Nick hits the country lanes of Essex to chase a fast time at the Brentwood Half Marathon and test out the Asics Metaspeed Sky Paris, one of the best new carbon plate running shoes of 2024.
JUMP STRAIGHT IN:
00:00 – Intro
00:01 – Pre-Race
01:07 – Post-Race Reaction
03:33 – Race Test Reviews
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Hello and welcome to run testers my name Is Nick and I am in Brentwood in Essex For the brenwood half marathon this Morning lovely Little Town out in Essex For a re nice little event that's half Closed roads half not closed roads it's Pretty Breezy you might be able to tell That now that might affect things on the Course a little bit I think we'll have Crosswinds mainly but it's a quite hilly Course so should be good fun rolling Over some bums testing the legs and Testing the aex metas speed Sky Paris This is my new favorite com racing shoe The shoe I plan to use for London I want To get really hard racing it today going All out today trying to get a decent Time or a decent place depending on how The conditions actually play out say so We start with a nice big downhill we've Got a few lumps and bumps along the way And then a uphill to finish and yeah Don't really know what the field would Be like today it's one of kind of event You turn up and see and we've already Run someone very quick so stick to him For a little bit but probably not for Too long but good at tance to test the Shoes and in general just test out my Racing legs uh with London in mind in a Few [Music] Weeks I'm all done just on the cool down now
Had a great day out there around 7030 Bang on um really pleased with that it Was a breezy course running solo most of The way everyone was kind of running Solo and big old Hill in The Last Mile That um I knew was coming so I knew I Was on Pace for about for a sub7 at like 10 miles but and 11 miles but I knew I Was going to be dropping off that quite A lot so kicked it in really nice time Really ran really well and the shoes Were yeah fantastic I've been loving These shoes from the moment we started Testing them I think they're absolutely Amazing feel like I'm going to use them At London and what I really got today From them was that kind of locked in Cruisy speed on the rear kind of flat Sections where I was just running Exlusively that felt very in control Very what I get from like the outl the b F times you can lock into a speed really Well but then what these shoes have is That lightness so you can then punch up A hill to the extent not the last I Wasn't really punching up that at all But on any Hill you can you can move a Bit faster you can accelerate if you're Going to race someone you can put on a Little spurt try and GAP them and it's Just got all that lightness and really Nice turnover and they've got a lot of Bounce so on the downhills early on just Booming along so yeah more or less
Perfect loving the shoes so far Definitely use them again St testing Today uh was Apple watch Ultra 2 versus The Garmin epics Pro which I'm using for The whole of marathon training for a Long extended versus both brilliant Splitting bang on within seconds of each Other you know GPS on country lanes is Pretty easy and they were both excelled On that front so uh yeah no concerns at All about the watches yes all this gear Is going to kind of turn out again in uh In London and it was really good today But I will have a little bit more to Think and check in more about the metb Sky later but what I'm going to do Quickly now is is calling my friend Jack Who ran in the vfly 3 which she haven't Talked about a lot on the channel lately And I want Jack to give a quick review Of the vfly 3 over half marathon here he Is hi uh yeah so vfly 3 is what I ran Valencia in last year yeah um I still Think it's the best shoe for me out There I'm not terribly fit at the moment But really work today 7330 I'm not very 723 7230 sorry yeah yeah which uh Considering my current form really happy With and uh yeah don't forget the vfly I Actually think the aex Met Paris has a Lot of vely characteristics and if You're someone who is in this the vfly 3 Isn't aggressive enough Camp which we Don't agree with us to but if you are in
That camp you might find the Met be Sky Paris actually is very similar to the Vly but maybe has that that more Mythical aggression that people are After it is slightly firmer the for Potentially but also yeah got to get out In the vly again cuz sh I've kind of Forgotten about all the new releases This year Jack of the storm runer anyway We're going to finish off a little more Jogging and I'll have a a bit more to Say about the M Sky later when I'm [Music] Home so it's the evening of the race now I want to do a few more thoughts on the Event itself and indeed the shoe but on The event it was really good very well Organized really well Marshal it's uh Not entirely closed Road event out in Essex on country lanes but for most of The time I was running on the road no Problems at all there were a few Sections yet to go on the pavement but Not very many at all and really clearly And well Marshal very strong field today I was sixth today and there was some Really quick times up top so yeah that Was great didn't necessarily manage to Result in lots of groups cuz I was a bit Off the front group I was running by Myself a fair bit but there was some Really fast people out there you know Proven that you can run good times and What was a pretty hilly course overall I
Think we had about 150 MERS of elevation In total with that big hill to finish Obviously you got the corresponding big Hill down at the start which was Obviously great at early on in the race But yeah big hill to finish is always Tough I was I was only actually 7 Seconds off of PB in the end and that's A much better run than I've done for my Two faster half marathon so my PB is at Edinburgh half which is a big downhill And the you don't really have to come Back up so it's a bit of a cheeky one And then I've gone 2 seconds slower than That at the big half in London which is That was a good time that was a 7025 so 7030 today on a hilly course in good Shape big confidence boost ahead of the London marathon in in a month's time I Feel like I'm probably in the best shape Ever just got to carry that through now To race day so it was a pretty Interesting course to try and Pace Obviously because it wasn't just like Those big Hills it was really up and Down pretty much throughout the course So running to feel the entire time and Then you know seeing what pace gets spat Out on the I was doing 2K splits I'm Going to run 2K splits in London the Idea being that I basically game to run I think basically just under 7 minutes For every 2K and today I was trying to Run under 640 but obviously it was very
Up and down with the hills trying to Hold it together on the uphills and make Hay when there was the odd downhill Really big downhill after the Eighth Mile which kind of really GED me up Again it been a fairly long SLO up to The eighth mile marker and um then going Down again gave me the pickme up needed To kind of get through towards the final Of UK knowing it was a big hill to come So even though I was on a pretty good Pace I knew I was going to lose a bit in The end but I thought overall I judged It quite well pace was quite consistent Given the terrain so going on to the Metas speed Sky Paris I really was so Impressed by today it really feels like It does have it all that kind of perfect Package of lightness but bounce and like I said in the straight after the race What really felt good was how controlled It felt like just ticking over at those Kind of Paces that you want to hold for Long distances so perfect for a marathon Shoe which obviously I really look for Which I've always really found with the Alpha fly in particular just helped you Get into Rhythm and just hold that and Today wasn't really a rhythm race it was Very up and down and that kind of thing Which shoe really excels at cuz it's so Light but actually when there was those Times to put into a good Rhythm it felt Very good in the shoe and actually even
Though I was running running hard and I Know I'm in good shape generally when The pace came up for my like 2K splits When I glanced down I was a little bit Surprised I was running a bit quicker Probably than I thought I was and Throughout the race that's a really good Sign like even churning up that last Hill obvious wasn't looking at the time At all at that point I was just trying To get through the last Hill and then Came down and I was surprised to turn The corner and see that I was going to Be finishing in 70 something and 7030 Obviously was a pretty good time for me So yeah Shu definitely delivers in terms Of performance but also just feel like Really comfortable throughout the run Today no for foot discomfort at all Which I sometimes can get when running Hard over that kind of distance just Yeah comfortable springy propulsive Another big tick in the at speed me Sky Paris box every run I've done in it I've Really enjoyed also actually been quite Impressed by the durability so far cuz I've now done 125k in the shoe the only Real sign of any kind of wear and tear Is actually on the yellow section on the Other shoe actually oh know it's here as Well yeah the inside section of the Yellow just flaking up a bit OB that's Entirely cosmetic not something I Worried about at all and actually a
Problem we've had with previous versions Of the metas speed is that the heel Doesn't extend all the way back so I can Rough it up a little bit at the back There as a heel Striker so haven't Really got any signs of that on my right Foot and probably land heel to midfoot On my right side left side I'm a heel Striker you can see this this is my left Shoe you can see I have you know scuffed Up a little bit and I imagine that will Start to wear a bit more at the back There but it's not been as noticeable as It was with the earlier meta speeds same Time even when I did rough those up Quite a lot didn't affect performance in Any way but it's something to look out For because obiously the rber to stop Just short of the back of the shoe there And then yeah go through the St tested So like I said I had the Apple watch Ultra 2 G epics Pro on my wrist the Apple watch ended up reading like you Know 100 m longer but I just at the GPS Trace it really is very close and which Of those is more accurate you know cuz The Garin had the distance more or less Perfect for a half marathon but actually You probably don't run the perfect Distance on a half marathon like that on Country Lane so maybe the apple is more Accurate but really they're both very Accurate would really helpful if I was Going to use it for pacing today which I
Didn't really that much but you Certainly got decent pce splits every Time to know roughly what you losing on The uphills gaining on the downhills so Yeah all really good on that front the Polar h10 heart rate monitor I was using Had a little moment on the run it Dropped very for a very short period I Think it's about the 19th or 20 K when I Was actually working the hardest i' been In the whole race and it dropped down Very low but that came back up nothing To worry about there otherwise yeah the Gear was all good had glasses on SE hat Yeah in general everything performed as Hoped and yeah really good day out and Met speed Sky Paris brilliant shoe Really good event BR half marathon Really fun event out in ess6 so want to Look out for next Year
