushion shoe, yeah. It's probably more cushioned than the Cloud Surfer maybe, but that's quite similar to be honest. It's a bit firmer as well, isn't it? Yeah. Cloud Surfer. But it's really... For me, that's not... It's just another shoe. I mean, I think... I've not tried the Hocko Mach 6, but I mean, every other Hocko I think would be fine for a beginner. It's just a little bit less cushiony.
00:17:12
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, both of you are okay. If you look at the Pegasus, I get the Pegasus 39. It's exactly the same as the 40, a bit lighter, a bit cheaper. Yeah. That's a smart move. Okay. This is a good one. This is from Justin and he says, cheers from Canada.
Marathon Shoe Choices & Time Expectations
00:17:30
Speaker
Do you think the time you expect to race your marathon should be taken into consideration when choosing your race day shoe? A little bit.
00:17:38
Speaker
I think we talk about this quite a lot lately, haven't we, about certain shoes? I think if you're out there for a very long time, I think issues of stability and comfort become a bigger deal. And some race shoes are very unstable. So that would be something to think about for sure. But it's... Yeah, there is definitely... That's probably the thing I'd think about the most other than that. So if you're out there for a very long time, you don't want to be in a really aggressive shoe because I think it's just going to be uncomfortable. Tom, you ran a very long marathon recently.
00:18:06
Speaker
Yeah, it's a tricky one. I'd probably go the other way and depending on what's the time you want to do your marathon in, not worry too much about going for the most expensive super shoe because that's probably, it's a difficult one because people often ask, not just us, it's like a question around the world with so many super shoes. Do I need super shoes for racing basically?
00:18:34
Speaker
I mean, I think they do they are beneficial for a lot of people. I definitely think my times are faster if I get the right if I get the right super shoe. But I think there's other things involved as well. It's like, you know, stability and comfort and stuff like that. And if you are
00:18:49
Speaker
you can go and buy the best shoe out there and you might be a five-hour marathon runner, but yeah, it's not the main thing you might want from it, shaving off 2% of your five-hour marathon time. Yeah, and you'll probably lose that again because it will be less stable and you might end up feeling really uncomfortable. People do need different shoes at different times, but I think it's more really down to what your preference is. If you are going for a four-hour marathon and you have put everything into your training, you're in peak condition,
00:19:19
Speaker
this is the peak of the time you can go for and you really want to get everything out of it. You can look at your super shoes for sure, but if you're going to go, I want a four and a half hour marathon time, or say you want to go the exact same thing with four hour marathon time, but it's just roughly the time you're aiming for. You've not necessarily trained loads, you've not done loads of marathons. I would 100% be picking a cushioned comfortable shoe because it's more about your mindset and what you've put in so far, I think, and what you expect from the race and what you want from the race. But yeah, as it gets longer, I think there definitely will be a benefit to more stability
00:19:47
Speaker
just for time on feet purposes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'd take a plate out if I was going for too long. Because again, plates are stiff. They're not that, they won't be that comfortable. If you're on them for too long, I'd say even with all that soft foam.
00:19:58
Speaker
Yeah. And thinking about it in terms of marathons as well, I'd definitely say if you are, if you're racing a marathon, maybe you put in some other races as well. Try, because I would never want to race a marathon in a super shoot if I hadn't raced a 10 K in it or a half marathon. So I knew what it was like. At least in a hard 20 mile or something. Yeah, basically. Yeah. Yeah. So you really got a testimony at the work because there are some pursuit shoes that I wouldn't want to use for a marathon that just don't work for me. And I, you know,
00:20:26
Speaker
So yeah, tricky one, but I mean, at super shoes, as long as you're not got any issues that using super shoes, I think they're absolutely fine. Just got to find one that works for you. Yeah. They're just really expensive as well. So I think if you look at our, also the difference between them and like a normal training shoe that might just suit you better, isn't going to be as big as the difference that most us, most amateurs, including us can create in some other way in our life through training or eating and sleeping. So it wouldn't necessarily, it certainly wouldn't go straight into super shoes, no matter what your time is almost.
00:20:55
Speaker
Okay, I've got another one here, which is also about super shoes. So, Thomas says, Tom here from Australia, love the podcast and the YouTube channel, running my second ever marathon in May, aiming for 330 to 340.
Should Thomas Invest in a Super Shoe?
00:21:07
Speaker
Never owned a super shoe. My first marathon was 358 in the New Balance SE Trainer V2. Should I take one of my current training shoes, the Sockenoo Dolphin Speed 3 through to race day with over 200 kilometres on them,
00:21:20
Speaker
And how will it hold up over the 42 kilometer distance? Or should I invest in a new marathon super shoe? Very similar question to the other one, but a bit more specific. We can talk about age of shoes, maybe. Yes. Because this is a really hard one for me because I know a 200 kilometer shoe will be absolutely fine on race day. But I would start to panic and think about buying a shoe. And I know that's a bad thing. So this is not advice.
00:21:47
Speaker
But, you know, once the shoe hits certain distance for me, I'm thinking, well, if I've really, really got everything into this, I'd probably spend them on my car. When I bought the Alpha Fly said to Berlin, they didn't use them. But even the Metaspeed Sky Paris now, you know, I've got 120, 130 K on it. That's fine. Once I go above 150, I start getting itchy.
00:22:05
Speaker
Yeah, but speed three is a bit different, isn't it? Because I don't think you'd lose much from... I reckon you wouldn't notice much from the 200. It gets to 200k in it because it's got that slightly firmer mid-sole poem. Yeah, I think you'd be all right in speed three, to be honest. If you're looking at training, it's a bit different. My friend literally just asked me about his tempest for race day and it's 700 kilometres. And I said, if I was at 700 kilometres in any shoe, I probably wouldn't race in it if I was really going for a time.
00:22:31
Speaker
But 200 kilometres in the speed. I mean, 200 kilometres, you'd definitely be fine in like the AlfaFly. I've run, I've raced a marathon with over 200 kilometres in AlfaFly. It felt fine. It wasn't the reason I blew up that day. But yeah, I get a bit itchy myself with super shoes at a certain point.
00:22:46
Speaker
Yeah, I suppose the other part to this as well is that he's going down from 358 to 330, 340, which is quite a big drop. And we don't know anything about the training that he's been doing to get there. So definitely, if it was me, and I was really like, it sounds like this guy's really focusing on getting that faster time and that big jump, I would probably, I would move towards a super shoe at this point, just to
00:23:16
Speaker
give me the best possible benefits from a shoe. Second marathon he says, right? Yeah. I wouldn't. I suppose the second marathon, 20 minutes I dropped just using training, just on training. I think you should be dropping that on training if you use it. And then the endorphin speeds are quicker than the SCLE V2 as well. So I suppose the question we'd need to ask him is, have you been training harder? Your training's exactly the same.
00:23:41
Speaker
Yeah. The speed will have an edge over the SC trainer V2 though, so. Yeah. Yeah. But it might well be, it's pretty, pretty not quite as cushy, but I wouldn't buy a super shoe for that drop. Cause I think if you're, if you're dropping that in your second marathon, I think you've got a bigger game to come and that's when I'll probably bring the super shoes in.
00:23:57
Speaker
Well, I went down from 4 to 3.30, no, 3.45 to 3.30 using the peg turbos. Well, I went from my first marathon in 3.29 to 2.53 and I was using a much heavier Adidas Supernova second one because I had no idea what I was doing and I'd done every single run at sub three pace. So I was just using the biggest cushion shoe I had. And I spent ages agonizing and picking between that and the ultra boost and they're both exactly the same weight, same play. Looking back, I was a maniac.
00:24:26
Speaker
You used that in the second marathon? Second marathon, I used the AWS Supernova, yeah. Blimey. And then I was just running everything in AWS pretty much at that point. And then I think it was, I suppose I was like getting shoes from, wasn't reviewing shoes then. So I was just, you know, picking up shoes as and when through general journalism life. You know, sometimes before we were running shoes, people, you just go to an event and they'd be, oh, you can't set running shoes. Oh, brilliant. I use these all the time.
00:24:50
Speaker
I was the first time I really realized what was going on with shoes and I was standing in pen one at London marathon in my Adidas supernova looking around and everyone was wearing flats. I was going, this is weird. Why am I, why are my shoes so much bigger than everyone else? And I've weighed them 350 gram shoes.
00:25:08
Speaker
All right, so we've got a chap called Barry. He's saying, hi, team. Thanks for everything you do on the YouTube channel and podcast. You're welcome. Was after your thoughts on a shoe choice for my first 55k ultra?
Shoe Choices for a 55k Ultra
00:25:21
Speaker
So it's first time he's tried this. It's about 52 cent road hard paths and 50 cent forest trails in the summer. He's thinking of using the Pegasus Trail, but should I go for a more cushioned option?
00:25:31
Speaker
or even a plated shoe, like the endorphin edge. Well, you should probably... Oh, you have done a forest. You've done a very similar... It wasn't summer and dry, was it? It was, yes, completely dry. And I would say for this, if I was looking at that race myself and I wanted to go and run it and run well in it, I would be using a, like, the Vapefly, something like that.
00:25:51
Speaker
Honestly, because we're not in VapeFly 3 because we get ripped up, but my one was all for his path in the summer with some narrow single trail and lots of... It was quite grubby underfoot, but a guy would use VapeFly through it, fine, because there was... Yeah. I'm going to say here, don't use VapeFlies because we don't know the type of trail that you're running on. If it's got loads of holes and stuff in it, you're going to keep... That's true. Yeah. If it's a hard pack trail at half road, I would use a road tree myself.
00:26:16
Speaker
If it is narrow and twisty and dangerous, then I would use a more stable... I wouldn't necessarily go and get the edge. I don't think those trail shoes still offer enough over a... Unless you're going to buy the new Adidas one, which is brilliant. The AgriVic Speed Ultra, which is a very, very good trail super shoe. I used it in that ultra as well. I think the others don't offer enough over just a cushioned trail shoe. Yeah, I think we don't know how fast Barry's planning on running it, but I think it depends on...
00:26:46
Speaker
what your focus is. So I've done a 55k ultra actually, along the canal paths of Hertfordshire. But I wasn't running, I wasn't going fast. I was just doing it for the distance. And the thing that I hadn't brought a war at the time, I think it was a pair of Adidas, what were those old ones called? The old Terrex? Can't remember what they are. Parlay, the Parlay ones.
00:27:12
Speaker
Oh really? Oh yeah, okay. But it was the really quite heavily cushioned ones and that was perfect for me because I wasn't trying to go fast. It was pretty hard ground and they were really comfortable. So for me, if I was going for, on the terrain that he's talking about, I would go for something like the Fuji Light 3, A6 Fuji Light 3 or the Max Trebuko
00:27:35
Speaker
Something's just got a load of cushioning. It almost runs like a road shoe. You'd be careful on those. If you're actually on proper roads, because the endorphin edge, I would not run on the road for a long period. There's enough lugs there. No, no, no. You've got to really make sure your lugs are flat and broad on the shoe. So I did quite a lot in the Fuji. Did you test the Fuji like three? It might be the two that I tested.
00:27:55
Speaker
I didn't test. I haven't tested any foodies apart from the foodie speed. I did a lot of training for an earlier marathon and every run had at least 15k on road on it. I found it absolutely fine. It looks quite small on it.
00:28:13
Speaker
and it was quite a soft midsole. Max Trebucco 3 hasn't got big lugs on it either and it's quite soft. Something like that I would go for, but if he's going for speed and he's going to be going flat out like he would be running a road marathon, then obviously those are not going to be the best ones for it.
00:28:32
Speaker
Yeah. Pegasus Trail is a pretty solid option as well actually, I will say. As long as it's nothing too wet because it does slip on wet ground. Right, okay. It doesn't sound like that's a worry for him. It's probably just a living in England then. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Okay, right. I think you've got a question, haven't you? You picked it up.
00:28:47
Speaker
We've got a question on the channel. I said I'd answer here because it's not one that we do videos. What are good prescription glasses for running? I would say I have tested both very direct prescription glasses for it. The ones I use at the moment are Rokas that are tailor-made for running or
Running Glasses Recommendations
00:29:03
Speaker
tailor-made for sports. They've got very grippy iPad and stuff like the temples. It's all very lightweight and they are brilliant.
00:29:09
Speaker
I've also just used general glasses, and I would say if you go and get a cheap plastic frame pair, and basically, the advantage of the Rokas is the fit is amazing with no additions. However, if you get a cheap pair and you buy very cheap silicon grippers and put them on the arms, they will still, and lodge them behind your ears, which is what I did for a long time, they will stay in place just as well as very, very well-made glasses like these, and you'll be able to get a very cheap pair. Like I say, if you get plastic, you can just wipe them down if you get sweaty, that kind of thing.
00:29:38
Speaker
I love these ROKA glasses. They are genuinely better and better than those I've ever used because they're so light and they're really well designed. They stay on the nose well, but I think it's a bit overplayed to really go for prescription sports glasses. I've had some and I really like all of them and I really like the Oakley ones. I had those weren't even sports ones and I used kind of the grippers on the arms just because they're lighter and the lenses are obviously very good from those companies as well, which you won't get from just
00:30:02
Speaker
cheap pairs but you'll probably break them is the other thing but if you don't break glasses i know you meet you and tom tom tom and i both are quite good at breaking glasses i believe i think you smash sunglasses of alarming regularity i thought i don't smash them i just scratch them up okay yeah i'm very lazy about putting them back in cases and things
00:30:20
Speaker
Yeah, you won't get scratched. So that's the other advantage of someone like these ROKA. So I would say if you if you've got the money, I would go and buy a pair of ROKA or Oakley sports sunglasses. They're both absolutely amazing. Sports eyeglasses, that is. They're both amazing. They are both, you know, brilliant for their purpose. If you're on a bit of a budget, I would get a cheap pair of the plastic frame and buy 100 silicone grippers off Amazon of different types for three pounds and find the ones to help them stay in place. And that works really well for me as well.
00:30:45
Speaker
good glasses expertise there. Yeah. But yeah, I will say that I do like these Rokers now though. And it's nice to have. My friend has used them for years. He's always, what he's done actually is another good idea is he got a frame, a pretty normal frame from a sports glasses manufacturer and they're brilliant. You know, they stay in place really well. And he basically made sure he got one that he could get a normal, an optician to replace the lenses in without going back to, you know, having to buy
00:31:13
Speaker
incredible Oakley or Rokka, whoever it is, lenses. So if you get quite a normal frame, like these are quite normal from Rokka, I could probably get these lenses just done by an optician on the cheap, which they mold me. And then that's probably the big saving in the long run. Expensive on the glasses, that's the problem. Don't wear them. Don't wear them. He just wear good marathon-based sunglasses. $20. It's good shades, yeah. Tom's got this Boston gooder shade and he's going to get the London shade. Of course he has all the different shades, all the tat.
00:31:39
Speaker
Yeah, they'll go in the tat drawer that I never ever use. Cool. All right then, I think that'll do for questions this week. If you are listening to this and you have a question yourself, email us at team at the runtesters.com or shoot us a message on Instagram if you want, as long as you start it with points of shoe because there's a lot of questions in there.
00:32:01
Speaker
they're not answerable. And as I always say on every one of these, if you're going to send us a question and try and make it as general as possible so that we can, we're not like a concierge service for people that have a very specific need that they want answering. If you can make it as general as possible, and that's more likely that we're going to answer it on this podcast. Think about who else is going to benefit from the answer. And that's the main way to go.
00:32:49
Speaker
Cool, well thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time.