Best Tempo and Speedwork Running Shoes of 2024: Our Top 5 Picks

Introduction

The tempo shoe category goes by many names: speedwork shoes, tempo trainers, training companions. Whatever you call it, this is the space between daily trainers and racing shoes. These are shoes built with the durability to handle regular training mileage, but with enough foam and plate technology to make tough workouts genuinely fun.

For some runners, this might actually be the best category to shop in when picking a next marathon shoe. Here are five that stood out in 2024.

Number 5: Hoka Mach X 2

The five spot was tough to fill, but the Hoka Mach X 2 earned it as the people’s choice. This is not a shoe that fits every personal preference in a tempo trainer, yet countless runners have run really well in it, using it exactly as a tempo trainer should be used. Some use it for daily training, some race marathons in it, and many reach for it on the days they need to pick up the pace.

The combination of foams in the midsole makes it suitable for faster workouts, and it offers something a little extra compared to a regular daily training shoe.

Number 4: TYR Valkyrie Speedworks

TYR is a brand most runners had not heard of unless they are deep into swimming or triathlon. New to the performance running space, the brand made a strong entrance in 2024 with the Valkyrie Speedworks and its racing sibling, the Valkyrie Elite.

The Speedworks pairs a beaded PEBA foam with a nylon plate, and the fit is genuinely excellent while the materials still hold up to a heavy workout load. Runners who loved the Endorphin Speed 3 should absolutely give this one a try. It works casually, for daily training, and for workouts alike.

Number 3: Adidas Takumi Sen 10

The Takumi Sen 10 breaks the mold a bit for this category, because almost nobody uses it as a daily trainer. It does not really do double duty. Instead, this is a 5K and 10K racing shoe, low to the ground by 2024 standards, with a healthy dose of Adidas’s Lightstrike Pro racing foam and energy rods for a bit of extra rigidity.

That recipe makes it a joy for 5K races, 800 meter repeats, and threshold mile repeats. It is simply fun to run fast in, which is why it perennially earns a spot even if it sits slightly outside the classic tempo-trainer definition.

Number 2: Saucony Endorphin Speed 4

The Endorphin Speed 4 is a shoe with genuine shoe-of-the-year potential. Saucony combines PWRRUN PB, its beaded PEBA foam, with a nylon plate to create something lightweight, comfortable for easy training, and genuinely fun for the peppier stuff.

If your calendar includes threshold repeats or a tempo run with long reps around marathon effort, this shoe is a great companion. It also looks great and is comfortable enough for casual wear. It can pretty much do it all, which is why it takes the number two spot this year.

Number 1: Puma Deviate Nitro 3

The Deviate Nitro 3, not to be confused with the Nitro Elite 3, takes the top spot in this category for the second year running, and Puma wisely did not tinker too much with an already good thing. The shoe uses two kinds of Nitro foams, one of them a nitrogen-injected PEBA foam of race caliber, along with a carbon fiber plate. That combination lets the shoe go easy well and go fast really well.

Compared head to head, the Endorphin Speed 4 does daily training a little better, but the Deviate Nitro 3 does workouts a lot better. For runners who find traditional carbon-plated racers a bit too aggressive for marathon or half marathon duty, this is the natural next step: quickness with comfort and durability built in. It exemplifies what a training companion should be and is delightful to run in, whatever the run might be.

Buying Advice

If you want one shoe to cover easy miles and fast workouts, the Endorphin Speed 4 and Deviate Nitro 3 are the strongest all-rounders, with the Deviate Nitro 3 edging ahead on workout days. If your focus is short, fast racing, the Takumi Sen 10 is hard to beat. The Valkyrie Speedworks is a compelling new option for fans of plush nylon-plated tempo shoes, and the Mach X 2 remains a crowd favorite for its versatility across training and even marathon racing.

Conclusion

Each of these five shoes earns its place by making fast days more fun without giving up the durability a training shoe needs. Match the shoe to your workout style, and any of them can be a great addition to your rotation.