By Brian Metzler

Here’s an interesting question for runners training for half marathons and marathons later this fall. Should the shoes you train in most of the time have a very similar fit, feel and ride of the shoes you’ll lace up on race day? 

As running shoes have evolved with newfangled highly responsive foam midsoles, it’s clear that a lot of shoes have vastly different ride sensations. Some are smooth and lively, some are soft and bouncy, some are semi-firm and snappy. There have been a few times when I have trained in shoes with a stable, semi-firm vibe and then raced in very soft, bouncy super shoes. It took me a few miles on the race course before I realized that the rhythm of my gait was entirely different from what I had experienced the previous few months during my long runs.

Both for training/racing continuity and to sell more shoes, many brands have started to streamline the fit, feel and ride of their performance trainers and super trainers to align with their top-tier race day shoes. (In many cases, the design aesthetics are similar too.) As such, the New Balance FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v3 purposefully takes design and construction cues from the FuelCell SuperComp Elite v4 race-day shoe, which means if you’re training in this shoe, you’ll want to race in that shoe. Why? The ride is similar for both shoes – semi-firm, stable, smooth and snappy – with the difference, of course, being that the race-day model is lighter and livelier. But wearing the SuperComp Trainer v2 for long runs and tempo runs and racing in the SuperComp Elite v4 for 10Ks, half marathons, or marathons means there won’t be any surprises for your legs and you won’t have to adjust your rhythm, gait or footstrikes, except, of course, to just run faster. It’s a somewhat simple concept and a no-brainer when you think about how your legs feel on your race-pace training runs and how you want to feel on race day. But the streamlined similarities between training and racing shoes are only coming into play now because shoe brands developed race-day shoe technology first (and independently of training shoes) and are just now revamping their key training shoes and next-gen super trainers.

What’s New: If you’ve run in the previous two versions of the FuelCell SuperComp Trainer, you’ll quickly realize that the shoe has evolved considerably – in its appearance, in its componentry, and in how it rides and performs. That continues with the third version, which now has a new highly responsive supercritical Peba-blend FuelCell midsole foam that was previously in the New Balance Fuelcell Rebel v4 everyday training shoe. There’s a redesigned carbon-fiber propulsion plate embedded in the midsole, now with a forked design at the forefoot that allows for more agility and gait-specific adaptability. Lastly, there’s a new seamless engineered mesh upper that is breathable, supportive, and adaptable to a wide range of foot shapes, and a new segmented outsole rubber pattern that provides the right amount of durability without adding extra weight (just like the FuelCell SuperComp Elite v4 race-day shoe).

Fit/Feel/Ride: The New Balance FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v3 fits true to size, albeit a little bit shorter than most shoes. It has a medium volume interior with plenty of room for your toes to wiggle and splay laterally, but the tip of the toe box is a bit shorter and lower-volume in shape. (Some runners might want to consider going up a half size, especially those who experience swollen feet on long runs in hot weather.) The interior feels lean and spartan-like with sparse cushioning in the tongue and around the heel collar and a fairly basic sockliner. As soon as I laced this shoe up, I appreciated the smooth, locked-down feel of the gusseted tongue and flexible/supportive engineered mesh upper. It’s a good cohesive package that has step-in comfort and on-the-run comfort conducive for being a performance trainer, a race-day shoe, or a long training run shoe depending on what kind of running you’re doing.

Out on the run, this shoe gave off the unique dual vibe of being both maximally cushioned and semi-firm and energetic. The ride is lively and mildly propulsive – equal to that of other good super trainers you’ll find at running stores – but not quite as light and energetic as most race-day super shoes. The SuperComp Trainer’s componentry (namely the FuelCell midsole foam and the curvy Energy Arc carbon-fiber plate embedded inside), slightly rockered geometry, and wide footprint create an infinitely smooth and stable ride that feels similar to the New Balance SuperComp Elite v4 (even if not as bouncy and fast). 

Why It’s Great: I think it’s great because it has the ideal blend of long-haul comfort and a smooth-riding, energetic vibe for long training runs. I’ve been growing tired of maximally cushioned shoes with super soft midsoles because I don’t believe they contribute to an efficient gait pattern that is sustainable on longer runs. I’ve been trying to up my training mileage on the roads and trails of Boulder, Colorado, and recently did my first 18-mile run of the summer wearing this shoe, and I absolutely loved it. The semi-firm snappiness kept me in a groove after 10 miles when I started to feel fatigued with heavier legs, but the foam oddly felt softer than I expected it to after two hours of running. For those same reasons, I liked this shoe for tempo runs and fartlek style intervals that I’ve done in this shoe, for example a “3 minutes on, 3 minutes off” run I recently did on the Boulder Creek Path.

Specs

Weights: 7.3 oz. (women’s 8), 9.2 oz. (men’s 9)

Heel-Toe Offset: 6mm; 40mm (heel), 34mm (forefoot)

Why You’ll Love It: You’ll love it because it offers both high-end performance and versatility. It’s light and responsive enough that you could race in it – especially if you’re concerned more about a smooth ride and stability than all-out speed – and yet it’s also a shoe you can train in several days a week. I’d recommend it for long runs, tempo runs, fartlek runs, and longer speed workouts – 800 reps and mile repeats on the track, 3 x 2 miles or perhaps a 5-mile time trial.  

Pro: Whereas the first edition of this shoe was marshmallowy soft, it has evolved to become a semi-soft/semi-firm shoe that provides a much higher amount of energy return. In other words, it’s much more conducive to consistently running with an efficient gait – no matter if that’s 6-minute mile pace or 8-minute mile pace. 

Con: While I didn’t find this shoe ideal for slower running paces, it wasn’t horrible. The semi-firm, snappy feeling felt like it was a bit too much for slower, shorter midweek runs and easy recovery runs.