I’ve struggled to find a carbon plated shoe that I thought made a difference when running fast and racing. I have tried a lot of other brand’s super shoes over the years, and while I have liked some of them, I didn’t always think they helped me run that much faster. That was until I tried the Nike Alphafly 3.
If there was a cheater shoe, these would be it for me! I nail workouts with ‘ease’ and even run faster on my easy runs–solely because I was wearing these shoes.
I did try the Alphafly Next% 2 back in 2022 when I wore them for a half marathon, but I ended up getting a hamstring strain and losing my big toenail after the race. I had never experienced either of these things before from a half marathon, so I knew the shoes had caused me to run differently and ultimately cause the injuries. I was pretty hesitant to try the third version of the Alphafly for this reason, but I kept hearing that people loved the third iteration over the second, so I finally decided to give them a try.
When first trying the shoes on, they are pretty different than your average training shoe. The stack height of the Alphafly is much higher, and while the heels looks odd, it doesn’t feel weird unless you roll back on them–which you don’t do that when running.
They weigh 6.1oz (women’s 8) and have a drop of 8mm. (The drop of a shoe is the difference in height from the heel to the toes.) Walking around in them feels kind of strange, but once I got running in them–especially at a faster pace, I really noticed the carbon plate doing it’s thing by acting as a propulsion plate.
I first tried the Alphafly on an easy run, which I normally run at a pace around 8:15 – 8:45 min/mi, and I found myself running sub-8:00 min/mi pace easily without exerting any extra effort. I thought surely this was a fluke, and I was just feeling peppier than usual that day.
I then wore the shoes on a medium-length workout with tempo paces. I nailed the 13 mile run with 9 x 1000 meter repeats averaging 6:16 min/mi for the tempo intervals, which was faster than I had been doing tempo intervals–and it was a hot day.
The first time I wore the shoes at a race was for the Twin Cities 10 Mile. I ran a PR of 1:03:06, and they felt great throughout the entire race. I didn’t have any issues with them feeling unsteady with the tall stack height, my toenails fared well, and I didn’t develop any hot spots or blisters.
My final workout before wearing them for the marathon was a 23 mile marathon-paced workout of 3 x 3 miles at goal marathon pace. I felt good running 6:35 – 6:40 min/mi pace, and the whole run was pretty smooth sailing until mile 17/18. It was at that point I started to feel both of my big toenails pulling up and as though I was going to bruise them and ultimately lose both of them. I stopped at mile 18 and changed into the Vaporfly for the remainder of the workout with no more issues from my toenails. (However, I did have to tape my toenails down for the next few weeks until the marathon to keep them from getting worse.)
Race day for the Indianapolis Marathon came around–the real test for the shoes. Thankfully I had a great day and was able to set a new PR in the marathon while wearing the Alphafly.
Now, was it solely because of the shoes? Most certainly not!
Did the shoes help? I think so!
My legs definitely got tired during the race, but my breathing gave out before my legs did, so I think that’s a testament to how well the shoes worked for me. I could feel my big toenails during the end of the race, but I also didn’t get any blisters on my feet, which I believe it a first. I also recovered faster than I ever have after this race. (Although I think some of that was due to drinking a protein smoothie after finishing the race versus my usual wait-several-hours-to-eat-anything plan.)
Let’s be clear: just because these shoes worked for me does not guarantee they will work for you. My feet, stride, and genetic makeup are different than yours, so keep that in mind.
Have I heard a lot of people rave about the Alphafly? Yes!
Do I see a lot of people wearing them for their marathons? Yes!
Will they work for you? Hard to say until you try them, but I think it’s worth a try!
I always encourage people to go to a local run specialty store to try out shoes before buying them. Also, make sure you run in these shoes before leaving the store because walking and running feel different in a pair of shoes–especially a carbon plated shoe, in my opinion. A good run specialty store will have a generous return policy and allow you to return the shoes if they don’t work for you.
To be honest, I did order my pair from the Nike website because I don’t live super close to a run specialty store, and I did try calling around to see if any stores in the area had them, and every one of them was sold out of them. When I ordered them through the Nike website, I made sure their return policy would allow me to return them if they didn’t work for me.
As far as sizing, I would definitely suggest going up a half to a full size, especially if you have a wide foot, are between sizes, or often have issues with bruised toenails. I originally purchased the size 9 but ended up returning them because of bruising both toenails. I then ordered the 9.5, but I kind of wish I would have gone up to a women’s 10.
Overall, I love these shoes and will continue to wear them for my races. The only drawback to them was the fact I will be losing both big toenails, but I know this is not the case for everyone. I was able to ‘gain’ a couple minutes (run faster) in exchange for losing a couple of toenails. Seems fair. Ha!
