ATLANTA — Imagine a golfer going to the range the day before the Masters trying out a set of irons they’d never hit with before or a tennis pro picking up a new racquet model that was a different size and weight from what they’d been using previously — and doing it on the day Wimbledon began. For anyone at the highest level of their sport, such a dramatic equipment change so close to a big event would basically be considered self-sabotage or complete desperation.
But in distance running, which only has one major equipment variable — the shoe — it’s practically a necessity.