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

knee pain isn't the same as joint problems.

All runners who run regularly will eventually develop knee or ankle pain. It's sort of normal for semi-serious distance runners to own a pair of crutches. I'm not saying all of them, but, if you need a pair of crutches, ask your friends who run and one of them will have a pair.

But, your knee can hurt for a while without it turning into joint problems.

> 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. As such, we cannot comment upon the influence of compulsory running on overall knee health.

so... forced running might cause osteoarthritis. But, if you feel like going for a run and it doesn't hurt, it's not going to cause joint problems.

> Our study findings add to the existing literature by including a large sample within which we were able to assess the influence of running in people who participated in running for shorter amounts of time and perhaps stopped running in a cohort that had high quality of assessments of symptoms and standardized radiographs. We found that runners in this group were not at a higher risk for symptomatic knee OA.

Maybe not a particular pair, but you have to have experience with any types of shoes. I would frequently buy two pairs, one I would normally train in and the other will be reserved for events. Even the pair reserved for event I would typically test run (hahaha!) at least once during training to spot any problems.

Now, this is pure conjecture, I don't think the shoes magically make you more efficient. Efficiency is something you learn when running over long period of time. I would expect, to reap benefits of these shoes (assuming there are) you would need to get used to the new mechanics of running that the shoes will require.

Vaporfly is actually heavier than some other racing flats that have performed worse, like the Nike Zoom Streak 6. So your theory of what is happening doesn't fit, unfortunately.

Regenerative braking makes cars heavier and generally only returns 4-5% energy, but you don't see people demanding their electrics don't have it, do you? This is the same sort of thing for running shoes, but with energy returning foams and plates making their weight worthwhile for improving effectiveness instead.

> Running sneakers are a relatively new invention.

This is true, humans have been running for thousands of years without them.

> You wouldn't want to run a marathon in whatever the ancient greeks wore.

why not?

> Abebe Bikila (August 7, 1932 – October 25, 1973) was an Ethiopian double Olympic marathon champion. He won the marathon at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome while running barefoot, setting a world record.

He finished in 2:15:16.2

Or take Roger Bannister: [1]

> Sir Roger clocked three minutes 59.4 seconds in the historic race at Iffley Road Track in Oxford on 6 May 1954 when he was a 25-year-old medical student.

> The thin leather running spikes which weigh just four and a half ounces were snapped up by an anonymous buyer at the auction in South Kensington, London.

I don't know about you, but I can't run a 2:15 marathon or a 4 minute mile, and I don't think fancy shoes would make the difference.

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/sep/11/roger-bannis...

Placebo effect.