Nike Vomero Plus Black Bright Crimson White

Black with a crimson accent is the easiest performance palette to place. Recipe one on the run: black shorts or tights with a technical top, where the crimson picks up any accent in your kit and the black keeps it looking serious. Recipe two off the run: black joggers with a grey crewneck and a black shell, an athletic look where the shoe reads deliberate rather than borrowed from the gym. Good for road running, long walks and travel days. Buy about a half size above your lifestyle size and leave a thumb of toe room, since feet swell over distance. Never machine wash, remove the insole to dry, and rotate pairs so the foam recovers.

Nike's authority in running was earned on the track long before it was earned on the road, with Steve Prefontaine as the first track endorser and a roster that has included Sebastian Coe, Carl Lewis, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Michael Johnson and Allyson Felix. The modern proof point is the Vaporfly, launched in 2017, which pairs ZoomX with a full length carbon fibre plate and which peer research found could improve marathon times by up to 4.2 percent, prompting World Athletics to set limits on 31 January 2020 capping sole thickness at 40mm and permitting one rigid plate. A daily trainer benefits from all of that research without carrying any of the rules.

A cushioned daily trainer is judged on stack, ride and how it feels at the end of a long effort rather than at the start, and Plus in the name signals a step up in that platform. Nike's foam capability is the reason to take the category seriously: ZoomX, its altered Pebax formulation, is the lightest and most responsive material it makes, and Lunarlite established the lightweight foam family. Flywire, which uses cables to hold the foot with minimal upper material, is how modern Nike keeps lockdown without adding weight. The black upper hides road spray, the white midsole does not, and heat is the enemy of any foam, so store the pair somewhere cool and let it decompress between runs.