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1 Cushioning and Shoes

It's intuitively obvious that the cushioning in a shoe will reduce the impact on your body when running. However, The Science of Running Shoes indicates that the reality is rather more complex. While slight cushioning may reduce the effort needed to run by improving your Running Economy, most scientific research indicates that more cushioning does further improve Running Economy. In addition, cushioning does not generally reduce impact and may actually increase it. This is counterintuitive, but is likely to be due to the way a runners mind and body adapts to softer cushioning. Unfortunately, the scientific evidence is far from complete and it's hard to give clear recommendations. I believe that some runners will prefer more cushioning, while others prefer less, and typically those running further have a fondness for greater cushioning. I also believe that a shoe should be as light as possible, and a shoe should justify its weight with the cushioning it provides. My advice is to decide what level of cushioning you're looking for, and then find the lightest shoes that also fit well and are comfortable.

2 Visualizing the Attributes of the ShoeGraphs

File:ShoeGraphs RFCushPenalty.png How ShoeGraphs compares showing rearfoot cushioning against the performance penalty of its weight. Upper right is better.	File:ShoeGraphs FFCushPenalty.png How ShoeGraphs compares showing forefoot cushioning against the performance penalty of its weight. Upper right is better.
File:ShoeGraphs PriceBenefit.png How ShoeGraphs compares showing the price against the benefit (cushioning/performance penalty). Upper left is better.	File:ShoeGraphs DropBenefit.png How ShoeGraphs compares showing the loaded drop against the benefit (cushioning/performance penalty). Upper left is better.