The ASICS Shoe Rotation

This newsletter is a little different from what I’ve done before, but I think it’ll be insightful for many of you. I’m diving deep into my new shoe rotation with ASICS—covering my top picks, what I’ll be wearing on race day, and how each shoe fits into my weekly training. Also, there is a giveaway at the end of the newsletter, so make sure you check that out.

The idea for this came after some great conversations with the ASICS team in Boston. I’ll be the first to admit—I don’t think like an engineer when it comes to shoes. I’m way more interested in why we want to make shoes faster rather than how they’re made fast. So, instead of a technical breakdown, this is all about how I use these shoes in training and the overall “vibes” they bring to my rotation. If you’re after a more scientific deep dive, you might want to ask someone with an actual engineering degree!

The Trainers

1. NOVABLAST 5

Jack of all trades, master of none. The NOVABLAST quickly became my go-to trainer after signing with ASICS. It’s got just enough support to not feel the roads/trails when you run, but not too much shoe so that you can still feel bouncy and good on those recovery runs. I’ve run 13-second 100m strides and knocked out 15-mile long runs in this shoe with no complaints. I probably use this shoe for 60% of my weekly running at the moment.

2. GEL-NIMBUS 27

A lot more shoe than the NOVABLAST. When I first put on the Nimbus, I thought, ‘This will be my travel day shoe,’ as it was incredibly comfortable and offered a lot of support for walking around the airport. However, I found it to be the perfect double-run shoe in my rotation. After some harder morning miles, you want to put on a smooth training that will provide some extra cushion and stability. It’s been great this winter as we’ve been doing a lot of running on the roads while the trails have been snow-covered.

3. GEL-KAYANO 31

The meat grinder trainer. A lot heavier and a lot more support than the NIMBUS and NOVABLAST, but you’re not looking to run fast in this shoe. It’s your “one foot in front of the other, one day after another” shoe. I use this for easy runs the day after workouts where the body is beaten down and needs to just feel lots of support on my runs. This shoe has become my staple for 'post-double T' runs when my mind and body need a break from pounding the pavement.

4. SUPERBLAST 2

The final boss of long run shoes. So light and responsive—but it doesn’t have a plate, so it’s not too aggressive. I have used this for harder long runs where we start to dip under 6 minute pace for some miles. This is also a great trainer to keep in the rotation when you’re feeling particularly tired or run down. I used this a few days after my indoor track 5k for an easy 10 miles and it was exactly what the doctor ordered. Even kept them on for strides and felt poppy and fast!

The Race Day Shoes

1. METASPEED SKY PARIS

So there is a big debate around what super shoe you should use as an ASICS athlete. As you can see in the chart above, they have created two supers that should help you meet your race day goals for any road athletes. When I say 'super shoes,' I’m referring to shoes with a carbon plate. I really have enjoyed the SKY for most of my double T sessions, and days where we are doing a combo workouts (i.e- lots of different paces in the workout.) Ironically, something I’ve been working on over the last few months is increasing my stride length and opening up my hips more when I run. (When I get tired, I start to sit.) I used to think that cadence was the holy grail of getting faster, but I have sort of thrown that metric out the window and really focused on just moving with fluidity and relaxation. The Sky helps with this.

2. METASPEED EDGE PARIS

I’ve slowly started incorporating the EDGE into more of my training. I started with strides, a hill workout, and some faster intervals (800s). I enjoyed it a lot for these types of sessions. It’s firmer—so I think psychologically I enjoy it for running faster and having the feeling of “popping off” the ground. Cadence isn’t a metric I care about or look at anymore, so trying to “increase my cadence” isn’t my end goal. However, I am sure there are athletes out there who would greatly benefit from this. But, if I am being very honest, I just really enjoy both of them and will rotate back and forth most weeks depending on the goal of the session. I am planning on doing some testing with both shoes at various paces, and seeing if I am more efficient in either.

3. METASPEED LD 2 PARIS

I hadn't worn another pair of spikes in almost a decade (crazy) so I was anxious to see how these felt on my feet. In fact, these were the first shoes ASICS sent me to try out. I wore them for 6×100m strides to start out and loved them immediately. I like a spike to feel like a natural extension of my leg, and that’s exactly how this one feels. It is very light but has enough support through the carbon that you get enough of a rebound for any races 1500-10k on the track.

Training week with shoes:

Monday-

am: 10 miles easy

Shoes: NOVABLAST 5.

Tuesday- 

am: 10 miles with 6×100m strides.

Shoes: SUPERBLAST 2.

pm: 5 miles.

Shoes: GEL-NIMBUS 27

Wednesday-

am: 5×2k off 90 seconds.

Shoes: METASPEED SKY PARIS

pm: 8×1k off 60 seconds

Shoes: METASPEED EDGE PARIS

Thursday-

am: 60 minute jog

Shoes: GEL-KAYANO 31s

Friday-

am: 65 minutes with drills and speed dev.

Shoes: NOVABLAST 5 / METASPEED LD 2 PARIS (sprints)

pm: 40 minute jog.

Shoes: GEL-KAYANO 31s

Saturday- 

am: 18 mile harder long run

Shoes: SUPERBLAST 2

Sunday-

am: 60 minutes easy.

shoes: GEL-KAYANO 31s.

Dad Shoes:

1. GEL-KAYANO 14

This has become my go-to travel day shoe.

2. SKYHAND OG

My wife told me I look handsome in these.

That’s a wrap on my deep dive into my ASICS shoe rotation! I hope this gives you some insight into how I’m using these shoes in training and racing—and maybe even helps you fine-tune your own rotation.

Now, for the fun part—I’m giving away a free pair of ASICS running shoes to one lucky reader! You get to pick any ASICS model of your choice. To enter, reply to this email with a newsletter topic you want me to cover and an ASICS shoe you’ve been itching to try. I’ll randomly select a winner and announce it in the next newsletter.