ASICS - Metaspeed Ray

Don't wear the Metaspeed Ray for fulls, I made that mistake at Arizona and rolled my ankle. I've worn the Metaspeed line for all my Ironmans and 70.3 the past 2 years. Paris this past season and will wear the Tokyos this season.

I have tried them all. Metaspeeds, Alphaflys, Valorflys, Adios Pro. They all end up destroying my feet or Achilles. Zoom Fly 6 is the most perfect one for me. My feet don’t feel so much pain with them.

Training for a marathon you’ll need more than 1 pair of shoes imho. 1 for easy days, 1 for seshs or longys (eg superblast are amazing) and for your pace probly some carbon platers (eg vaporfly or asics metaspeed). But try a bunch on to see what works for you. Some will say you can get away with one pair but I like to alternate

I'd go half size up in metaspeed coming from a novablast 5.

Sooo difficult choosing one they all have their place Got to go with Asics, from the Novablasts to the Metaspeeds they cover most off one of the best

I tried the majority of them and my favourite is Adios Pro 4. nike Alphafly and Asics Meta are also ok, it depends on your running dynamic

I can’t speak for many on the list but up until recently I used the Novablast for all my runs and races and got a 35 min 10km in them, but I wouldn’t say it’s really a fast shoe. I recently got a the asics meta speed as my dedicated race shoe and it’s so quick and bouncy to the point where it actually feels like cheating. What I’m trying to say is that if it’s in the budget I would recommend a carbon plated shoe for race days especially for the times you are targeting.

What is your current interval/vo2 max shoe of preference? I am killing myself using my metaspeeds on the track each week but can't seem to justify buying an ugly pair of adios 9s (Runningwarehouse has one colorway rn) just for that 5k and faster track work

I injured my mcl and carbon shoes have definitely help me feel less of the impact coming back. I did a run in Superblast 2 and the next day was horrid, did it in my metaspeed and it was perfect. Run in what makes you tick.

We have a similar preference I think, as Saucony is my main go - to brand. I also like the Speed but don’t have the same challenge as you with long runs, maybe because I am a bit further along the marathon journey and multiple training blocks under my belt. I use the Endorphin Pro for race day or ASICS Meta Speed. I moved away from the Triumphs for a while but I have added them back in and I do like them for long easy runs. I also really like the Kinvara (though not the new plated pro model) and I have tried two pair of Rebels. I really liked the first pair for just about any kind of run. The second pair was also good but I found it seemed to “go soft” on me much sooner than I would have expected. Often I can keep a pair of shoes in my rotation longer than I probably should but with the Rebels, when they were done - I did not enjoy running in them. Finally I also really like the Magic Speed from ASICS though they are similar to the Speed so take that for what it is worth. So in short my rotation includes Speed, Triumph and Kinvara from Saucony and the ASICS Magic Speed. Race day is either Endorphin Pro (or Elite if I win the $$) OR Meta Speed. I like them equally. Everyone is different of course but I have not found any real differences in heal drop and don’t get too hung up on it.