I am training for the 3200 mainly and also partially the 1600 this spring track season. Would it be worth returning my alphaflys, paying the $15 to cover shipping on the way back, then buying vaporflys or another shoe instead? Or at this point is it not worth it? Are alphaflys at least good enough for short track reps like 1k repeats, 600 repeats, 3-8 mile tempos etc
Good for tempo, roads, not for track. Use them for your road races. Shoes don't really go bad unless you are young and feet are still growing.
Elijah. wrote:
I am training for the 3200 mainly and also partially the 1600 this spring track season. Would it be worth returning my alphaflys, paying the $15 to cover shipping on the way back, then buying vaporflys or another shoe instead? Or at this point is it not worth it? Are alphaflys at least good enough for short track reps like 1k repeats, 600 repeats, 3-8 mile tempos etc
Return if they don’t fit. Keep otherwise for workouts like those. They’re fine. My read is that people prefer the vapor fly because they perform similarly but are more comfortable and fit more people better (including me).
kipchoge broke 2 in a prototype of them—they’ll be fast enough for you.
dragonflies for track season are so much more worth it ngl
Alphaflys really thrive in longer sessions. Build momentum and they will give you the most return over the long haul. So maybe for tempo/threshold efforts. But for intervals and track workouts you aren’t going to get much benefit from those. If anything you’ll feel a little unstable on turns on a track.
min a race environment I’d suggest alphaflys for half marathon and up. Vaporflys for 5k and up.
long story short: return unless you plan on doing a lot of longer efforts. Vaporfly probably more suitable for what you are looking at.
I wouldn't bother with the Alphafly for the distances you're doing. Over short reps of a mile or less I don't notice any difference between that and cheaper shoes like the Tempo Next% and the Endorphin Speed. It's a great shoe for tempos. You have it now, and it's certainly a very good shoe, and pretty durable, so I don't know if I would be worth returning. By the same token, I don't think it would be worth buying again for you, especially since you can't race in it (I'm assuming you're a track runner).