Official CHEATERFLY body count thread

Geoff Capes wrote:

I do my sessions in them these days for two reasons; the first is that my legs are not as battered the following day which is great when you're putting in 100 mile weeks. The second is more practical, over the last two years I have bought three pairs, I don't really want to race in them once they have more than 100 miles on them, but at the same time, I don't want to throw a pair of shoes away that only have 100 miles on them.

They are the best shoes for not getting injured. So the OP saying people get injured in them is ridiculous. Lesser support flats like the streak or wearing spikes too much leads to a lot of lower leg/Achilles injuries. The 4%/next% has such good cushion while still being light that it keeps you from beating up your body too much.

And I run them in races only for the first 100 miles, then they become my workout shoes for several months racking up 200+ more miles before they get retired.

This seems reasonable on both accounts. Away with you!

Hasn't Rupp been using a VF-like shoe in basically all his marathon races? His Achilles issue was from a Haglund's deformity, seems unlikely racing in the shoes caused that (I don't think they train regularly in the shoes).

I have just suffered an Achilles rupture and plantar injury. I'd been wearing a Hoka and VF, the physio who treated me said he's seen lots of similar injuries. His thoughts were that the rigid forefoot and rocker sole of Hoka and the plate in the VF mean that your foot muscles can atrophy, as they aren't being used. Over time that added strain is placed on the Achilles and calf. Added to this the kick back is exaggerated in the VF which changes the biomechanics of the body, leading to longer strides further in front of your body, this also add strain to the Achilles. It's early days in terms of judging the longer term affects of this new tech but I'd imagine that removing stress in one area doesn't eliminate it but just moves it somewhere else in the chain.

Runners get injured in all kinds of shoes.

Yams wrote:

My understanding is that because of the way the plate changes your foot's biomechanics, you're more likely to injure your plantar. Eric jenkins tore is plantar at pre last year and was maybe wearing the spike version.

Just curious if you talk out of your áss in your "real life" as well? Quit making things up. This is why we can't have nice things around here.

1. Rupp is injured.

2. Rupp wore VF.

3. Therefore, VF caused Rupp's injury.

Is this a false analogy or an informal fallacy? I get them confused.

sunsetkid wrote:

Uhhh....Rupp is going to win the Oly Trials in a sub-2:10 kind of time. Only Walmsley has a chance at beating him.

For sure. Forget Bekele vs Kipchoge. This is the big show down of the year.

I don't think Walmsley's goal is to beat Rupp. Walmsley has his eyes on the Fast 100 Ultra in Honk Kong right now but, if you saw his recent strava session where he did 31 miles he was zooming. I think he could have a shot at the USA Marathon team but, Jared Ward has been putting in heavy mileage especially after his 6th place finish at Rio.

Breaking news: Runners get hurt.

And I doubt the long list of 2 are doing the vast majority of they’re training in them.

This. Different shoes just change what body parts get stressed. Assuming that shoes “reduce impact” defies physics.

fly swot ter wrote:

Please feel free to add to this cheaterfly body count!

I just read on his ‘Gram that Zach Ornelas is out of the US Oly ‘ Thon Trials due to injury. Was also training in cheaterflys.

Don’t forget about me. Every time I run in them my Achilles and calves start hurting. I ditched them

Only injury concern would be running workouts on grass in them. They are designed for the roads and the unevenness of grass is just asking for a rolled ankle.

bruce denton's gold medal wrote:

One of the quickest ways for me to not take someone seriously is using the term "Cheaterfly."

One of the quickest ways for me to not take someone seriously is for them to use cheaterflys.

Just look at the recent social media posts of Bernard Lagat training in black alphaflys. LOOK AT HIM, JERRY! He looks ridiculous. It's a mockery of the pure sport we all love.

Our sport is really having an "Emperor with no clothes" moment. Will someone in power stand up for truth and honor? Hopefully IAAF will make a good decision and save us from a future of escalating foam stilts bouncing down the roads.

THOUGHTSLEADER wrote:

Idk why you’d train in Vaporflys that I’ll agree on (no idea if they lead to injury). There seems to be a lot of obsession on a all levels on running maximum speed for your effort in everything from workouts to easy runs. Misplaced emphasis - just worry about running the right effort and get to the line healthy. Vaporflys are a road racing flat and should be deployed as such, yet I see a bunch of pros because they can using them all the time on the track, the grass you name it. Silly.

Agreed. Also, if you're hitting your goal workout times in 4% or next %, aren't you theoretically getting 4% LESS fit than if you ran the same times in normal flats?

bruce denton's gold medal wrote:

One of the quickest ways for me to not take someone seriously is using the term "Cheaterfly."

LMAOOO

y'all ever just get injured bc years of quality training were derailed by a pair of shoes? i know that feel, bro.

MakesNoSense wrote:

Agreed. Also, if you're hitting your goal workout times in 4% or next %, aren't you theoretically getting 4% LESS fit than if you ran the same times in normal flats?

Yeah I'm assuming these workouts are based on a mixture of historical workouts, exercise science etc etc.

Often the coaches are pretty precise about the splits they want the athletes to hit. Does it really make sense to deviate with a shoe that might impact the difficulty of the workout. Does the coach now need to adjust the goal times? When these athletes end up running their races in regular old spikes are they going to be acclimated to their stride in Vaporflys and the energy return they provide?

Just seems weird unless you are a road racer to be introducing a bunch of variables with your training (where no medals are won/times don't matter).