May 2024

We’ve all seen the array of carbon-plated shoes, aka “super shoes,” at the races.  Nike was the first to popularize them with the Vapor-Fly, designed initially for the Breaking-2:00 project, but shortly thereafter coming up with a general market version.  Naturally, all the major shoe companies followed suit and within two years each brand offered their own models.

We may wonder if these shoes, which tend to be roughly double the price of standard models, are worth it.  My own experience and others I’ve talked with suggest they do indeed offer some extra “oomph” when racing, particularly in longer races.  The question I’m exploring in this post is whether the espoused benefits favor older more than younger runners.?  A prompt posed to ChatGPT provided some interesting insights I’ll incorporate.  Also, I’ll delve into a key question: if super shoes are beneficial for seniors, how much should they be worn?  Last, I’m curious whether the super shoes we buy at the running store are the same as those provided to the professional runners setting records.

First, let’s consider the three general categories of benefits of super shoes touted by the shoe companies.

Improved shock absorption with added support and stability, 

Enhanced energy return, leading to improved running economy, and

Super shoes offer the runner added motivation and confidence. 

The first category invokes an ongoing controversy about when a lot of cushion is too much.  Minimalist and barefoot advocates argue extra cushioning throws off our natural gait and biomechanics, leading to a host of injuries. Without negating those claims, it seems that cushion and support suited to a particular runner can help reduce impact on joints.  An argument favoring super shoes for seniors is our aging joints are more susceptible to joint wear and tear.  But as discussed in Senior Distance Running Essentials, pressure on joints can actually help build bone and cartilage, following Woolf’s Law, as long as the runner has good form and strengthens the soft tissues surrounding joints. I am not going to try to sort out the pros and cons of cushioning in this post.  Rather, suffice it to say it works for some runners better than others and as with most things, it is a matter of degree.  I will say, the first time I ran in Adidas Pros, they felt squishy and my foot did not seem to squarely meet the ground.  But after tightening the laces and getting in some runs, they felt quite solid.  

It’s really when considering the second category, energy return, where cushioning in combination with the carbon fiber plate, seems to enhance our stride and provide the touted boost in speed, cadence, and endurance. This concept draws on the notion that the cushioning material in these shoes is different from what we find in other shoe models. The shoe companies have each developed a resilient foam that compresses and then decompresses, providing, along with the carbon plate, something of a rebound effect.

This is where senior runners, whose stride length tends to shorten and gait height falls, could see an advantage over other seniors not wearing super shoes.  And in that way, these shoes may provide a comparative benefit for older vs. younger runners.  Meaning, if there is a 1-2% improvement in speed for a 30-year-old, maybe it’s 2-3% for a senior runner. 

I feel safe concluding there is a benefit for seniors racing in super shoes.  Now let’s look at the volume question.  

Is too much of a good thing be, well, too much?  First, these shoes do tend to modify our stride, at least a bit.  The extra cushioning seems to allow our foot to work less than with a traditional training or racing flat.  When racing, this seems good. The more efficiently we run, the less energy we expend in the first part of the race, leaving more in the tank as we tire. However, if we are training in these shoes, we may be sacrificing some of the full range of motion, which is one of the benefits of training.  We’ve all been told not to do all our training in racing flats and the same reasoning can apply to training in super shoes.  It’s pretty well agreed we need some variety in our running, whether it be terrain or footwear.  On top of this, the life of super shoe cushioning is relatively short.  Durability was not one of the design objectives.  So, after 100 miles or so, the compression-to-decompression ratio falls, to the point where the rebound becomes increasingly dependent on the stiff carbon plate. The sponsored pros get new shoes for every key race or two. Recreational age-class runners can do that but at their own expense.

Bottom line, I feel pretty confident in suggesting super shoes be used selectively and kept fresh for speed workouts and races.

I’ll briefly comment on the last cited benefit – the effect on confidence and motivation.  It almost goes without saying that if we are lined up at a regional race and see 80% of those around us with super shoes, we can feel at a disadvantage.  Alternatively, if we have experienced the extra lift we feel when running in super shoes, then we are more likely to feel ready to strut our best stuff and let the chips fall where they may. None of us likes to see our times erode, but if super shoes allow for even a 12-15 second improvement (or reduced decline) in a 5K, and a minute in a half marathon, roughly a 1% benefit, that likely adds to our enjoyment of running the races.

In exploring the last question about the difference between shoes the pros wear and those we buy at the store or online, I found it interesting that the top sponsored runners often have custom versions tailored to their specific biomechanics and gait.  Sometimes the amount of cushion varies as well as the placement of carbon fiber plates and the fit of the upper.  The pros are also the first to have access to prototypes that have not yet hit the market.  And as noted above, their shoe inventory is regularly replenished, so that they may only run one, or at the most a few, races in a pair.

For many of us seniors, the fire that has us wanting to run/race our best continues to burn, in spite of seeing our times rise (though maybe the age-grade % is holding.) In any event, If you’re not already racing in super shoes, give them a try. They offer a proven benefit we can take advantage of.