Running

Are carbon-plated shoes worth it for a HM? I'm hoping to run it sub 1.40. I ran my first HM last year (1.46) with Nike Zegamas (I know, not road shoes). I now run with Cloudmonsters

I'd say yes. Like I commented in another thread, I can usually get new Vaporflys on eBay for ~$200 or less, which is not much more than my trainers, so cost isn't much of a factor. But the benefit is a lot more for full marathons.

Creative Director alecurtu.com |
Founder frens.house

I enjoy my plate shoes and have run in a couple of different brands over the years. When it comes to half marathons, I prefer my Nikes, and for full marathons, I go with Adidas.

Golden. I plan to run it at an increasing pace so I'll hit below 4:15/km. What's your favorite brand?

I found them to be very useful at paces below 4:15/km. For slower paces the difference is negligible because the running movement (at least for me) is different and they don’t bend in the proper way.

Gotcha, great point. In what sense do they "need to be efficient"?

Many factors including your running gate,  (they are more effective if you heel strike or mid foot strike - but do t change your gate because of this), the course etc. They are definitely faster, but over half marathon you also need them to be more efficient.  You’ll definitely be faster but hard to say by how much.