Old school feel (relatively firm) ASICS Hyper Speed
Obviously nowhere near college athlete level, but I've been running all my non-sprint workouts in Hyper Speed and have had no issues for 2+ years.
Saves money since they're like $100 even for the newest model. Can't really beat that unless you get lucky shopping for year's old models of other shoes that happen to be in your size.
Sometimes it's not necessarily the presence of a plate that is rough on the feet, but rather the composition of it. A full carbon plate is harsh and aggressive but a composite plate or TPU plastic plate can work great. Here's a few different options for you:
Adidas Takumi Sen: medium stack, plastic rods instead of carbon
Adidas Adios 9: non plated flat, lightweight and fast
Adidas EVO SL: similar to the Adios but more cushioning, no plate
Puma Deviate Nitro 4: composite plate with some super foam, excellent grip for wet conditions
ASICS Megablast: high stack shoe with super foam and no plate, super lightweight and bouncy
ASICS Magic Speed 5: top layer of super foam, plastic plate
Saucony Endorphin Pro 5: this one does have a full carbon plate but it's less aggressive than many others on the market and is pretty forgiving underfoot
HOKA Cielo Road: no plate, super foam, lower stack. Very good fast training shoe
Senior runner, 55 years old, with 46 years of experience on road and track. I weigh 74 kg and stand 190 cm tall. My weekly mileage is about 80 km, consisting of two speed sessions and four easy runs. Shoe History: Until 2020, I ran in non-plated shoes—primarily the Asics Tarther series and Adidas Adios RC/RS for speed, and the Asics GT series for jogging. I then transitioned to plated models: Saucony Endorphin Pro and Speed (1 and 2), Adidas Adizero Evo, and Asics Metaspeed Sky. The Transition: While my easy pace improved by 15–20 seconds per km, my speed workouts didn't see much gain. I began to miss the "ground feel" of the Tarther series. Switching back to non-plated shoes occasionally made my ankles and calves feel weak, and my performance in them dropped significantly. Injuries: I suffered hamstring and hip flexor issues during this period. While I can't be certain they were caused by plated shoes, I never experienced these problems previously. Return to Basics: Since 2022, I have returned to non-plated, minimally cushioned shoes: the Asics Lyteracer for easy runs and the Tarther RP for speed. Asics Lyteracer stack 25/16 mm, so 9 mm drop, Asics Tarther RP 25/10 mm, so 10 mm drop, both about 155 to 160 gr. Both are designed to provide a fast, responsive propulsion and ground contact feeling. Though the bounce and energy return of plated shoes were initially a sensation, I eventually found the "bounciness" annoying and missed the direct ground contact. Cost Concerns: Working in the garment industry, I understand pricing structures and find it hard to justify the high cost of plated shoes. In Japan, I pay about $60 for my Asics and am very satisfied. Health Status: My annual MRI shows only age-related wear to my cartilage and meniscus—nothing unusual despite decades of running in low-cushion shoes. Happy running!
This post was edited 13 minutes after it was posted.
Just took it out for my first run, 10 mi steady starting at 6:45ish working down to 6:25s. The rocker is excellent and the lack of a plate didn't hinder it too much at those paces.
If it weren't for the aTPU revolution in 2025-2026 and cheap insanely good Chinese supertrainers, it'd be leading the market. IMO def better than the Evo SL: better fit, better geometry.
I think the saucony kinvara is a great shoe for workouts
Big fan of Saucony but be careful of Kinvara. 4mm drop so much lower profile than typical faster road shoes and less cushioning which limit it to shorter interval work from my experience [end up with inflamed achilles when use them too much or for longer work]. Saucony Endorphin Azura [new release] does it all as a non-plated, lightweight training shoe with more typical 8mm drop so better non-plated option for all faster running.
Just took it out for my first run, 10 mi steady starting at 6:45ish working down to 6:25s. The rocker is excellent and the lack of a plate didn't hinder it too much at those paces.
If it weren't for the aTPU revolution in 2025-2026 and cheap insanely good Chinese supertrainers, it'd be leading the market. IMO def better than the Evo SL: better fit, better geometry.
can you compare it to the endorphin shift 1 or endorphin shift 2?
Just took it out for my first run, 10 mi steady starting at 6:45ish working down to 6:25s. The rocker is excellent and the lack of a plate didn't hinder it too much at those paces.
If it weren't for the aTPU revolution in 2025-2026 and cheap insanely good Chinese supertrainers, it'd be leading the market. IMO def better than the Evo SL: better fit, better geometry.
can you compare it to the endorphin shift 1 or endorphin shift 2?
Sorry, never ran in any of the Shifts but I've run in the Speeds from v1-v5. The Azura is just as good if not better than the Speeds for stuff up to threshold effort I think, but anything faster I prefer the plate and lower stack of the Speeds.
I like the Adidas SL2 for daily miles, and the Adios for longer track sessions when I don't spike up. (600s/800s/1000s).
I actually think that plated shoes can talk a lot of the normal load off of the Achilles and plantar fascia, possibly leaving them weaker and more injury-prone when it comes time for speed in flats and spikes.