Kinvara 16

4 pairs. I've heard that running in different shoes can help reduce injury risk, possibly by working different small muscles in each one. Seems to be helping me so far, as I used to be injury prone and I have recently been increasing my weekly mileage and speed work with no problems yet. Most of my shorter easy runs in Altra Rivera 2s, but this pair is pretty beat up and probably on its way out. It's a nice comfy zero drop shoe and I love it so much Longer (> 7 miles) easy runs in Saucony Triumph 19s. Higher drop and high cushion. Speed work in Saucony Kinvara 16s. Mid drop, extremely lightweight, love them! Other daily trainer is the Asics Gel Nimbus Lite. They're great at easy and quick paces. I also have a pair of Saucony Endorphin Pros that I haven't used yet but will hopefully whip out for race day It sounds like a lot but I got all except the Kinvaras used on Poshmark for less than $40 each. In great condition, too.

Saucony Kinvara 16 when I'm running outside. Trying out the Altra Escalante Racer 2 as my treadmill shoe. These are little interesting because of the wide toe box. They feel great though.

I’ve run 5 marathons now with a PB of 3:28. I can keep a 3:15 pace and feel fine lung capacity wise, but I always get dead quads around mile 20 that slows my pace to a 9:00-9:30 pace, even with proper fueling. I’m aiming for a 3:15-3:20 in June. Back when I got back into running again few years ago I got really bad ITBS and I had to stop running. I eventually went to get a gait analysis done and was fitted with a Saucony Ride 15. Within 2 weeks I was running pain free and haven’t had issues since then. Being afraid of injuring myself again, I’ve been buying them over and over again and finally they stopped selling them in my size. I only ran in them and raced in them. Anyways, today I went back and did a gait analysis again and was basically told my form looks great, but I outgrew the Ride 15s a long time ago, my legs got too strong, and I’ve been fighting them for a while. We ended up on Saucony Kinvara 16s and I’m really excited for them, especially if I’m not having to fight my shoes anymore. I’ve been debating racing in them like I did the Ride 15s (after all nothing new on race day, they’re already an improvement over what I previously had, and she recommended racing in them), but thought about trying a super shoe instead I asked her what her thoughts were on super shoes and she basically said that while they’re incredible technology, they’re incredibly hard on the body and as a result a lot of people don’t run marathons again afterwards with them. This part felt a little off to me, even though the rest of her advice has always been spot on, but I absolutely understand the “incredibly hard on the body” part, and that’s what concerns me. So my questions are: \- Just how hard on the body are they? I’m wary of hurting myself obviously, even long term \- Is it worth it to race in a super shoe for my upcoming race in June? Or should I try the Kinvara for that race and then do the super shoe for the marathon in October? \- Besides the obvious fueling solution, how much do the shoes actually impact “dead leg” late in the marathon? \- If I do end up deciding to try the super shoe, which one? I know, that’s the age old question and is personal to each person, but I’ve mainly been looking at the Saucony Endorphin Elite 2 (or 3 if I wait a month) and Brooks Hyperion Elite 4 PB. The Brooks I can get on a discount for much cheaper is mostly why I’m looking at it (like $110), but I’ve heard it’s not as good as others, like the Endorphins.

Yeah that’s kind of what I’m leaning towards, I might start experimenting with the Brooks since the latest one is supposed to be a big improvement and fixes a lot of the complaints about the foam, plus I know Brooks has a pretty good return policy if I find it does not work for me on speed runs The leg preservation is definitely the biggest thing for me I think, I’m sure I’ll still hit the wall and slow down, but nowhere near as bad. The pounding does me in and makes the last 6 miles absolutely brutal, more-so than I think it should even. My legs are just dead and I have to walk every so often. I do wonder if switching to the Kinvara in general will help, if I truly was fighting the Rides for so long, I could see that not being beneficial to leg preservation lol

I saw your thread the other day, didn't get around to replying. You're probably looking for a flexible, lower-stacked shoe, something which'll ask you to more naturally plantarflex rather than having a more rockered transition. This isn't really Asics's forte (practically all of the forward-looking Asics lines are 40mm+ heel stacks, and most of their trainers are pretty high stack too), you might look at the Noosa Tri if you want an Asics shoe for this. Other options would be the Puma Velocity Nitro 4, the Brooks Hyperion 2 or Ghost 17, the Hoka Mach 6/7, or the Saucony Kinvara 16. More extreme low-stack options might include the Topo Cyclone or the Adidas Adios 9. An intriguing tech solution if you really want to go in on flexibility is the recent Brooks Glycerin Flex. The Brooks Hyperion GTS 2 might also be a really good idea, as a fairly flexible low-stack shoe that also has mild medial stability elements. Most of these are more uptempo shoes, which is kind of a consequence of more relaxed trainers going to higher stacks these days. You could also look for flexible shoes [on RunRepeat](https://runrepeat.com/guides/flexible-vs-stiff-running-shoes), their flexibility testing seems reasonable.

I use Kinvara 16s only for speed work, it's been 300+ km. The ground feeling is pretty nice. They are very minimalist shoes, I don't even feel the cushioning which I feel normally which slows me down. Also, after doing your speed work in these shoes, you run amazing in plated shoes much much faster as they have more bounce and stack height.