Skechers Performance Shoes

When I first started running and joined my first race (10km) in Nov 2010, what I knew was just to run run run, regardless of forms and technique and what shoes to wear. In fact, I still remember i didn't even have any proper running shoe. I was in fact running in Admiral Casual Sneakers. Then my knees hurt. Only then some newly known running friends introduced me to Mizuno and subsequently New Balance.

So for the next 2.5 years of running (Nov 2010 to early 2013), I have been wearing Mizuno and New Balance shoes - learning more about running each day, trying to improve on my time each race, and having 2 of the most troublesome running injuries namely IT band syndrome and runner's knee intermittently.
It wasn't all fun! Ran in races, then needed to rest due to running injuries.

So it got me to start looking at running technique - so that I could have an injury-free running life.
It so happened that my cousin is the youngest Ironman in Malaysia history and a regular podium finishers in running races. And he has been sponsored by Skechers for all his running shoes. 

Conveniently, he was the first one for me to enquire more about running technique and what shoes to wear. After several rounds of deeper understanding, i have decided to give Skechers performance shoe a try.

I bought my first pair of Skechers GOrun 1 (red) in Kuala Lumpur in early 2013. And that was the start of me focusing on running technique.

Switching from being a heel striker to landing at midfoot through Skechers GOrun shoes was such a big struggle! Really - I wasn't comfortable at all. Or rather shall I say, I wasn't used to it before. However, the thought of having an injury-plague running life was not something I looked forward to. Therefore, i decided to persevere and slowly learned to land on mid foot through the help of Skechers GOrun , which is designed using midfoot technology.

So I would say that 2013 was a transition  year for me, a period I had to go through in order to have an injury-free running life.
  1. Learned about midfoot running through Skechers GOrun running shoes 
  2. Learned to cover longer distance in trainings in preparation to run more full marathons after losing my FM virginity in June 2012 to Standard Chartered KL Marathon.
  3. Learned  Chi running focusing on form especially cadence, breathing, body posture.
Well - did Skechers GOrun 1 make me a faster runner in 2013?

I think it's a combination of 3 factors above, but Skechers GOrun  definitely was the major factor. Without the lighweight Skechers GOrun shoes , I would not be able to train longer distance. And without Skechers GOrun  shoes, I would not be able to learn Chi running effectively.

The transition year was slow and difficult to swallow at times. And I got impatient with it so many times. Not easy to break old habits and learn new things. Toughest was to land on midfoot. Part of me wanted faster result (wider stride, landing on heel, etc) and part of me wanted a longer running life which is injury free.

I 'm glad i pulled through 2013 with no injury! With patience and perseverence, the 3 combined factors above helped me to shed 1 min off at Standard Chartered KL Marathon on September 29, 2013 compared to previous year.

That race was truly a confidence boost showing that I was on the right track. Subsequently, I bought new pair of Skechers shoes (GOrun 3), black color, half size bigger, in Taipei on Dec 20, 2013. And i wore the new Skechers GOrun 3 to race at Taipei Fubon Marathon in Taiwan on following day. I was a soaking wet day with the full 42km soaked in the rain. But thanks to Skechers GOrun 3, I not only completed it, but also achieved my personal best time having sub 4 hours 30 min for the first time. I was overjoyed!


2013 Journey with Skechers GOrun 1 and GOrun 3

Full Marathons
2013.12.21  Taipei Fubon Marathon, Taiwan | 42km | 4 hr 29 min | Skechers GOrun 3 (1st time dipped below 4 hours 30 min)
2013.09.29  Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon, Kuala Lumpur | 42km | 4 hr 37 min | Skechers GOrun 1 (1 min improvement from SCKLM 2012)
2013.09.01  The River Jungle Marathon, Hulu Langat, Selangor | 42km | 4 hr 44 min | Skechers GOrun 1
2013.04.21  The Island Ocean Marathon, Langkawi | 42km | 5 hr 19 min | Skechers GOrun 1
< 42km Races
2013.12.29  Newton Challenge, Puchong, Selangor | 25km | 2 hr 27 min | Skechers GOrun 3
2013.09.15  Great Eastern Live Great Run, Matrade, Kuala Lumpur | 12km | 1 hr 6 min | Skechers GOrun 1
2013.09.07  Men’s Health Night Run, Putrajaya | 12km | 1 hr 5 min | Skechers GOrun 1
2013.07.23  Adidas King of the Road, Sunway, Selangor | 16.8km | 1 hr 31 min | Skechers GOrun 1

And my journey with Skechers continues into 2014... 


Written on 2015.09.22