- "So the rice husk shoes finally arrived last week. I read about the shoes in a 'Running Times' article and contacted Asics immediately to see what the deal was behind the shoes that had produced so many Olympic Marathon medals. It turns out that these special shoes, which are produced in Japan, are designed with rice husk in the sole in order to better grip the road and to repel the heat from the hot black pavement. They were designed after taking an extensive look at the coarse we will face in Beijing.
When I first took them out of the blue shoe bag my first thought was, “wow, these little incredibly simple.” They almost look like some of the old school marathon shoes that are now coming back into style as retro shoes. However, the more I examined them the more I thought these shoes are what elite athletes are constantly scowling the specialty running shoe stores, internet, or paying ridiculously high prices on ebay for. The beauty is in there apparent simplicity. They have a very light and breathable white upper that contribute to the extreme lightness of the shoe but will also allow for breath ability and dissipation of the water (in the same way a steeple spike is designed) that I will constantly dosing myself with throughout the race. No excessive stylish plastic to add any additional weight, just the bare minimum. Then there is the sole of the shoe. That’s were it starts getting more complex than the spotted chartreuse orange speckled foam lets on. The material, embedded with rice husks, is very light and spongy. What I like about the sole, even more than the rice husk technology, is the responsiveness of the shoe. What do I mean by responsiveness? I mean that when you drive your foot down on the pavement the shoe makes your foot want to pop back up off the road quicker than it normally does. Basically, I am referring to spring-like sensation. These shoes are more responsive than any shoes I have worn. How do I know? I took them on there first test drive during an interval workout in Big Bear. Now, I had just returned from a week of emotional exhaustion and travel from Eugene and was expecting to have to re-adjust to altitude during my first interval workout back at 7,000ft. I was surprised when I began my first repeat and saw 4:38 for my first mile of the repeat. It was the easiest 4:38 I had run all season. My legs felt like they were popping off the road and yet still had the support of a marathon shoe that would get me through a little over two hours of running.I had high expectations for this shoe and with all the hype around them I thought they could do nothing but fail. I was wrong. I am certain these magical shoes will be what Asics Japan calls my sword on August 24th. Having a pair of shoes tailor made not only for the marathon, but also for the coarse we will be running, gives me even more confidence that anything is possible. Now all I need is big eyes on the starting line."
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