The Rise of Super Trainers
One of the benefits of working at Fleet Feet, or any specialty running store, is the chance to try on every shoe that comes through the door—to have your toe on the pulse, as it were. Back in 2017 when Nike released the first Vaporfly, the combination of carbon plate and highly responsive midsole foam sent every other brand into a tizzy trying to come up with a comparable “super” racing shoe. Fast forward eight years, and every major brand has one! And they’re all pretty darn good!
A selection of super shoes from the Fleet Feet Chicago website
The result of this leveled playing field is that the major players are introducing some of their best racing shoe technology into other products meant for daily miles; the battle for running shoe supremacy has trickled down from race day to every day. The resulting “super trainers” are all the rage and feature very tall midsole platforms, stiff rides thanks to carbon, plastic, or glass fiber plates, and fairly aggressive rocker geometry that helps propel you forward. Whether you prefer to think of them as watered down super racing shoes or beefed up daily trainers, the truth is that they feel substantially different from either.
The very good-looking (in my opinion) Brooks Hyperion Max 3
To some, super trainers are a Goldilocks shoe: they’re fun and bouncy, and they make running feel easier without the stiff and aggressive ride of a super shoe. But from my perspective, the ubiquity of super-soft foams and stiff plates makes it even more important to rotate which shoes you’re wearing from day to day because of how these shoes can change your mechanics and put stress on different parts of your body.
I would never recommend to a customer coming into Fleet Feet that they buy a super trainer as their only running shoe. Shoes are tools, and each type should be used for its intended purpose. Racing shoes are great for race day and your toughest workouts, super trainers can be excellent companions for long runs and potentially weekly workouts, but your standard, “boring” daily trainer should still be the workhorse of your rotation. To stretch the metaphor: having the latest and greatest power tool is great, but the best circular saw in the world will never replace a good old fashioned hammer.