![]() Since shoe selection is a passive element within a full training regimen, it won’t carry nearly the same weight as one’s genes or actual training. Of course, the trade-off in weight reduction comes in cushioning and injury prevention, which is why even runners born and reared without shoes will readily accept them once offered. At the world class level, two-minutes is the difference between cashing a check and going home with significantly less weight in your pocket. That’s 5-sec-per-mile trainers versus racing flats over the marathon distance, or 02:11. Studies indicate a savings of 1-sec-per-mile for every ounce in reduced weight. Now add an advantage of ground energy return, whether 4% or not as claimed by Nike’s Zoom Vapor Fly 4%, and we are beginning to understand how the savings in energy required to generate forward motion can become the most significant discriminator in race outcomes. racers) given the 1000 strides per mile, equates to an extra 8125 total pounds carried. Over the marathon distance, a difference of 5 ounces ( 11 oz. How much weight is carried at the end of a lever – and how much energy is required to cycle that weight per stride – is an important consideration in shaving seconds off performance. Why, if not performance? But is it the increased flexibility? Better ground feel? One of the metrics of shoe-born accelerometers is ‘distill leg lift’, back kick for we non-scientists. Racing flats are significantly lighter than training flats. So, say, someone goes out and breaks the women’s steeplechase world record by eight seconds, but does so like she were taking the pet terrier out for a walk in the park, and instead of unalloyed encomiums, inevitably some will say, “Whoa! That sure looked easy!” That’s how you know a sport has a PR issue, when a great performance raises red flags rather than simply goosebumps, and the big, red carpet sports awards show (ESPYs) doesn’t even take note of two of the historic American marathon performances in 30+ years. Which, in turn, illustrates why a shoe company sponsorship of a governing organization eventually leads to conflicts of interest both unwanted and unneeded in a time when the integrity of the sport has been called into question over and over again. Which makes new strides in technology open to new rules in governing. Jordan on the court, but in the realm of performance, the small difference is where the money gets divided. Not that a new pair of Air Jordans will make you approximate Mr. why has every shoe company continued designing and experimenting for the last 50 years? Obviously, marketing is one answer, but there is always more to learn, more performance to squeeze out. I have never written a shoe review in my life, but how can shoes not be an issue in a sport where footwear is the only equipment used? Like tires on a car, shoes are where rubber meets the road/track in foot racing. ![]() Was it the vicious dunks? The long shorts? The short socks? In his classic Nike ads from a generation ago, Spike Lee (as Mars Blackmon) asked Michael Jordan what made him the best basketball player in the universe.
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