Isle of person wrote:
The same way Africans ran so fast without shoes. They grew up with it, and it was the only kind of shoes they knew.
But they are running faster with the Adidas Boost.
Isle of person wrote:
The same way Africans ran so fast without shoes. They grew up with it, and it was the only kind of shoes they knew.
But they are running faster with the Adidas Boost.
You should have seen the leather shoes we run and raced in before the 1970's.
EDIT
But they are running faster with the Adidas Boost, when running on pavement.
Africans always wore shoes unless they fell off during a race.Bruce Tulloh ran barefoot in Kenya in the seventies and they thought he was strange.
Isle of person wrote:
showguy90 wrote:We're they just naive and "went for it" so to speak, without preconceived notions?
Were we(people under 35) raised soft?
I just recently bought an a pair of Karhu Champions from 1975 and I thought to myself, "my goodness how did they run in this garbage?"
The same way Africans ran so fast without shoes. They grew up with it, and it was the only kind of shoes they knew.
What....you think they run barefoot when on dirt.They wear the biggest trainers they can find.It shocks me that in the age of google images people still trot out the same old garbage.No Kenyan with a shilling to his name would run barefoot. They skip food for a week if it meant a new (used) pair of running shoes.
listen up... wrote:
EDIT
But they are running faster with the Adidas Boost, when running on pavement.
Did you appropriately name yourself?
The emphasis "on the pavement" was to delineate the benefit of Boost restitution on a hard surface (typical of major marathon road race surfaces), versus any benefit of the same that could be expected off of soft surfaces.
showguy90 wrote:
We're they just naive and "went for it" so to speak, without preconceived notions?
Were we(people under 35) raised soft?
I just recently bought an a pair of Karhu Champions from 1975 and I thought to myself, "my goodness how did they run in this garbage?"
The running gear market has become very inclusive(and they have the incredible profits to show this change) Think of it this way. station wagons became crossover vehicles and sales have soared, but the new subaru outback is not what people were driving in the 70's
Hayduke wrote:
showguy90 wrote:We're they just naive and "went for it" so to speak, without preconceived notions?
Were we(people under 35) raised soft?
I just recently bought an a pair of Karhu Champions from 1975 and I thought to myself, "my goodness how did they run in this garbage?"
The running gear market has become very inclusive(and they have the incredible profits to show this change) Think of it this way. station wagons became crossover vehicles and sales have soared, but the new subaru outback is not what people were driving in the 70's
I'm failing to make the connection with the technological improvements (e.g., in materials and manufacturing techniques) we see in both vehicles and running shoes to the idea of "inclusiveness"; unless your point is that the running shoe industry has embraced the same technological improvements we see in the vehicle industry?
Sciatica Road wrote:
Hayduke wrote:The running gear market has become very inclusive(and they have the incredible profits to show this change) Think of it this way. station wagons became crossover vehicles and sales have soared, but the new subaru outback is not what people were driving in the 70's
I'm failing to make the connection with the technological improvements (e.g., in materials and manufacturing techniques) we see in both vehicles and running shoes to the idea of "inclusiveness"; unless your point is that the running shoe industry has embraced the same technological improvements we see in the vehicle industry?
No. Sorrry not the point I was making. The old running shoes served a singular purpose for a singular market. Those shoes were made for, and would only be attractive to someone with good mechanics and the durability to run high mileage. Now running shoes are designed for every foot type, every mileage type and every body type. More inclusive means more customers. Same thing with the station wagon. Originally the only people buying or wanting a wagon was the big family. Now the crossover is a car designed for many types of families and individuals. Making it a more inclusive to a wider range of customer.
newname wrote:
showguy90 wrote:Underneath the insole of my Karhu Champions is a big brown piece of rigid cardboard. This is called the "strobel". Apparently this allowed shoes from falling apart.
Did runners back then follow the shoe dictum of buying a new pair after every 500 miles.? I have a hard time believing guys who averaged 70 mpw in the mid 70s bought 7 pairs of shoes a year.
I also picked up an old copy of Jim Fixx's book. That's one thin pair of Asics he's wearing on the cover. Do they still make that model?
Yeah, sure kid they still make that model 40 yrs later.
Do you have any other questions in your Book of Clown Questions?
Actually, that shoe is still made and sold in Japan but no longer by Asics/Tiger.
kipisfast wrote:
Those were the best running shoes of the day. Maybe in 30-40 years they'll look at the shoes of 2014 and wonder how WE ran in those crappy shoes.
Exactly. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
I'm 70 years old and have been running since 1958 (roads since 1960). I started running in Spalding tennis shoes, no heel, no support. My first real running shoes were a pair of black Adidas (I think they only came in black and red). I paid $9 in 1960, also no heel, no support, just a thin piece of leather for the sole and kangaroo hide for the upper. I don't think that my times suffered at all. Todays shoes are way over hyped with absurd marketing in order to jack up prices and sales. Personally, I buy whatever minimalist shoes I can find on sale. Big over built boats have always created injuries and slowed me down.
Back in the 60'-70's we wore $3.95 Shiff or Keds Specials. They had no support and were basically a slab of rubber with some canvas on top and laces. We wore them for perhaps a month and when you got a hole in the sole you got a new pair. I think only the genetically blessed were runners. If you were not bio-mechanically nearly perfect you couldn't run. Today, with modern shoes almost anyone can run. Also, I believe most of the runners then were much better all-around athletes which was/is a big plus.I'm not saying that today's runners aren't good athletes (many are), but most then were good athletes.The number of sports and the popularity of some of them today certainly waters down the pool to from which to choose.
Loved these classic NB 320s. But you always had to keep a tube of Shoe Goo handy to rebuild wear spots on the sole.
http://counterkicks.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/New-Balance-320-Blue-2.jpg
To echo someone above, as long as you are young and not injury prone, your times would be no different in the shoes of the 60/70's to today. Remember there were few older runners then.
To join the trip down memory lane, the first non-flats I bought were Adidas SL72 after Munich. For xc we had Lawrence ripples,then copycats like Power ripples appeared in about 73. Those definitely made you faster at xc.
Only one thing made a difference - EVA midsoles. All other tech advances have been tweaks. Midsoles allowed some who would have got injured to carry on, and was undoubtedly an enabler of the running boom.
Please share with us! Who still sells the shoe, because I would love to own a pair of those.
Oh, and ordinary Joe's on the roads in the mid 70's wore Onitsuka Tiger Marathons. Usually blue with white trim. No midsole but light and comfy. I loved 'em.
You can still get Onitsuka Tigers, and indeeed Converse® All Stars® Chuck Taylor® Flag Ox
who what where really? wrote:
Please share with us! Who still sells the shoe, because I would love to own a pair of those.
I don't know, sorry. A Japanese friend of mine and I were discussing the old Tiger Marathon and when he was home he was home he found them in a Tokyo department store. They did not have the Tiger stripes on the upper as another company was selling them. This was a couple years ago so maybe the shoes aren't there anymore. You'd need to go to Japan and hit some department stores.
They weren't huge pussies back then!
