Nice review. I have the OG Deviate Nitro Elite's and I agree with everything you said about the 3rd edition. I know Puma has tinkered with the midsole form since the 1st version, and it's now much livelier. Nonetheless, I use them for just about every type of workout and they are my 'go-to' for tempo/threshold group runs where I'm hanging on for dear life. Puma grip is amazing!
I bought them on super discount earlier this year. I paid $120 for them and they are currently at about 100 miles. I try to get at least 200km on my performance shoes before retiring and think these should easily make it.
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.
I wore the Deviate Nitro Elite 3 to my first sub 3:45 this year. Love that shoe and wore a pair that already had almost 300km in them despite picking up a new pair in advance - they just hold their structure and bounce so well. While the training is what got me there, I have learned a decent shoe make the difference when you're looking for that extra minute when it counts.
Unless you’re wanting to run a sub 3 hour marathon, no one really needs carbon. You want a shoe that feels comfortable and most carbon plated shoes aren’t. There are some exceptions—the NB SC elite 5, the Puma Devaite elite 4, the Hoka Rocket x 3– these are a few that are more democratic, offer some comfort, accommodate all foot strikes and aren’t crazy aggressive.
I would echo some of the suggestions here. I imagine based on your height and mass you have quite big feet. As a fellow larger human (187cm, 95kg) I use the Deviate Nitro Elites, alphaflys in larger sizes, i am a UK 12 are just absolute units.
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