Nike Zoom Fly 6 Black Light Smoke Grey

Use them for tempo runs, long efforts and race day rather than for daily easy mileage, since plated shoes work best at pace and the foam degrades faster if you use them for everything. Rotate with a cushioned daily trainer. Off the run, the black and grey palette works with black tights and a grey shell, or with joggers and a plain hoodie, which is more than most racing shoes can manage. Size up a half for long distance, since feet swell. Do not machine wash: brush dry, spot clean, air dry away from heat, and avoid storing them compressed, which shortens the working life of the foam.

Nike's running credibility starts with Bill Bowerman at the University of Oregon and Steve Prefontaine as its first track endorser, and it runs through sponsored athletes including Sebastian Coe, Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson and Allyson Felix. The plated shoe is the most consequential thing the brand has made in running since the waffle sole, because it changed what people expect from a race day and forced a governing body to write new rules rather than issue a ban. A shoe like this is how that technology reaches club runners, which is where it does the most good.

A plated racing trainer is engineered around forward motion: a high stack of resilient foam, a stiff plate to resist bending at the forefoot, a rockered profile so the foot rolls rather than flexes, and an upper cut light with minimal overlays so nothing adds weight. Nike's Flywire approach of holding the foot with cables instead of material comes from the same instinct. Rubber is placed only where the shoe actually contacts the road. Black upper against a light smoke grey midsole makes the stack height legible from the side, which is how these shoes are read. Worth noting that World Athletics rules from 2020 cap sole thickness and permit one rigid plate; compliant Nike racing shoes remain legal.