Personal impressions of the Asics Gel Kayano 20 running shoe

A little digression from my usual rant on cycling.

The Asics Gel Kayano 20. The fact that this shoe is already in its 20th iteration must mean something. I did my first run with it this morning and these are my initial thoughts. In terms of support for the foot, ankle and arch, this shoe has probably the most "cushiony" feel I have experienced in my life. The advancement in technology over the past years have certainly produced a top notch shoe with all the support u need in today's running age. My last shoe with support was a Nike air max many many years back, and in the past few months, I have started running again but with minimalist shoes in line with the minimalist movement into running. The minimalist or barefoot runner advocates the use of the forefoot or midfoot to strike the ground first as opposed to the heel. Traditionally, the heel toe technique have been the way we have been running since childhood and the change was to say the least, radical, at least for me! But this technique of running revolutionized the way I run in a good way, and combined with the concept of an ideal running cadence , I feel my running form has become more efficient, superfluous and less prone to running injury! 

So in my mind, the question was, is it the shoe or the technique that is important? The minimalist advocate says that to do forefoot mid foot running, it is better to use minimalist shoes or maybe even bare feet, to run this way. The heel toe drop for these minimalist shoes are much less than the normal running shoes we are used to. This forces you to land lightly, and sensibly toward the front part of your foot which is more flexible to absorb the impact, failing which every reverberation from the impact on the ground will be felt upwards and magnified. If you strike with your heel first, you can be sure your knees and hip will complain almost immediately. The minimalist shoe maker would make u believe that it's the shoe that makes u run like that without striking the heel. In fact some even go so far to say that these shoes develop the muscles for you to run without a heel strike. I tend to believe its rather the technique of mid or fore-foot running that helps develop these muscles than the shoe. The shoes do help in obliging you to use this technique though. However more often than not, the over enthusiastic minimalist novice lands with too much force on the forefoot or lands too stiffly, on a shoe without much or any support..this results in development of some other unanticipated foot problems. Seems to me it's probably some marketing genius at work here trying to capitalize on the recent trend towards forefoot running. Anyway, midfoot or forefoot running opposed to heel strike actually works and complements well with a high running cadence. Don't need to get minimalist shoes for this!

Upon using them the first time, I felt the Asics Kayano was really comfy. Walking with them, it felt like you were walking on cushion. Running with them made you feel secure and the feet felt very protected from the ground and it's irregularities. There was a bouncy feel to them too as the feet impacted the ground. I did not have any difficulty executing a mid foot strike running technique but for a person learning this technique the first time there will be a tendency to land heel first. Shouldn't be difficult to overcome though. If you have been running with a fore or mid-foot strike all along, the transition should be seamless. Coming from the NB Minimalist running shoe, this shoe however felt heavier and more clunky. So much so that it took me a while longer than usual to reach my usual running cadence of 180 per min. Having reached that however, I felt that my strides became naturally longer because of the bounce effect and more secure support upon landing of the foot. This is good because it helps you propel forwards and encouraged you to push yourself that little bit harder. However, if you are just starting to run and are not conditioned yet, you may find that it will push you a little too hard without you knowing it. The shock absorption capabilities are so good that, that the warning signs of over training are literally removed. I think I might have done that today because my timing was much better and I'm not sure if I'm ready to push so much so soon yet. The tenet of leaving enough for the next training session  is an important maxim for me. For example, if you planned to have a training session the following day and this session made you skip the following session, then you have over trained. If you planned one day rest, and the day's session made you take 2 or 3 rest days, you have over trained again. Today I think I went a bit harder than I should have, not that I could not but the shoes shock absorption capability made it seem I did not have to hold back much, but I think it will force me to recover a bit longer than I wanted. 

Price wise, this is not a cheap pair of shoes. At $200+, it probably is one of the more expensive running shoes around. For $100 less, you could get a Saucony Guide 7.

The rave reviews by friends who have tried the Kayano and the fact that its already a proven market leader swayed my decision. You probably don't need a shoe with so much stability and support if you do mid-foot running, but it did feel good thinking that you are running with one of the best stability shoes in the market, any pain or discomfort had to do with your technique or a wrong shoe fit. A shoe fit is as important as a bike fit. This is where an assessment must be made on the size, shape, width, arches of your feet, and also a dynamic assessment that includes whether your feet tend to overpronate, oversupinate or are neutral. There are some advocates with regards to using custom made insoles to help solve some of your running issues, but I have not gone into much research on this so I cannot comment.

In conclusion, I have no regrets getting this shoe as of this preliminary stage. My recommendation would be for new runners to get a shoe fit, make sure your size and width of shoe fits you, and get a shoe with some support, rather than a minimal support shoe. A minimal support shoe however, does have its place, in improving or enhancing your fore-foot or mid-foot running technique, but I do not advocate these for long distance running in the long haul or for those runners who weigh above 70kg. Despite a good technique, cumulative impact coupled with a heavyset body, does eventually have its repercussions though not obvious immediately, so why not make use of what technology has to offer and minimise all these. How many Zola Budds can the world produce en masse? My current pairs of Vibram 5s and NB minimalist, will still be put to use however, but I will keep these runs short. For the record, I do not have any real issues or pain that resulted in me changing my shoes, but my science tells me that it does make sense to prevent harm if possible. For those of you already on stability shoes, like the Kayano or similar, go ahead and try to convert to a mid-foot or fore-foot strike type of running style. This will help prevent further damage to your already weakened knees. Also focus on improving your running cadence, it goes hand in hand with this technique and with persistence, I am pretty confident you can complete your first marathon sooner than later!

Here are a few videos to help you get started:

Midfoot Running Playlist