Nike - Air Zoom Alphafly NEXT%

My most recent race shoe purchase is the AP4. Haven’t run a full in them yet, but have done some shorter races. Previously, I’ve raced halfs and fulls in the Clifton 8, Vaporfly 2, Alphafly 1, Endorphin Speed 2, Adios Pro 3, Zegama 1, Topo Specter 1, Endorphin Trail, Endorphin Pro 3, Endorphin Speed 3, and Tyr Valkyrie Speedworks. AP3 has been my favorite of those. Ran 2 halfs and 2 fulls in them plus an ultra and then put a lot of miles in them as a daily trainer. Great shoe. AF1 was great too, but I did a lot more daily miles than races in those.

I had a pair of Nike Alphafly NEXT% that lasted 880 miles. That version of ZoomX was fantastic. I actually wore through the outsole and the air pod in one of them burst (right in the middle of a 14 miler), but the foam still felt great. For shoes that are actually available now, I’ve had a good experience with several iterations of the Saucony Endorphin Speed. The foam feels good through 500+ miles and the upper and outsole hold up well. They are also good for any distance or pace.

Yes, but that's because I've run in so many pairs of them that my mechanics are perfectly adapted to them and they work really well for my style: high cadence forefoot strikes. I still prefer spikes for truly fast track workouts, and my first choice would be Alphafly 1s for a serious MP long run, but the ES is still 95% of the way there for both. I get most of my pairs from ebay or other secondhand for pretty cheap, lightly used. If not, he can probably find later models and it'll be comparable, I've run in all versions except 5

I wouldn’t race in my alphafly v1 anymore, but I still use them for my speedwork days and I’m about 300+ miles into them. I do think they still have a noticeable benefit over my other shoes, even with that much wear on them

I have slightly wide. I do love my Alphafly 1 - more roomy than most others. Also got NB elite 4. Love it too but not a race day shoe for me. I like it for long tempo runs

I do agree, the biggest thing that it affects is the biomechanics. At least with the Nike alphafly 1 and 2, the higher stack height and foam changes my strides. I sometimes would get quad cramps with marathons that I don't normally see in my normal shoes.

I have been using the Prime X or Prime X Strung for my 16+ mile runs the past few years, which are all at least a steady effort. Sometimes I'll use a retired race shoe (Deviate Elite 1, Alphafly 1) for runs with marathon pace, but the Prime X can also handle it. It mostly a comfort thing for me. It is just nice to not have my feet hurt at the end of the run. Prior to the Prime X I used Atreyu The Artist and the Endorphin Shift 1 prior to that. Those models don't exist anymore and I didn't find their successors as comfortable over long runs, so I have been using the Prime X for 3 years now. Not sure what I will use when I finally wear those out. Would like to try out the Evo SL and see if that works.

My guide 17 is not 1% worse than my alphafly v1 in a 10k and I’m in the 45 minute range

Apart from the vaporfly and alphafly, their shoes are bang average. The original alphafly was a game changer, but everyone else has caught up and overtaken them now. Saucony and asics are turning out some great shoes

It’s more than $100 more. I’ll get 300-400 good miles out of a pair of running shoes. The tread wear on my Alpha Flys are extremely noticeable after 50 miles. I would bet you start to see negative performance impact after that.

I've done my last few marathons in Alphaflys and in the lead up to those I've done some of my long runs that included MP intervals in Fly6. Generally I save training carbon for fast Parkruns and faster intervals but I'm not typically doing those sessions in a marathon build. New race shoes get a 5km tester before the first race day, but after that only get used in races.