Thought I’d better do the right thing to prevent injury and get some proper shoes for this Tokyo Marathon.
The Nikes I use are old and have done too much walking, so probably not worn in properly for running. They are very comfortable though.


I went to Sports Autority and checked out all the asics shoes on display. The ‘real’ shoes are all very nice and as I’m a beginner the best shoes are all a bit thin in the sole and I could see that that would cause too much jolt to my joints, so went to the beginners rack.

There were 3 pairs suitable. One was even a special design for the Tokyo Marathon. I tried it and it felt a little uncomfortable. The next pair I tried felt much better and the third pair had too much rock in toe like a surfrboard and I thought they may cause problems too. I went with the 2nd pair and with the 3000 yen I saved compared to the Tokyo Marathon pair at 13000, I got a pair of MTB pedals that will come in handy next month for our annual assault in the bear woods of Okutama.

As for yesterday’s ride. I woke up and my legs felt like they had melted away and was hard to get out of bed. I didn’t do the New Year’s ride to Narita and hobbled around the house all day keeping warm.