FAST-R NITRO™ Elite 3

Puma fast R3 is a solid option for those distances, if you can find one that is. Even with the heel design at those distances and paces it keeps you more midfoot to forefoot and has a quick turnover.

Definitely a hard one to get and also a gamble on will it work. Besides all of the not so great reviews I see in the VF4 I also find that one to be a great shoe for the 5/10k distance as well. Lower stack and still propulsive feeling. I’ve raced both in both distances and both were a good choice so it’s hard for me to say which is better.

With modern shoes, easily can get one shoe for easy day and easy/moderate long runs and have carbons for workouts, race day and hard long runs. You could even have two shoes, with multiples of each and you're good to go. 1. ON Cloud Monster Hyper - can do every type of run 2. Li-Ning Feidian 6 Elite - workouts/marathon 3. Puma Fast-R3 - Workouts/marathon/preferred shorter distance racer

Puma especially since they now have the top-of-the-list raceshoe aswell at the moment. everything is just 20-30% cheaper then the competition, stuff is durable, grip is good. the only real lack in puma was a high-end supershoe for very fast people, but that has been solved with the r3. magmax is a good max-cushion, velocity is a good dailytrainer, you have the plated dailytrainer with DN3 that is durable for like 600-800km. DNE3 is good enaugh for me for non-technical competative trailracing and shorter races where i dont want to grind away the moneys-worth of my R3's. the only thing missing is a good trailshoe for very technical hiky-type of trails.

The Fast-R3 fits similar to the Deviate Nitro 2 and Velocity Nitro 2: narrowish in the forefoot and a touch long, but not virtually unusable like the Deviate Nitro 3. I have run a half marathon in the FR3 and had no issues with my feet whatsoever.

Anyone generalizing about all super shoes and paces required doesn’t know what they are talking about. There is such a huge, huge range now of plated shoes with different foams, different rides, different… everything. There are options where the plate’s main purpose is to stabilize landing on very soft midsole, others with extremely aggressive plate and foam/midsole combos. Huge rockers, small rockers, etc etc. If you are into it and want to spend some money there are absolutely a pair of plated shoes out there that would benefit you, even if that benefit was mostly due to low weight and energy return. *Some* more aggressive super shoes like the puma fast r 3 really do benefit from and almost require a certain amount of force to get the benefit, and the alphafly is a terrible choice if your going to sit back in your stride and/or heel strike. Depending on your foot width and landing pattern and preference there are a lot of options though. I would try some on, ideally in a running store with an in store treadmill, and see how you feel. Wear them with pride whatever you get and enjoy them :)