Hi Again! I have previously reviewed the Max 3 and put some heavy mileage on this shoe – around 900 km. It is still in good condition – a testament to Brooks durability, but I decided it would be the right time to upgrade to the Max 4 and avoid injury from an overused shoe.
The feel of the verion 4 is very similar. The weight feels the same. Overall, I love this shoe for tempo and marathon pace training and I will explain why.
It is a solid and stable shoe. I find a lot of speed work shoes to lack stability and while I am deep into a marathon training block, I crave stability. I feel solid in the ankles in this shoe and while it has a responsive non-carbon plate, it does not have the softness of some marathon race shoes that makes me feel like I am risking injury to my calf muscles.
I think the biggest improvement in the Max 4 over 3 is that the tongue feels much more comfortable. In the Max 3, out of the box I had some pain on my forefoot until working them in for a couple of weeks. This was not the case for the Max 4. Comfort right out of the box.
Overall, this is a great shoe for tempo work and marathon pace. It has some pop, but still lots of stability and comfort.
I will continue to rely on this shoe as a work horse for speed sessions.
