asics vs. mizuno

Asics is one of my answers when I'm asked what my favorite brands\companies are - I've had about 25 pairs of these asics running shoes over the last 12 years or so - GT something or other. I hurt my knee last year, first serious running injury so far and I had to take the winter off.

So now it's time to get back into the running mode and I went over to one of those running shops where they watch how your feet hit the ground and recommend shoes based on that... they used a video camera placed behind a treadmill at the bottom where my feet hit, that was connected to a monitor screen so I could see it along with the salespeople.

They ended up telling me that the asics are a bit too structured for me, and had me try on a few pairs. Adidas didn't feel right, New Balance were a little too snug in the heel, Montrail trail shoes felt too hard, so I went with the Mizunos below, they felt perfect. Abandoning my asics was sheer agony - I thought that if I went with another brand injury would be inevitable. They've treated me right for so long, why would I switch now? One of the salespeople sensed my hesitation and commented, "it's not like you gave asics a wedding band... you're not sponsored by them... just drop them like a bad habit and move on with it already."


Even with the pep talk, I walked around for several days with the new shoes on without going out and getting them dirty just in case I had a change of heart. Jury's still out on how they'll feel after many miles but for now they feel like clouds on my feet, better than the asics have recently felt. I still have enough old asics pairs to outfit a cross country team, so every now and then they can make an appearance... but going with the Mizunos for my fresh pair was an incredibly tough, almost gut-wrenching experience. I wasn't aware of the bond that I really had with asics until I switched.