Carbon Plate Shoes I Have Known: Altra Vanish Carbon

We are once again gathered here to continue our exploration of carbon plate running shoes.

If you're like me and struggling to remember what happened even yesterday, here's what we've covered so far:

• Some background on why the heck carbon plate running shoes & where did they come from
• A little editorial about my experience running in the New Balance RC Elite carbon plate shoe
• Another covering my experience with the Saucony Endorphin Pro carbon plate shoe

Today, we are looking at the first carbon racing shoe from Altra: the Vanish Carbon, which you can get here ($240).

You might ask, "Angela. You already had two pairs of carbon racing shoes. WHY OH WHY another?"

Well, first, the RC Elites were out of commission by that time. Those shoes were great (other than the toe smashing) but after 216 miles they'd sadly moved on to that great shoe recycle bin in the sky.

Second, the Saucony Endorphin Pros weren't bad but I didn't *love* the feel of them, at least not as much as the RC Elites, and my foot did still tend to slide toward the front of the shoe even with heel lock lacing. 

Enter Altra, which I have been LOVING since early 2019 when I got a pair of Altra Solstice for ordinary every-day running. I loved loved LOVED those shoes and was heart broken when they were discontinued. I loved the way they fit and the way the midfoot and heel kept my foot nice and secure while the toe box left plenty of room to use my forefoot and toes as god and nature intended.

So, when Altra announced the Vanish Carbon, I immediately signed up to get early access to the shoe as soon as it came out, $240 price tag be damned.

In April, they finally arrived:

Now. Having learned my lesson about the durability of carbon plate racing shoes (answer: there isn't any), I did not immediately lace these up and head out. But I did plan to wear them for the San Jose (40)8K on April 24, so I wanted to get in one run in them before them so that they weren't completely unfamiliar. 

As with my first two pairs of carbon plate shoes, there was the same sort of rocky-bouncy-unstable feeling when I first put them on, and the sensation of little trampolines as I walked around in them. As expected they were also nice and roomy in the front while still feeling secure in the heel. They were also really soft and comfy inside--not soft like squishy, but sort of velvety, which I must say was quite nice.

My first run in them was a 10 mile easy run and it was pure bliss. People are always like "You know running shoes are good when you don't think about the shoe," but friends, I was thinking about the shoes, specifically how they fit my foot so well with no toe-pinching issues, and how fun and springy they felt. For me they struck the perfect balance of flexibility and stiffness for a racing shoe--flexible enough that I could actually use my foot and have a sense of the ground, but stiff enough to provide plenty of pop and energy return. (Of course the plate & springy new-age foam helps a lot with that.)

As we head towards the end of 2022, I've run in them a total of 88 miles (saving them mostly for races and long tempo runs) and I am glad to report they are not showing a whole ton of wear. It will be interesting to see, but the sole on these guys looks a LOT more durable than the NB RC Elites, with substantially more blown rubber that looks like it won't wear away near as easily.

Despite the chunky sole, this size 7.5 weighs in at 6.7 ounces (as compared to 5.95 for the NB RC Elite & 6.4 for the Saucony Endorphin Pro).

So far, these are the most comfortable carbon plate shoes I've run in. They have felt GREAT for longer tempo efforts and I even ran Stow Lake 5K in them; while I had no complaints, I think I would prefer something just a *bit* thinner & lower profile. (Update: A few months ago I grabbed these guys with a coupon I had for that exact purpose, but haven't had much cause to try them out yet. Will report back later). I've worn them for just about every road race I've run since April (so Giant Race 10K, Urban Cow Half, and Indy Half), and while they've felt great, none of those were great/fast races for other reasons, so I feel like they haven't yet really had their chance to shine as race shoes.

While they don't have the same kind of happy-springy-trampoliney-bounce of my original NB pair, they ALSO haven't destroyed my toes, so I'm still very happy with them and would recommend them to anyone who is looking for a carbon plate shoe that has more of a natural foot shape/toe box.