Great read, that site is also super useful for fairly objective shoe reviews and breakdowns in a world full of influencers trying to peddle you shit they don’t understand
As a year-round flip-flopper for many years now, those clips of shoes rocking sideways under pressure are nerve wracking to look at. Most (all?) shoes are terrible ankle hazards. Never have I twisted my ankles with flip-flops.
I’ve been on this “get back in shape” journey for almost two years now. About a year ago I started walk jog intervals two days a week, then three, then four. I ramped up slowly (maybe too slow) specifically to save my knees. I recently got some asic nimbus shoes. These are running shoes with inch thick soft soles that squish noticeably when you walk or run. They also add a lot of instability and I really feel it in my knees. Impact is a lot better though. They seem springy. Interesting to read the present article. A tiny bit of springiness won’t help me but may help others.
Fascinating. My main takeaway is that running technology is primarily driven by World Athletics' 40 mm stack limit and prohibition on physical springs or pistons but not on advanced foams. If they relaxed those constraints then number-chasers would happily show up to races in 150mm foam clouds, jumping stilts, exoskeleton leggings, etc. Alternately, if they started restricting races to 20 mm stack heights that might result in different world records, especially for long-distance races.
As some who runs trails in minimalist shoes for enjoyment I do appreciate that the author acknowledged that many people prioritize things besides speed and efficiency: fun, fitness, injury prevention, being outdoors, socializing. Because if I'm actually picking footwear for speed and efficiency the fastest shoes I own are my Crankbrothers with a bicycle attached to the bottom.
It's eye-opening when a subject you have first hand deep personal knowledge of is posted on Hacker News. You realise how confidently people post about topics they know absolutely nothing about.
Yes, you've read born to run, well done. It it's a good story, not a handbook of practical advice. Telling 2:30 marathon runners doing hundreds of miles a week that running shoes are bad and they should be going bare foot. OK.
In a way it would make more sense to run in shoes that make you slower for the same effort or make you expend more effort. Ideally, you could just run around the block and it would be as much effort as 10km. Without the risk of something going wrong mid route leading to being stranded/soaked/injured 5km from home. Same with cycling.
Firstly, consider why so many people like running outdoors when they could just run on a treadmill and watch tv indoors? Secondly, note that running injuries don’t tend to suddenly appear and cripple people half-way through a run. They are more likely to appear at the start, sometime afterwards, or to gradually progress in a way that might lead one to reducing volume or resting.
this site never fails to impress me with how in-depth it is. I (re) started running several years ago and the world of shoes is dizzying. I still don't have a great grasp on it but I'm glad I've found some shoes that are reliable for me. Fairly certain that I experienced this phenomenon that the author pointed out: "...if a shoe is too soft and bouncy, it can make your stabilizer muscles work harder just to keep things steady." Hard to say for certain but I've found those really soft/bouncy/lightweight shoes are fine for me over short runs (such as a 5k race) but are terrible on longer runs due to this phenomenon.
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[ 7.0 ms ] story [ 24.4 ms ] threadI find the current trend of springloaded shoes that incentivice people to have a terrible running gait absolutely disgusting.
If it weren't for commercial interests I bet these shoes would have been banned long ago. They are bad for the runners and they are bad for the sport.
As some who runs trails in minimalist shoes for enjoyment I do appreciate that the author acknowledged that many people prioritize things besides speed and efficiency: fun, fitness, injury prevention, being outdoors, socializing. Because if I'm actually picking footwear for speed and efficiency the fastest shoes I own are my Crankbrothers with a bicycle attached to the bottom.
Yes, you've read born to run, well done. It it's a good story, not a handbook of practical advice. Telling 2:30 marathon runners doing hundreds of miles a week that running shoes are bad and they should be going bare foot. OK.