 And for the weight of the AlphaFly, 6.8 ounces in my size or 194 grams, I am incredibly. First run, first run in the Nike AlphaFly next per sense. Oh my my. All right, so when I was in college at the University of Colorado, we used to say at the end of hard races, hard workouts, we'd yell at each other like, tighten the screws, tighten the screws. You know when you're doing a wood shop project and you just kind of tighten those screws down and just to bring everything together, that's what I was thinking to myself today on the long run. You know what? There's no races on the horizon. Let's go for it a little bit. Let's open up the carburetor a little bit. So that's what I did today in the Nike AlphaFly next per sense. The weather was perfect. The conditions were perfect. And oh yeah, my mindset was after yesterday, you heard in yesterday's vlog, my legs were tired. And so I reduced my volume yesterday because I did that. My legs felt not perfect, but great waking up this morning. So that was also a sign like, okay, let's open it up a little bit. And that's what I did 23 miles. There it is on your screening kilometers, about 500 feet of vertical, sorry, 450 feet of vertical gain. And I managed to hold a 540 per mile average pace. So solid, solid effort out there. And I was thinking to myself, and if you look at the data, here it is on Strava. If you want to go analyze the run you can. At about mile 11, yes, there was a dog chase. And so my heart, I had to sprint. Like I had to sprint. Like my heart rate went from 165 to about 180-ish. So if you see a heart rate spike around mile 11, approximately, that's what it was, a good old dog chase. And I managed to outrun it, but man, it was not good. So, and oh yeah, at about mile 10 or so, I was thinking to myself, this has the potential to get really, really ugly because the pace was really solid and I'm at elevation. But sure enough, I managed to hold a pretty good pace. I was fading toward the end. I think my last three or four miles were around like 550 to six flat pace. But overall, a solid effort. I feel real good about it in the Nike Alpha Fly, next percent. And one last thought on the run today as we dive into the first impressions, not my full review, that'll happen after 50 miles, is that this is a racing shoe. A, you know, an aggressive marathon and half marathon racing shoe from Nike. And so I knew on today's run and before the run, I got to take this thing up to some higher speeds in order to give you an accurate assessment of my first run in them, how they performed. If I was running seven minute pace or 630 pace for me, I knew that wasn't gonna be fast enough. So that's why I opened up the carburet, tightened those screws down, tightened those screws down. Okay everyone, I am a men's US size seven and a half. So all the weight and all the measurements that you're gonna hear over the next five, 10 minutes is a seven and a half for men's size, seven and a half men's US, okay? And there's not many pairs of these out there on the marketplace. Like they did a limited release Nike about, oh, what was it, two or three weeks ago now? And it was very difficult to get a pair of these shoes. Therefore, there's not a lot of data out there yet from other people testing the shoe and Nike hasn't released all of their information on the drop. So everything is a little bit in flux as far as the data on the shoe, but I'll do my best here. Okay, so from my measurements, and I don't have a laser, so just so you know, world athletics is now requiring under 40 millimeters. That was big news about a month ago, maybe a month and a half ago, 40 millimeters is the max stack height that a shoe can have in order to, for the elites to use the shoe in an Olympic or world championship race or any race that is, let's say like attempting to set a world record like the Berlin Marathon, London Marathon, et cetera, et cetera. So for me in my size, I am measuring right around 38 millimeters. Now this is, again, I don't have a laser to measure that. That is a caliper that I purchased a while back and I'm doing my best to measure it as accurate as possible, but I'm getting right around 38 millimeters for the stack height in the heel. And again, about 31 to 30 millimeters stack height in the four foot. So that's, you're looking at about an eight millimeter drop for the AlphaFly next percent. And for the weight of the AlphaFly, 6.8 ounces in my size or 194 grams, I am incredibly excited to make another vlog, probably in the next two to three weeks, I don't know when yet, comparing the AlphaFly to the next percent, to the 4% to compare all the weights. It's gonna be very, I can't wait for that vlog, but that is in my size. And again, I'm not getting a lot of data out there from other people's sizes. And for the upper on the fly knit, the top of the shoe, the material that wraps around the top of your foot, it is a fly knit, okay, they're calling it the Adam Knit, that's the official name, Adam Knit, and it is a fly knit material that has been heated up and then stretched and then pressed, okay? So that is the kind of the process that Nike went through to make this and it's wild. Very breathable, you can see through, so you can see right through it. And I must say, I liked it quite a bit more than the vapor weave that we found in the next percent iteration, okay? It's wild, I don't know what else to say other than it's a wild feel. You know what it feels like, everyone? Have you ever sat in a chair that like those old school lawn chairs that feel like, you know, kind of loosey-goosey, like you might fall through the lawn chair? It almost feels like that type of material, like the old school from like the 70s and 80s type of lawn chair with, I don't know, that's the first material that comes to mind, okay? Also in the heel counter, there's a little bit of a pad there that we also found in the next percent. It did fine today. I think it helps lock down your heel pretty well. Again, I'll take it out for some more tests very soon and there's a little bit of extra, almost like a felt material through the inside of the collar of the shoe that wraps around your ankle. Again, just to give you a little more stability through that upper, and I guess, yeah, just so that that atom knit material is not rubbing right against your ankle. Also, they added a little bit of extra material on top of the shoe right through the, where the eyelet chain will lace over the top of your foot. I think it's probably a smart move just so that the laces aren't gonna cut into the top of your foot as you're lacing up for your races. And also through that eyelet chain, a little bit of extra rubber has been placed in overlay to make sure those laces stay nice and secure. So again, I think it's a good move overall with that extra rubber, just a little thin layer of overlay on that upper. Moving on to the midsole of the Alpha Fly right through here, that Zoom X midsole foam, plenty of it. I already gave you the stat kites coupled with these air pods, okay? This is new. This is different than the 4% and the next percent. And there's of course also, there's the carbon full length, carbon fiber plate throughout this midsole, what they're calling the fly plate. And it is wider, much, much wider than the next percent. So I am seeing it, you can hear it, hopefully you can hear that in the microphone and it stretches, the fly plate stretches from side to side, at least through the forefoot. It starts to get hit, it's hidden back here through the heel. Maybe we need to do a little surgery. No, not in the night yet. I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding. I'll come back to that midsole here in a second and moving on to the outsole. Very, very interesting rubber outsole through the forefoot. I would say very grippy. Like it's gonna grip the road. I suspect even in wet conditions, very much so. I think it's a pretty interesting overall tread pattern that is gonna do better than, definitely better than the 4% and again, probably better than the next percent, but I'll do that comparison later. And then there is that ZoomX exposed foam through the heel, but they have added some higher density. I don't know if it's the foam rubber composite on the edges here, right here. Again, just to increase the durability, especially if you're a heel striker, okay? So overall, a very fascinating outsole, especially when it's coupled with these air pods right here below your forefoot. Moving on to the fit and the comfort, the fit. This is a big topic. Big topic, everyone. I was reading so many reports early on right when the shoe was released that people were buying half-sized down for the AlphaFly, half-sized down. I decided to go true to size and I'm glad that I did. And I'm glad that I did, no issues, okay? Could I pull off a half-sized down? I probably could. You all know, if you watch regularly, I like a snug fit, especially in my ratios, but I don't see a necessity for me to go a half-sized down. Anyway, I don't wanna give conflicting thoughts at like, but a lot of people were going a half-sized down. I didn't see a need for that on today's 23-mile run, all right? And for comfort, well, it's a racing shoe. So I'm not as concerned about comfort when it comes to racing. I'm leaning more in the direction of performance. And again, no major issues as far as comfort through the upper. It does, I will say, take a little bit getting used to that carbon fiber plate through the midsole here, especially since it appears to be a much more exemplified or a much larger carbon fiber plate in this AlphaFly versus the next percent. Now onto my positives and drawbacks after my first run. Positive, the AirPods, the AirPods. Now I don't know, if Nike has a patent, of course they have a patent on this specific, I don't know how patents work. Lawyers out there, let me know down in the comments. I foresee these AirPods being the game changer moving forward for Nike's marathon racing shoes. It was overly obvious how much energy return I was receiving on today's run. It's the air, like the carbon fiber plate, yes, helping. I'm sure I could distinctly see a difference with these AirPods through my foot strike. And you all know in this marathon training block, I've been focused on my foot strike a lot, really trying to get up on my four foot more so. I've been working on it now for a couple months and it paid off today because these AirPods are directly below your four foot. It was overly, like it was even right at the beginning, but also even later in the run, I could feel those AirPods. And so that's my positive. That's a game changer. And I don't know how Adidas, Brooks, Hoka, dot, dot, dot, dot, dot. I don't know how they're gonna innovate, all right? In order to compete with that in the realm of patents, all right? I just don't understand, I don't know it all legally, but I'm hoping other companies can innovate as well because I'm telling you it was very, I'm really making this point clear because it was very, very obvious, okay? Drawback, cornering, all right? Turning sharp corners, which I did quite a bit today on my 23 miles. So I had to over, I wanted to make sure I didn't roll an ankle, basically. Now, I never got close to rolling my ankle, but I was thinking about it a little bit too much. So on a course with a lot of sharp turns, you know, anyway, just beware, I felt like I had to overthink the turning in the alpha fly. For my durability prediction, I think the big question mark for everyone is, what's gonna happen to the AirPods after 100 miles, 200 miles, 300 miles? We shall see, all right? It's like, I don't know. That's the big question that I see floating around there. Now, how will I use this shoe moving forward whenever I wanna run fast? So time trials coming up, absolutely. And who is this shoe best for? I'm telling you, everyone, that I don't care if you're a five-hour marathon racer or you're a two-hour and 40-minute marathon racer, this shoe is gonna help you. I really believe that. And after 50 miles, I'll give you my final thoughts on that, but it's pretty special, it's pretty special. And again, I think it goes, a lot of it goes back to those AirPods, coupled with the carbon fiber plates. Yes, the stack height as well, but it was, it just was distinctly different than other shoes of the past. And on to that price point, oh, Nelly, $275, is it worth it? We'll see, but I will say, I'm actually pleased, because I saw early reports that Nike was gonna bump it up to, I saw like $350 being floated around $400, so I'm glad they didn't bump it up that much. So, you know, the next percent, the 4% was $250. So basically, this has been bumped up to $275. So $25 more, I'm actually pleased that they did that. I think that's okay. I think it's okay. I think it's okay. Obviously, that's still a ridiculous amount of money, but I do believe that with the AirPod innovation, the big carbon fiber plate, everything going on with the upper, that I'm actually shocked that it isn't $300. Frankly, no, anyway, I'll just leave it at that. And on to that question of the day, cannot wait to read your answers. Here we go. With all the marathons and half marathons being canceled or postponed for the fall, I'm really curious to hear what is going to be your purchasing strategy for your marathon racing shoes, shoe or shoes in 2020? Are you gonna buy now? Are you gonna buy in the summertime? Are you gonna buy in the fall? Now, listen, there's no guarantee that races are even gonna happen in the fall. We just don't know. So what is gonna be your strategy, again, for buying your marathon or half marathon racing shoes, let's say anytime in 2020? Like, yeah, yeah, because it's like, this is a lot of carbon fiber plate running shoes, racing shoes are coming onto the marketplace in the next four to eight weeks. Lots of them, Adidas, Hoka, New Balance, there's just a lot of them. So it's not great timing, frankly, to be releasing a marathon racing shoe right now. Anyway, I just can't wait to hear your thoughts on that. Thanks for watching. I know I spoke a little longer today, but it's because a lot happened in the 23 miles and I just wanted to get it all out there for you to mull over, discuss amongst your running buddies, probably through Skype right now. And we can move onward and upward together to fall racing, hopefully, right? I think we're gonna get this under control, but at the end of the day, special shoe. It's a pretty special shoe. So, all right, everyone, thanks for watching. Thanks for being here. Yes, I'm gonna toss it back to the 4% versus next percent comparison for a marathon racing shoe right there. 4% versus next percent right there. In case you didn't see it, I think I published it about four or five, three or four months ago. All right, everyone, seek beauty, work hard, and love each other. See you tomorrow.