Adidas typically offers deeper Cyber Monday discounts for members, and their rubber outsoles are much better for wet Seattle pavement. I have been very satisfied with these models for high-mileage training:

• Adidas Adizero Boston 12 Lightstrike Pro: Superior grip and very durable for long runs.
• Nike Pegasus 41 GORE-TEX Waterproof: Keeps feet dry but traction is slightly less reliable. Youll likely find better value with Adidas sales often hitting 40% off.

I was so disappointed with my first pair of Nikes because the grip was honestly terrifying on wet pavement. I almost wiped out three times just training for a 10k... basically felt like running on ice. Now I only trust the Adidas outsoles.

• Adidas Ultraboost Light Road Running
• Adidas Solarboost 5 Stability Training Their member sales usually bring these well under $150. Much safer for distance training.

Honestly, Ive had so many issues with Nike lately and their Cyber Monday sales were not as good as expected last year. Adidas usually has the better deals for members, but I have been pretty disappointed with how fast some of their uppers wear out too. Training for a marathon is such a huge commitment though, you are totally gonna crush it! I remember when I first started, I got so obsessed with the data side of things. I bought this crazy expensive GPS watch and spent more time looking at my cadence graphs than actually looking at the road. Then I started getting into those electrolyte powders and ended up with a kitchen cabinet full of tubs that taste like salty chalk. One of them was supposed to be blue raspberry but it just tasted like medicine... anyway lol sorry kinda went off topic there.

To add to the point above: honestly, if youre training for a full 26.2 in Seattle, you gotta prioritize the outsole over everything else. In my experience, the durometer of the rubber Nike uses just doesnt hold up to the greasy, wet pavement we get in the winter. Ive tried so many pairs over the years and Nike always feels like plastic once it gets a bit of wear, whereas Adidas uses that specialized rubber tech that basically glues you to the road. There was this one tempo run where I totally wiped out on a turn because my Nikes just gave up on a damp patch... ngl it was pretty embarrassing. After that, I started nerding out on the technical specs of what makes a shoe actually durable and found that Adidas just builds their distance gear like absolute tanks. For Cyber Monday, just get any high-mileage model from Adidas. You cant go wrong with their tech for distance. Their member sales are way more aggressive anyway, so youll definitely stay under budget.

ngl ive been burned so many times by these big holiday sales lately. Nike usually just dumps their leftovers and the deals arent even that good for the actual performance stuff you need for a marathon. If youre running in Seattle rain, honestly just watch out for a few things because these companies really cheap out on the sale stock.

• avoid the special holiday colorways that feel like plastic. they usually use lower quality rubber that has zero grip on wet asphalt.
• check if the shoes have been sitting in a warehouse for years. old glue is the number one reason my shoes fall apart after fifty miles.
• seriously watch out for those thin mesh uppers. they feel light in the store but once they get soaked in the rain, they stretch out and your foot will be sliding everywhere which is a total recipe for blisters.
• if you end up with shoes that have crappy traction, i have literally used a wood burning tool to etch deeper treads into the soles before... sounds crazy but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do when the gear fails you. Just be careful with the hype. Most of these sales are just ways to move inventory that didnt pass the first round of quality checks imo.

Unfortunately my Nikes were not as good as expected. Adidas deals are usually better tbh. Grab Adidas Adizero SL Training Shoes for way better wet traction than any Nike ive tried.