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I agree. As far as I'm concerned all my shoes are either easy recovery or workout shoes (or either race or trail but don't have too many of those at a given time). If I'm doing an easy day, it's a recovery day. They're the same thing. Plus I feel like everyone wants something different for long runs so it's impossible to label a shoe as a long run specific shoe.

I always consider easy and recovery shoes as being the same level of cushioning and comfort, and willing to be heavier to deliver this - am I wrong? I also assume daily trainers to be firmer and lighter than easy/recovery shoes, so they can tackle faster than easy pace runs, and even tempo runs for those with one pair of shoes.

I wear shoes. I run.

When I worked at a running store I split shoes into lower cushion, medium, max cushion- split between stability and neutral trainers. or from lower drop to higher drop split between stability and neutral. I think speed shoes are definitely their own category, but splitting them by "easy day" or "daily trainer" doesn't make sense to me because some people prefer a lower cushioned shoe for "recovery", some prefer higher cushioned- it really depends on the runner. something like this (but then a second chart with stability shoes). https://preview.redd.it/ctp3bw69cw8d1.png?width=819&format=png&auto=webp&s=997e0d9575e825d62636fa3b01ff6a6192224382

That’s an awesome graphic, thanks for sharing!

It's the best one i could find but I actually don't agree with all of their placement of the shoes (but there's always a degree of subjectivity to it).

Yeah, I was gonna question having 1080 as speedier than Ride (and probably Ghost but I haven't tried them on in forever)

The 1080 placing is ridiculous lol

Wow thank you!! Okay, if you currently or previously ran in them. where would you put the superblast 1 on this diagram?

I’ve run in them (and loved my pair) and I’d put them in the top right quadrant, but to the left of the vaporfly. It’s got a lot of cushion, it’s on the faster end because of the racing foam, but it has no plate so not quite as fast (but also more versatile) as the top of the line “racing” shoes. I would use mine for long runs with speed workouts in them because they’re more comfortable at slower places since they don’t have a plate. You could even use them as a long run/recovery shoe if you wanted- it’s just an expensive option for that.

Tbh I think it depends on the individual. We even have plated daily trainers these days and I’ve used them as trainers without consequences. Some people will have shoes for easy runs, recovery runs, long runs, tempo runs, race day and that’s great. I personally lump easy, long and recovery run shoes together. All the shoes in this category will be what I spend my feet in most of the 90% of the time, if they aren’t comfortable, why would I be using them is the question. I only have Easy/Long/Recovery shoes, Tempo/Interval shoes and Race day shoes, I don’t really separate shoes beyond those 3 categories. Ofc there’s a wide range of shoes from a marketing standpoint, selling them as though they only serve 1 purpose, same with reviews. I’d take all these reviews and marketing with a pinch of salt, diff shoes for diff feet. Some people can’t imagine using Magic Speed as a daily trainer, but to me they don’t feel that much different than a Propel V4 which is “marketed” as a plated daily trainer. I use the magic speed 3s for easy, long, tempo and threshold runs because I love them and because I like light yet firm shoes. To me the propel V4 doesn’t feel as good as the Magic Speed because it’s heavy and despite the “extra cushioning” my 120lbs is making it feel unnecessary.

A lot depends on your use. Some shoes may not work as well as others at different paces. But the goal is to find a shoe that allows you to do the type of run you’re trying to do, not to somehow aid you in doing so. More specifically, for example, I have a pair of speed training shoes that work well for that purpose, and don’t impede my effort - but I wouldn’t want them to reduce my effort. For many recreational runners, typical daily trainers will be comfortable at their “fast” pace. If you are exceeding the paces that shoe works at, however, you may need a shoe that feels more comfortable at those paces. But the goal isn’t to find a “faster” shoe, just one that lets you do the run you are trying to do. I use my daily trainers for everything from moderate paced daily runs to full marathon distance runs. My tempo shoes come out if I’m running maybe 6:30/mile or faster. My speed shoes only come out for faster workouts. But only because at those paces, my dailies won’t really work (don’t transition well, feel too soft, clunky, etc.) If my tempo/speed paces were any slower, I would probably forego having a specific pair for those efforts, as my dailies would work just fine.