Tuesday 24 August 2010

Asics HyperSpeed 4 Road Test and the Harrock Hill Race

Asics Gel-Hyperspeed 4 Unisex Running Shoe
I did my first run in a pair of HyperSpeeds tonight, first impressions are they will be a good shoe for my long progression runs and they might make a good marathon race shoe too.

2 years ago, I'd have used these shoes for 5k-10k races, but my perceptions have changed and now they feel more like a long distance shoe, being 'more' than I need for shorter distances!
Tomorrow is the last Harrock Hill race of the summer series, I've given myself 3 days easy, so will be hoping for a good run!
Conditions on the course are muddy in places after the heavy ran of late, so bring your trail shoes.
How to run up hills fast!
READ HERE
race starts at 7.30 from The Farmers Arms Hilldale.

Training

Tue 24th
Run with Tess round the Hillside loop at Level one =30 mins
Mon 23rd
Easy run with Tess on the Velvet Trail + 40 mins

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rick,
How many miles do you expect to get out of the lighter shoes? I note the web page for Spira suggests only 100 for the Competition Elite - what has your experience been.
Thanks
Phil

RICK'S RUNNING said...

Phil, I have the Competitions [ not the Elite] I got them last year in March, I have run about 10 tempo runs in them, two 20 mile races, last years London marathon, a heap load of speed sessions and even a 23 mile road run over many hills.
Everything about the shoes still look and feel like new apart from a bit of the raised tread under the forefoot starting to wear off, but I don't really see this as a problem unless you are worried about slipping in the rain.
The springs are said to be good for a 1000 miles and work best after the midsole starts to break down a little ie about 200 miles.
I will use this shoe for my mountain marathon, then buy a new pair for racing and keep these for training.
As this is a very light weight racing shoe I have to by very happy with the use I've had out of them.
Rick

vibram said...

ive been practicing barefoot running for quite sometime, having a light footwear matters to its success

Anonymous said...

Rick,
Many thanks for the detailed response - I will try a pair of the yellow ones, red no longer available in my size. What shoes are you using in your move to more minimalism?
You bring together much very interesting information on this site.
thanks
Phl

RICK'S RUNNING said...

Phil,
I've got quite a few shoes on the go at the moment, my newest addition is a pair of Asics Hyperspeeds [racing flats].
I've been modifing my shoes for some time cutting the heels down to make the sole into a flat profile, I have modified in this way a pair of Nike Free's, and a pair of Nike explosions.
I have also been using a pair of retro 1970's shoes Nike Elites, which can be bought for around £25, they have a very flat profile and only minimal padding.
what I'm looking for in a shoe is light weight, flexibility [allows the arch to compress on impact] and a flat sole that allows the correct stretch and spring back in the calf and tendons.
I find a low profile helps improve running form.
In long races then my aim is to save my body from as much pounding as possible [ in training my aim is to strengthen my muscles as much as possible by wearing more minimal shoes]and this is where the Spira shoes work really well :]
In two years I've gone from wearing heavy 'Boots' to thinking the asics Hyerspeeds are very well padded, in the passed I have used these type of shoes only for short races, now I'd use them even for 20 mile training runs.
I can see myself looking at something like the Vibram 5 fingers for my off road training in the future.
Hope this helps. Rick

Anonymous said...

Rick,
Thanks for the detail - very progressive. Good luck with the Langdale race.
Phil

Anonymous said...

Incredible story there. What happened after?
Take care!

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