Carbon plated running shoes

In 2019, Eliud Kipchoge became the first human to run a marathon under 2 hours. On his feet were a pair high tech shoes featuring a carbon fiber plate and air-filled pods. Since then, numerous long-distance records have been shattered by runners wearing these types of shoes. Strava data suggests that a change to carbon plated shoes improves running time over 5%!

I have been wondering, is it just a fashion, or are these shoes really faster? Seems hard to believe that shoes could make a noticeable difference today. Can they help me to be faster or is it just for elites? Finally, these shoes are being made by various brands in larger quantities and are available in low enough price for the general public. As I like to try all new shoes in person, I went to town to buy a pair, any brand. That did not go well, all shops were sold out. 

I decided to gamble and order on-line. I read a lot of confusing reviews and learned that shoes higher than 40mm mid sole just have been banned for competition by World Athletics, the governing body for track and field. Many brands are still not available in my shoe size, US 6 or 6.5. In the end, I settled on a pair of Asics Metaspeed Edge. They were in "legal" height, I know that Asics fit my feet and this model was described to work for cadence runners which sounded like me. Two hundred and fifty dollars and a few days later the shoes arrived.

First impressions were that the size was fine, but the shoes were almost flat inside and there is no removable insole. Walking around, there is a different feel to my regular running shoes (mostly Brooks, occasionally Asics, Adidas and Nike). I feel unstable and the lack of structure for the arches make me pronate or fall inwards. A dog walk in the shoes was not enjoyable and strained my ankles. Had I wasted my money?

During a repeat brick training, 3 X 5k bike and 1-mile run, I started with regular running shoes on the first run and used the carbon plated shoes on runs 2 and 3. Normally, I am slightly faster on the first repeat, but this time, I got faster on the second and the fastest time was on the third repeat. I got better at running in the new shoes as I went along. From my usually rolling step, I changed to a flat foot hard ground slam that made a good bounce. 

Still not convinced, I ran my regular 5km training route. The day was hot, I was tired, and I did not think I would clock a fast time. I started in what I felt was my usual speed. Checking my watch, I saw I was just above 8 minutes/mile speed. This was crazy speed for me, and in the end, I made a new PR on this particular route improving from 27.12 to 26.32; that is a 40 seconds improvement for an average of 8.16/mile on this moderately hilly course.

The evidence is clear; the shoes make you significantly faster.

But my shins and ankles hurt afterwards, this is a dedicated racing shoe.