The running community has been shocked or amazed lately, however you want to look at it. Brigid Kosgei finally delivered the message. She showed that all the fantastic performances and world records of late were made possible by mechanical dopingMechanical doping is a term that originated in cycling. With the invention of super shoes, it has now More and not by increased physical effort (Ross Tucker @scienceofsport).
We’re talking about a shoe here, of course. More specifically, about the Nike Vaporfly shoes. These shoes do a much better job than your foot, delivering a springy effect step after step. In fact, they literally replace the mechanisms of your foot.
Nike – and now several other shoe companies, albeit to a lesser extent – have developed a system that, at no additional energy cost, improves running economy by returning impact forces to the runner super efficiently with each step (there are many steps in a marathon, on average about 25,000). It’s reported that the gain is between 2% and 5% or even more, depending on the runner and running style. That’s substantial.
The magic is in the foam (not in the carbon plate, as is commonly believed). The carbon plate – or plates, depending on the shoe model – holds this magic foam in an ideal shape. When compressed (when your foot hits the ground), the foam stores the energy of the impact (ground reaction force) and releases it again during toe-off. It does this much better than your unshod foot ever could.
This article was originally posted on Strava and has been updated slightly for this post.