The Mizuno Wave Rider series, especially this Wave Rider 15, is the best running shoe I've ever worn. I don't know precisely what it is about the shoe but it works. Before I say anything more, I must tell you that, like others have mentioned, I used to have shin splints and ankle and achilles tendon problems and, no joke, as soon as I switched back to this shoe, all the problems went away within a day or two. I cannot say that this will definitely happen for you, but I think I read reviews that mentioned similar results. I am sure that it must be the way your foot hits the ground, either pronation, suppination, or neutral. I believe this shoe is neutral. From the wear on the soles of my other shoes, I believe I am mostly neutral with slight suppination. Oh, another thing that must be considered is your arch. I have a medium arch, definitely not flat but not a high arch. Now, you might think you have a high arch but a really high arch is where you have so high of an arch that when your bare foot is wet and you leave tracks on the floor, only a little ball of your heel and little tiny spots of the upper foot and toes can be seen... like animal. My friend has this high of an arch and also finds the Wave Rider comfortable. In all, I can totally tell the difference with this shoe. I can run without pain. I can run longer and farther. I can concentrate on my mind instead of my feet or pain. I love the way the feel is when my foot strikes the pavement... the way it hits and springs forward... how light it is... how comfortably my feet move inside of the shoe and the kind of material it is inside... and how durable the outsole is. It's just a fantastic and perfect piece of athletic equipment and the people at Mizuno really deserve some thanks. I'm planning on buying a few more pairs of these Wave Rider 15s just in case I might not be able to find them in the future-- they are that good of a shoe. Oh yeah-- supposedly Haruki Murakami wears the Wave Rider... now you know you gotta do it:)