What I like about Asics

I had to arise before the crack of dawn today in order to get in an 8 miler before the heat. After a week of clouds and cool weather, we're having another mini heat wave and if I'm not out the door by 6:00 I'm screwed. It's a delicate balancing act-it has to be light enough to see and be seen, yet early enough to be cool. This will be the case for probably the next 2 weeks, so my mornings of sleeping in and cruising the net before I run are over.

I received comments on my new shoes from Lauren and Patrick, both wondering how I came to choose the Asics Nimbus 10s. It's simple, really; the shoes were chosen for me. That's what happens when you shop at your FNRS and they know what they're talking about.

I shop for running stuff at GH Sports, a local store dedicated to running and cycling. When I started running, like most neophytes, I just ran in whatever shoes I had on hand, which in my case was a 5 year old pair of Nike crosstrainers I picked up at an outlet store because they were cheap. When it became obvious that I would continue to run, I bought a pair of Avias at a big box store, again because they were cheap and they said they were for running-I didn't know squat about pronation, superpronation, cushioning, stabilizing-all that stuff we learn when we become "serious" runners. The Avias didn't hold up very well and were falling apart after about 3 months. That's when I started researching running online and realized I needed proper running shoes. I found the website for GH Sports and when I read that they did a "gait assessment" I figured even if I didn't know what a gait assessment was, I wanted one.

So one Saturday afternoon Hubby and I drove to the big city in search of my gait assessment. It turns out a gait assessment is kind of a big deal-it involves a treadmill with a camera at foot height; a foot print was taken to show what my arches looked like; and some measurements were taken of my feet. Honestly, if I had realized what was involved I would have gotten a pedicure. then after all this running and measuring it was determined that I have high arches ad a neutral gait and a very nice pair of Mizunos were recommended. I loved those shoes-my first real running shoes! They served me well until I got into longer runs; suddenly I was losing toenails right and left because the toe box was too tight. Another trip to GH Sports and I was fitted with my first pair of Asics-the Nimbus 9s. they were cushiony, lightweight, and my toes had enough room to throw a party and invite guests.

I went through 3 pairs of the 9s and then switched to the 10s simply because they were the upgraded 9s (I think in my previous post I said I wore the Asics Cumulus, but they're actually the Nimbus-my bad). Again, this was at the suggestion of the guy in the store. He runs marathons, he should know his shoes, and he does.

This is why I shop at GH Sports. I know that I could get shoes cheaper on line, but I like supporting a local business. They're friendly, they're knowledgable, they're runners. They don't roll their eyes when I say I'm going to run a marathon; they want to know which marathon. I hope they stay in business forever, or at least as long as I'm a runner.