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Nike Says Its $250 Running Shoes Will Make You Run Much Faster

nytimes.com

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Re: Nike Says Its $250 Running Shoes Will Make You Run Much Faster

#61

Post by JacobJans »

loeg wrote: post #49
whitepoplar wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could never understand why so many people run as a sport, when nearly all runners eventually develop joint problems, many requiring knee replacements (which you supposedly can't run on).

This oft-repeated claim is factually inaccurate. Runners and former runners, as a population, have better knees than non-runners.[0] [0]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27333572

I wouldn't draw very many conclusions from that study.

The study itself says:

> This was an observational study where people chose whether or not they wanted to run; therefore there is always the possibility that people stopped running because they had knee pain.

That's a pretty big flaw in their study.

Re: Nike Says Its $250 Running Shoes Will Make You Run Much Faster

#62

Post by jmull »

brianwawok wrote: post #50
lmilcin wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't use your race as an occasion to test your running shoes.

With these you do. Maybe do a 3 mile tune-up run to make sure there are not hot spots and it fits well, then you go race in it. Can't spend 50 miles breaking in a shoe with a life of 100 miles.

I'd do something more like 13-15 miles.

Re: Nike Says Its $250 Running Shoes Will Make You Run Much Faster

#63

Post by todd8 »

It’s fun and exhilarating to run faster, but very few people, almost by definition, enter the ranks of elite runners. One of the best pieces of advice I heard while training for my first marathon was “No one here in this (beginner) training group is going to finish in first place.” Obviously, I knew this was true about me, but it always reminded me to keep my goals for doing a marathon in perspective.

I had set a goal for myself and a faster set of shoes might have gotten me to the Boston marathon a year sooner, but it was the journey not the destination that was so rewarding.

Re: Nike Says Its $250 Running Shoes Will Make You Run Much Faster

#64

Post by DisruptiveDave »

avoutthere wrote: post #43
pdpi wrote: post #33

There's something interesting at play here — clearly, they're selling these shoes to enthusiasts, rather than just targeting elite athletes. While I can see a competitive athlete reaching for whatever legal means they can to try and buy themselves a victory or podium or some other high-profile result that buys them sponsorships, there's just no good reason why amateur runners should care — you don't magically become…

As one who has watched the golf equipment market for some time, I can tell you that many are willing to spend money for incremental improvement rather than spend time to get better through practice.

perceived incremental improvement. in golf especially, it's way easier to blame the equipment than yourself. doesn't matter the actual result. it just feels like you're making a move towards progression when you change your tools.

Re: Nike Says Its $250 Running Shoes Will Make You Run Much Faster

#65

Post by DoreenMichele »

pdpi wrote: post #33

There's something interesting at play here — clearly, they're selling these shoes to enthusiasts, rather than just targeting elite athletes. While I can see a competitive athlete reaching for whatever legal means they can to try and buy themselves a victory or podium or some other high-profile result that buys them sponsorships, there's just no good reason why amateur runners should care — you don't magically become…

clearly, they're selling these shoes to enthusiasts, rather than just targeting elite athletes.

It seems to me that enthusiasts are the perfect market for it. People with serious hobbies are often fairly comfortably well off and also may have neither the time nor ambition to train harder. Poor people often can't afford to be enthusiasts. They are too busy scrambling to survive and too tired to do anything other than stare at the TV or something like that when they aren't desperately trying to make their life work.

Given that you can apparently make money playing video games by grinding for items other people value and selling them for real money to players who have more money than time, I don't see why you couldn't sell pricey shoes to running enthusiasts.

Re: Nike Says Its $250 Running Shoes Will Make You Run Much Faster

#66

Post by ballenf »

avoutthere wrote: post #43
pdpi wrote: post #33

There's something interesting at play here — clearly, they're selling these shoes to enthusiasts, rather than just targeting elite athletes. While I can see a competitive athlete reaching for whatever legal means they can to try and buy themselves a victory or podium or some other high-profile result that buys them sponsorships, there's just no good reason why amateur runners should care — you don't magically become…

As one who has watched the golf equipment market for some time, I can tell you that many are willing to spend money for incremental improvement rather than spend time to get better through practice.

There's also the psychological aspect of training harder because you just bought new expensive equipment. You feel guilty over wasting the purchase, letting it sit idle or not investing more time to get your money worth.

Re: Nike Says Its $250 Running Shoes Will Make You Run Much Faster

#67

Post by jdietrich »

pdpi wrote: post #33

There's something interesting at play here — clearly, they're selling these shoes to enthusiasts, rather than just targeting elite athletes. While I can see a competitive athlete reaching for whatever legal means they can to try and buy themselves a victory or podium or some other high-profile result that buys them sponsorships, there's just no good reason why amateur runners should care — you don't magically become…

It's nothing new in the cycling industry. Lots of recreational cyclists ride high-end race bikes. It's not all that unusual to see an age-group triathlete on a $10,000 TT bike.

If you're enthusiastic about something, I think it's quite natural to want to do it to the best of your ability. It's also quite natural to covet shiny toys. You can't buy youth or good genes, but you can buy a little bit of speed, a little bit of prestige, a little bit of the aura that surrounds professional athletes.

Re: Nike Says Its $250 Running Shoes Will Make You Run Much Faster

#68

Post by thr0awaz »

mulletbum wrote: post #40
pdpi wrote: post #33

There's something interesting at play here — clearly, they're selling these shoes to enthusiasts, rather than just targeting elite athletes. While I can see a competitive athlete reaching for whatever legal means they can to try and buy themselves a victory or podium or some other high-profile result that buys them sponsorships, there's just no good reason why amateur runners should care — you don't magically become…

This isn't really stated or testing, but one of my biggest issues with running is how much pain I feel on my joints. I actually find it really enjoyable to run through the woods with my dog, but my knees just get mad. If these shoes relieved just a tiny bit of that pain I would find them almost worth it. Not saying one should buy an expensive pair of shoes, but if it was the case, maybe the shoes don't just make you…

If your knees hurt it's either a form problem (you're likely overstriding or lifting your knees too high and slamming your feet into the ground), or a shoe problem (shoes are only good for 300-600 miles of running, assuming you never wear them walking and that you let them bounce back at least overnight after a run, or you're wearing like... motion control and heavily padded shoes when you need less stability or less padding, or vice versa)

Other options are bad knees (unlikely, honestly. Not many people have knees that are so genuinely shot that they can't run, unless they're former paratroopers or are very years old)

Or, if you're carrying a lot of extra weight (backpack full of water? I don't know, people do whatever they do), that'll hurt.

Since you're talking about running in the woods, it's almost definitely not the sidewalk, but, some people need to build up their muscles and tendons by going from softer surfaces (not so soft like sand, but grass) to ashphalt, to concrete.

Re: Nike Says Its $250 Running Shoes Will Make You Run Much Faster

#69

Post by dmurray »

monkmartinez wrote: post #30
llimllib wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IAAF rules already prohibit that: > (e) Use of any technical device that incorporates springs, wheels or any other element that provides the user with an advantage over another athlete not using such a device. Nobody has brought a challenge over this shoe and its debatable use of a "spring"; the IAAF may in fact decide it's a mechanical advantage if/when somebody does

Great comment. Now, how often are officials confiscating shoes and sawing them in half to see what is really inside? Corked bats? Hidden motors... etc...

Nobody had even a proof of concept for a shoe that looked like a running shoe on the outside but had "springs, wheels" inside, so the officials didn't need to. Compare it with competitive cycling, where for a hundred years officials didn't need to X-ray the bike to check for hidden motors, but now they regularly do [0].

If the Nike shoe is banned from professional competition, athletes will stop wearing it, and officials will investigating other shoes for carbon fibre inserts, and will likely catch some. They're not stupid.

[0]https://cyclingtips.com/2015/04/hidden-motors-for-road-bikes...

Re: Nike Says Its $250 Running Shoes Will Make You Run Much Faster

#70

Post by wilsonnb2 »

gordon_freeman wrote: post #58
pdpi wrote: post #33

There's something interesting at play here — clearly, they're selling these shoes to enthusiasts, rather than just targeting elite athletes. While I can see a competitive athlete reaching for whatever legal means they can to try and buy themselves a victory or podium or some other high-profile result that buys them sponsorships, there's just no good reason why amateur runners should care — you don't magically become…

my question is: do amateur runners even buy $250 shoes? I don't think they do spend that much money on a Running Shoe at that stage. Also, how can this be not good marketing if the Shoes does exactly what the marketing message tries to portray?

"Amateur runners" is an extremely broad collection of people. Everyone from someone training for their first charity 5K to those who run multiple marathons a year can fall into this category.

Some amateur runners definitely spend $250 on shoes, either because they have so much money that $250 is basically the same as $70 to them or because they are very serious amateurs.

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