NatNews

Running shoes have certainly evolved since the days of being made with a waffle iron, and sometimes change and progression can surface quite a few feelings and opinions.

Enter carbon-plated kicks.

Also known as “super shoes,” running shoes with carbon-fiber plates running through the midsoles were created to help runners perform at higher levels and with more efficiency. The Nike Vaporfly 4% was the first shoe of this kind to come on the market for amateurs to purchase in 2017 (after some of the athletes in the 2016 Olympics in Rio wore them), and now several other running brands offer their own versions of carbon-plated shoes.

Dallas-area resident Jessica Smith, an avid runner who works in education, compared the advancement of shoe innovations to the progression of technology she sees in the school setting, which she said can be challenging.

“As educators, we are dealing with the positive and negative consequences that come with it,” she said. “For example, AI is being abused by students as they are expected to write their own essays. However, as educators, we understand that this is definitely in our future, and life will look a little different than we know it now.”

And Smith said she believes that carbon-plated shoes are also here to stay as technology continues to advance and that, regardless, there will always be something runners are seeking to help them perform better.

“I do, however, understand how it could take away from the spirit of the sport of running, especially regarding records being broken,” she said. “If it is not the shoes, it will be the progression of nutrition. Or what about the progression of our expertise in training methods?”

Dallas-area resident Emmanuel Amadi, who recently ran a 34-minute 10K (translation: he’s really fast), said super shoes don’t only help individuals while they are actually running but also afterward, as they noticeably yield an increase in recovery time after hard training sessions. He said this is a result of ever-growing technology, which has delivered a hyper-responsive but soft midsole foam.

“Due to their propulsive nature, giving runners that ‘toe-off-the-ground’ feel, they realistically provide a massive energy return, which, in turn, enables faster and more stable paces with less strain on the muscles, as compared to using non-carbon-plated shoes, especially on hard running surfaces.”

Amadi said it’s also because of technology that most super shoes are available in ultra-lightweight options that don’t sacrifice the cushioning for which some non-carbon-plated shoes are known.

“This difference comes in handy during race efforts,” he said.

The advantages have not come without a bit of controversy, though. Despite the fact that super shoes are worn by many elite runners and have not been banned or deemed illegal in world competitions such as the Olympics, there are individuals who believe that they are a form of cheating and provide an unfair advantage. It also doesn’t help that some people either can’t afford them or aren’t willing to pay such an amount for shoes, as most are more than $200. Regarding fairness, Smith said she believes the future of carbon-plated shoes remains in the hands of all of the major marathon races and the Olympics decision-makers.

“Until they completely ban them, I honestly feel like the playing field is pretty equal, as we all have an opportunity to buy these carbon-plated shoes,” she said. “I am not an elite runner, but it is not my experience at all that my carbon-plated shoes have ever run a race for me. In fact, I have had to train harder than ever before, even with my carbon-plated shoes.”

Smith said her opinion may not be the most popular one, but she thinks that if the shoes aren’t actually banned by the people who have the power to make such decisions, individuals should simply run in the shoes that they feel are best for them.

“Stop whining, and go train harder,” she said. “I think we are living in a society that loves to scream ‘no fair!’ Weren’t shoes invented to help us efficiently run and walk? But maybe I’m buying the wrong super shoes. I’m on my fifth pair, and I have yet to finish in the top three at any of the world majors.”

Amadi said he is a firm believer in using everything reasonable within legal and financial reach to maximize peak performance when it comes to running, and like Smith, he said he thinks runners need to wear the shoes that meet their individual needs.

“Given personal experiences, in addition to the numerous plausible lab testings, yes, carbon-plated shoes take home the competitive advantage for gaining peak performance,” he said. “However, for one to reap the fruits from this technology, we must use the particular brand and model of carbon-plated shoes that perfectly fits our stride mechanics and muscular structure. Of course, this takes intentional research and trial and error. Also, a good piece of advice is to steer clear from wearing a specific super shoe solely due to its social media popularity or aesthetics.”

And while Amadi certainly acknowledges the benefits super shoes can offer, he won’t be wearing them every single time he laces up to go for a run. He said he thinks they should be used sparingly and targeted toward specific training sessions, such as fast track intervals, fast long runs, and competitive races.

“I believe runners should be advised against using carbon-plated shoes on easy runs and steady long runs,” he said. “And there is an avenue where non-carbon-plated shoes take the lead, as frequently using them strengthens most running accessory muscles and minimizes injury risk and compounded stress. Importantly, longevity in any sport is the name of the game. A healthy and consistent runner beats any carbon-plated shoe.”

The letter E is the most commonly used letter in the English alphabet.

On August 1, 1981, life changed for many individuals when MTV first launched. What began as a 24-hour-per-day platform for music videos saw the rise in popularity of artists such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Duran Duran. 

These were the pre-YouTube days, and individuals who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s and were privileged enough to have cable TV were able to enjoy such media. Other networks, including VH1 (which launched in January of 1985 and served as a competitor to MTV) and CMT (which began in March of 1983 and played country music videos) followed and offered plenty of entertainment, especially for GenX and millennials. Dallas resident Jenny Schultz said she enjoyed watching all three networks, particularly when perhaps she wasn’t exactly supposed to do so.

“MTV felt like something special when I was younger because my older cousins would let me sneak and watch it when they were over at my house,” she said.

Dallas resident Bob Heine said he also enjoyed watching music videos on MTV and found the video jockeys (VJs) and hosts to be quite entertaining and fun. He particularly enjoyed MTV News with Kurt Loder as well as the network’s shows specifically grouped by music genre. His favorite was Headbangers Ball, which aired late on Saturday nights. However, MTV wasn’t always easily accessible to Heine.

“I lived in a rural environment, so I didn’t actually have cable TV at home,” he said. “I would watch MTV at friends’ and relatives’ homes when I visited. My grandmother would record Headbangers Ball on a VHS tape every week for me. Watching shows like that introduced me to new bands that I hadn’t heard before. Back then, that was the best way to discover new music that wasn’t regularly played on the radio.”

Heine said the only complaint he had about MTV was that certain songs that were popular would be played so often throughout the day that they sometimes caused him not to like those tunes anymore.

“I vividly recall the music video for the ZZ Top song ‘Rough Boy’ playing incessantly for weeks,” he said. “To this day, I dislike that song because of MTV.”

As the calendar pages turned, the TV music networks began to make changes to increase viewership. VH1 started Pop-Up Video, which incorporated little bubbles of information throughout music videos, while MTV began airing shows that had nothing to do with music at all. Singled Out was a way-back-when precursor of shows like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, Road Rules was a reality show that put five to six people together in an RV and had them travel to various locations to complete certain missions, and The Real World followed the lives of strangers living together in a house for several months.

“I was a big fan of most of the shows from the 2000s—Laguna Beach and all of its spin-offs, Jackass, Newlyweds, Cribs, Daria, and Celebrity Deathmatch,” Schultz said. “I never got into TRL or The Real World. I also loved Pop-Up Video on VH1, because I am a sucker for fun facts, and The Fabulous Life of. I liked the shows because they were easy to watch, and you could just enjoy them and turn your brain off for a bit.”

Even though MTV stands for Music Television, music videos aren’t really its thing anymore. Heine said he thinks the explanation for the station veering from its origins is an easy one to identify.

“I think the reason MTV moved away from playing music videos to pure entertainment shows and reality shows was simply greed,” he said. “I also think the evolution of the internet, which gave people a more immediate way to access new music, made MTV less relevant to viewers.”

Like Schultz, Heine said he enjoyed VH1’s Pop-Up Video because of the interesting facts about bands, songs, or the specific music video playing that the show offered, but he said it still never quite compared to what MTV provided its audience.

“They tried to make VH1 the new music television station, but it never really had the same impact,” he said.

Though TV networks that began as platforms for music videos and not much more still exist in forms that don’t quite resemble what they once were, individuals who once enjoyed them often still carry the fond memories of what a simpler life was like.

“I think my age group hit MTV at such a good time,” Schultz said. “The 90s and 2000s music videos were great, and the reality content was still new enough not to be overly scripted like The Real Housewives and other series are now. I think with social media, music videos are not as important because artists have so many other platforms that they can reach fans on. Does that mean video killed the video star?

WEEKLY PHOTO OP

Our NatNews IT Department is running into a new year, and we are celebrating him this week!

Monday, October 21: Jim Henson’s Labyrinth in Concert at the Majestic Theatre
Tuesday, October 22: Free Rooftop Movie — Cruella at Sundown at Granada
Wednesday, October 23: Halloween Charcuterie Workshop at Lockwood Distilling Co.
Thursday, October 24: NatNews IT Department Celebration Day; Mavs vs. Spurs (season home opener) at the American Airlines Center; Reese’s Book Club Gathering at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel
Friday, October 25: Ennis Autumn Daze in historic downtown Ennis (goes through Sunday); Nightmare on Main Street Halloween Bash at The Village Country Club; Halloween Meet & Greet at Andretti Indoor Karting & Games Grand Prairie
Saturday, October 26: WRRC Saturday run from Taco Joint; Stars vs. Blackhawks at the American Airlines Center
Sunday, October 27: Cowboys vs. 49ers Watch Party at Legacy Hall; Puppy Yoga at Satya Yoga