The On Cloudboom Strike LS is the LightSpray version of On’s top carbon plate racing shoe, and one that Nick has loved testing in his training runs, so he was keen to get a race test in at the Pleshey Half Marathon. Nick ended up chasing a sub-70, and was also testing the Garmin Fenix 8 and Garin Enduro 3 for HR accuracy. Here’s how he got on.
JUMP STRAIGHT IN:
00:00 – Intro
00:02 – Pre-race
01:14 – Post-race
More ways to enjoy The Run Testers
Subscribe:
Follow Us:
Listen to The Run Testers Podcast:
Watch The Run Testers Shorts:
Hello and welcome to plushy in Essex I'm Here for the plushy in Essex half Marathon one of my favorite half Marathons of the year it's really nice Route on country lanes out in the SX Countryside it's a little bit undulating But nothing too bad you can still run Pretty quick here usually and it's the S6 half marathon championships as well I Am testing quite a lot of stuff today so The main thing is the on cloud boom Strike LS so it's obviously the On's New Racing shoe with the light spray upper I've done a lot of training in it and Really think it's a very good shoe but I Haven't had a chance to put it through a Proper race test yet so I'm going to use It today terms actual targets I'm not Sure I'd like to run my fastest time on The course so like a low 111 or 110 Something would be good we see how it Goes today usually there a good group of Runners to run with and you kind of just See how it falls because there's a few Uphill bits and then a nice downhill Near the end so if you're in good shape By that point you can um you can run Pretty fast here I've also got the two New Garmin on my wrist got the Garmin Injo 3 and the Garmin Phoenix 8 so I'll Be testing those for things like heart Rate look at the GPS although GPS is Usually pretty good here it's nice and Open out in the countryside other than
That got my usual gear on just normal Vest Club vest saw shorts my uh my Unicorn socks which always a nice Positive thing to have during a race but Yeah main the shoes today be really Interesting to see how they feel over a Full distance like this and like I say Done a lot of hard training in [Music] Them well all done and that's gone Unbelievably well almost almost too well Um I've run I mean while watch says I've Run know 69 bang on or so which would be Absolutely incredible huge PB I'm a bit I don't know the course course got a bit Short on the watches Runners around me To find out if the course is slightly Short in if it is it would only be a Little bit I would have been on for sub 70 so be very annoying if if I didn't Get sub 70 because the course wasn't Quite right but either way probably the Best run I've ever had like I had an Absolutely phenomenal run there I went Through five miles kind of bang on Pace For 70 minutes and then just started I Was just running you know not looking at The watch with the group of that group Just looking down and every single K was Clicking through quicker than I expected Kind I knew there was a hill later on But got up that on PA a little downhill Then a big hill to finish but then the Finish suddenly appeared it came like
Soon I expected like kind of 12 miles I Was bang on to finish I think in my mind I was on for 6945 and then um and then suddenly the Finish was there so that's obv a bit Curious either something's gone wrong With GPS and the watch years or Something but eitherway I've had a Phenomenal run I've had a great day I Think I was fourth on the day uh we'll Find out more about course do a wrapup Afters but the shoes felt amazing today Like really just they're not explosively Bouncy but it just feels so good they Tick and they give you that punch and They tick and punch and you're just Rolling and you're rolling and the legs Just keep going really well and you just Maintain that momentum and even when I Hit a hill and that I felt really good There was only one point in the whole Race where I start to feel a bit light Footed which what happens to me where I I kind of just start to drift a bit and I'm not putting enough Force into my Foot strike and over height and I'm just Kind of turning over and not really Running so hard and I start to slow down Without even really noticing but was Able to correct it straight away just a Couple of strides felt it push a bit More Drive in got the bounce back and Then just yeah flew around at the last Bit and yeah ran either absolutely
Incredible either having never run a Sub7 the sudden I've gone sub 69 which Should be amazing or just around 69 or The course is slightly short I'm going To find out about that but um it's Always been perfectly fine here the Course and normally it comes on bang off Normally it comes you know exactly the Same right on the watches so that's why I'm a bit curious but um hopefully it's Just a small GPS wrinkle that happens I've just had a great run but either way I've had a great run certainly cuz I was Really really running well out there Love the shoes check back in later with More thoughts on the shoes we'll look at The watches and the heart rate and stuff Like that and uh see what happened with The [Music] Course so it's the morning after the Race and first to say is my suspicions My fears were confirmed it was a Slightly short course H really just at The last minute so basically we ran the Whole course bang on correctly obviously I've done this race several times as I Mentioned it's the ess6 half marathon Champs have run it you know several Years in the past and the course is Always fine but the very last turn Pretty much on the entire course uh we Got sent slightly the wrong way and it Just meant we lopped off 100 200 MERS or
So so it was a slightly short course Annoying cuz I was on for that sub 70 if The course was the right length I'm Pretty sure cuz like I said at 12 miles I had about you know 17 18 seconds 20 Seconds in the bank going into that Last Mile so I thought I was going to get That sub 70 but didn't happen these Things happen we move on got to run Again another day and try and get that Sub 70 somewhere else but i' would like To do it at py just cuz it's an event I Love so much uh and I do think it's a Great event go back there next year run The right course but yeah we could tell Actually a few of us at the Finish Line Because we run it quite often that just Didn't seem right the final mile like Normally there an extra bit of downhill Before the uphill and yeah just didn't Happen but oh well still a good day out Lots of good people and still a really Good run very pleased with my run like I Said paced it really well really felt Strong in the second half of it it was Pushing all the way and and yeah at that 12 mile marker I was in a great position To uh to clinch that sub 70 so good run Around fourth on the day didn't quite Get an Essex medal but very close so one Day maybe a solo S6 medal will come Around onto the gear then shoes yeah Were fantastic I really like the shoes Going to the race I still wasn't
Entirely sure about them as a race Day Option compared to something like the Aex meta speed Sky Paris my favorite Shoe you know always a risk when you're Not using your favorite shoe in a race But the absolute deliver they have Actually quite a similar feel to the aex For me because you've got not the Softest foame under the foot but a Really responsive and a comfortable one So over the course of the run yesterday There were a couple moments I thought oh Is it going to get a little bit Uncomfortable here under my right foot In particular but just never did and Actually yeah just felt great throughout The entire race nice bit of ping off That foam really smooth and fast Transition ticks over really nicely just You know a great racing shoe and the Upper has held up for me so I'm now at About 125 130k in the shoe upper still Feels good it was great on the race Yesterday had no problems with moving Around held the foot well really nice Hold around the Achilles without any Kind of irritation there something I Have to look out for a bit with my my Achilles All around is working really well like Still the same kind of caveat Supply the Shoe I talked about in our review which Is you it's quite risky just to buy the Shoe in a off the peg size because if
The upper doesn't work for you you're Just going to have to send it back I Suppose you could do that you don't Actually have to run in it to know that But I have quite a unfussy foot it's Fed So got a narrow foot I fit well in Normal sizes and this just fits well in My normal off the peg size UK size 9 us 9.5 and I have no concerns of it no Rubbing but if you have any of those Problems you know you are in trouble Because you can't adjust it with laces Or anything like that so I would love to Test the stand standed on cloud boom Strike actually to see how good it is Compared to this because you got the Same midell there you get the same you Know really great feeling under foot you Just got a little bit of extra weight But with obviously a much more adaptable Upper and an upper you can just buy as a Normal shoe and it's a cheaper shoe as Well so I think that is still a shoe to Look out for we haven't been able to Test it yet we'll try and do that just Because obviously we're talking about This shoe which is a bit exclusive hard To find more expensive but it's amazing To have you know that that midell Package in this lightweight shoe which You get from that upper so I do really Like it I think it's a great shoe you Know I'd still be saying probably pick Up the metas speed scis I do think you
Know they're both Amazing shoes and that One's a lot cheaper has a normal upper You know slightly lighter still but yeah Absolutely delivered like I say one of The best runs it's not the best run of My life just you know not going to go on The record the permanent record Unfortunately but yeah I had a really Good day in the shoe and it was Fantastic in terms of the watches so What I've started to do these days to Get heart rate data in particular to Compare to watches as I wear the watches And then I've got the choros pace 3 a Very light watch just tucked into my Shorts links up to a heart rate monitor So I'm not really using the GPS and the Chorus cuz it's in that position I will Say on all the ones I've done with the Pce three like tucked into a shorts Pocket his GPS has been amazing it's Really good to watch that yesterday the GPS we can't look at the total distance All the watches are very similar the Garmin andur and the Gin phoenix8 in Particular GPS track is amazing it's a Pretty easy race for GPS you know you Just going along country lanes it's Pretty open for the most part there's Not too much tree cover it's not loads Of really twisty turny bits so the Tracks look amazing from all the watches Battery use is very good on the watches As well like the uro use less than a
Percent like it's tracking in the kind Of Auto Select mode to have over 100 Hours of use and you know that's really Impressive and in Juro only dropped by 2% so again tracking for pretty Impressive numbers around for you know They are big watches so you get big Batteries but that's impressive use and The heart rate was also very good in the Watches so actually would say throughout Testing these watches I've had really Good heart rate results like I haven't Been linking them to a heart rate Monitor at all and aside from very up And down interval workouts at the kind Of hardest stuff for watches track they Have been pretty much spot on like even If I go and do like K reps at the track I found the heart rate on the on the Phoenix 8 in particular to keep up and Get those reps right I do some like a Hill session it doesn't do very well but In the in the race yesterday the spot on In line with the coros pce three's heart Rate you know there's a couple of little Jumps and the uro took a while little Bit of a while to catch up at the start Of the race but for the most part yeah Spot on really good heart rate actually Really good GPS accuracy can't complain With the watches at all they they would Have probably delivered me to the Finish Line in pretty much exactly 21.1k if it Had been that long so and the pacing is
Obviously great with us watch so like I Say I'm going to race like I'm not Really looking at my watch like I There's a group of Runners I get tend to Be lucky enough to run with in S6 races Around my Pace it's really one of the Reasons I love the races so much is a Group of Runners I can run with and Second half I was just going to feel Every k i just check like oh have I Dro Lost any Pace there you know it's about 319 a k for a sub 70 half and I wasn't I Was picking up pace I was you know Really excited and feeling really good Um so yeah the watch and the watch is Obviously delivering that really Accurate result like matching up to the Mile markers you obviously you have to Convert kilometers to miles in your head But there's a few points like you know Five miles and 8K which is pretty close And that kind of thing so yeah all round Watches are really good shoes are Amazing all my normal gear was amazing Had a really good day it's a great event Pleas year so shame about a little mixup This year and but I had you know my Strongest S6 half marathon Champs run to Date my strongest half nearly half Marathon runs 20K PB that's for sure so Now that I think I was that about just Under in just under one hour and six Minutes so had that kind of four minutes To finish off the race but all around I
Had a really good day it's just a shame About the overall result trying to get That sub 70 for a long time now but I've Got I'm going to have now do it somewh Like Battery Park which is not quite as Exciting it's doing it on like a fun Race like plushy but I'll give it a go Next month if marathon training hasn't Taken too much of a toll on the legs Thanks for joining us for that wrap-up Of the plushy half marathon don't to the Comments any thoughts you have on the Shoes or the kit or anything like that Uh please like subscribe ring the little Bell so you get notified when we do Another video and we will see you next Time