Thursday, April 24, 2008

You really think Nike is THE sneaker brand?

Yeah, I am the prick who will turn his nose up if you tell me you run in your Adidas/Nike/Puma...

If you are doing any serious amount of running, the best advice that I can give you from my experience is to get the right pair of Asics for your feet. Seriously. It is outrageously expensive, but totally worth it.

Long-distance running was never something I did before I came to Singapore for my university studies. Initially I adopted typical Indian cost-cutting strategies and got a pair of "Power" shoes from Bata. Gave it up after the first run. I could feel my feet pounding the pavement hard every single step.

Key thing to consider for running shoes (as well as for anything) is value. It is ok to spend a bit more on good running shoes as your legs are more important than the marginal extra cost you need to spend.

Next in line were Adidas and Nike. They seemed ok. No problems when running. Thats the problem here. They are good enough... So you never notice anything short term. But they never felt great. Over many years, they can do some damage to your knee...

Recently, I started getting a niggling pain in my knee every time I ran more than 50 mins etc. A colleague referred me to Asics. (My first comment was "Asics? I thought it was pronounced Basics??") Looking at the proce of S$220, I blanched initially. Then did some research on the web and found out that this was THE shoe for running.

But you need to get the right Asics for your feet. This will be based on normal-feet/flat-feet as well as a concept called Pronation/Supination. You have to find out what feet type you have based on these 2 variables. Each Asics model is meant for a particular feet-type. So before plunking down 200 dolls on a pair, please make sure you understand your feet type.

In Singapore, you can go to Federer Sports in Peninsular Plaza (Level 2). The proprieter - Jimmy - is somebody who is passionate about running, and will examine your feet and recommend the right Asics model. I have had some very good experience with him. Completely different from the fuckin businesswalla's in Queensway. Jimmy is more expensive by around 20$, but again, it is worth it. He will also provide a warranty, which is difficult from the assholes at Queensway. Also you can try out the shoes and run a short while in Peninsular Plaza to see if you like the initial feel.

I plunked down 220$ on the Gel-Nimbus 9. Jimmy had recommended a less expensive model, but LOL, I couldn't resist the lure of wearing the "World Shoe of the Year 2007". And believe me, these things are worth 500$ to me... Only when you run in an Asics will you understand what you have been missing all these years. You hardly feel any impact when your heel impacts the ground.

So in short, when getting a running shoe:
-- Know your feet-type
-- Don't go by aesthetics (Get another shoe for going out)
-- Get an Asics

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Not any particular brand is my favorite. I believe on comfortable, flexible and durable running shoes.