ASICS Holiday Wishlist

I dropped in on my friends at the ASICS New York City Meatpacking District Store this afternoon and bought the new PR Thermal 2-N-1 Beanie reversable knit cap. I'll get plenty of use out of it as I start training through another tough NYC winter, this time for the Walt Disney World Marathon scheduled for Jan. 11. It's just $18 and a huge addition:

While I was in the ASICS store, I also took a barrage of photos of ASICS STUFF I WISH I HAD. Let's call it the ASICS @Marathoner Holiday Wishlist. If Santa wanted to drop any of this stuff under my Christmas tree or in a stocking next month, hey you're the jolly mon. Here are a dozen items that especially caught my eye on the "guy side" of the store, with links on asicsamerica.com.

Latest Looks: Inside the ASICS NYC Meatpacking District

Thought I'd give you a virtual look at some of the coolest new stuff at the ASICS Meatpacking District Store in NYC. It's located on 14th Street between 9th and 10th Avenues, across from the Apple Store in what is now one of the hottest parts of town. You can find all of this stuff on asics.com.

Here's my friend Justin, a store staffer who's also an endurance cyclist and marathoner, holding up one of the new Favorite Half-Zips in the color he's planning to buy himself . . .





There are a lot of new touches to this including the light and breathable fabric around the thumb holes, as you can see pictured here from the ASICS product page. I'll be running in this.



Like this Urban Run tee below?



I do. So do others I see. And they have stacks of them, or it's $34 at asics.com. . .



Happiness is a wall of running shoes. Here are four categories I was looking at . . .

CUSHIONING

SPEED

TRAINING

MAXIMUM SUPPORT

There's a whole wall full of those for women as well, obviously. I just did a Follow Friday (#FF) on my ASICS @Marathoner account on Twitter, listing every ASICS retail account around the world, and if you follow those, then you will see some really cool ways they show off their own hot items that are just-in. If I could walk out of the ASICS NYC Meatpacking District Store with one box of shoes right now, I believe it probably would be . . .



. . . and maybe this . . .



There is still room in my sock drawer for a new pair of these . . .



In a matter of hours, I will be looping Central Park in the New York City Marathon Long Training Run #1. We are being blessed with some unbelievably fantastic summer weather lately in the Big Apple, and I figured we earned it after that last winter that tested one's soul. So on these #SummerRunnin days, my thoughts are still of running in tops like these . . .





Make sure the ASICS Meatpacking District Store is a stop on your next trip to New York, or head on down if you're in the area. It's like a playland if you love ASICS, as I do. They have the best shoe testing treadmill area in NYC, so be sure to let the pros there test you and get in the right type of shoe for you so you always get to the start line healthy. Tell 'em ASICS @Marathoner sent you.

ASICS LA Marathon Gear Is Here

Happiness is having a brand-new ASICS store a block away from where you work.
Our MLB Advanced Media HQ is at Chelsea Market in the famous Meatpacking District of Manhattan, and last night after work I put on my ASICS Storm Shelter gear on a cold and rainy night for a run down the Financial District. On the way, I stopped in for the first time at the ASICS Meatpacking District store on 14th Street, across from the Apple Store, and was blown away by what I saw front and center as their main display:

Hello, ASICS LA Marathon gear! Now in the taper of Coach Kastor's 12-Week Training Plan in our brutal NYC winter, it was a real treat to actually see the apparel in front of me. The big race is March 9, from Dodger Stadium to the sea at Santa Monica. It was cool to meet Winnie ("like Winnie the Pooh," she said) and Boris among the great staff in that ASICS location. I bought a new Long Haul Handheld Water Bottle for my run (water faucets are off) and a new pair of Everyday Liner Gloves, and then they let me take photos of these LA Marathon items that are available there for purchase -- an Expo sneak peak!

ASICS Gear Review

Here is the water bottle ($18) and the neon glove ($12) I bought for my run.



I love-love-love the elastic hand strap, which requires no adjustment buckle like some others I have used. That is the real highlight of it for me -- fits everyone. I have mostly used my Ultimate Direction Quick Draw handheld the last few years, a big upgrade on the bright yellow Nathan I started with in '07, and the one thing I do like about the UD version is the rubber top that releases only a small amount of fluid when you bite down. It took a while to get used to that one, but I would recommend it for future ASICS models. Overall, the ASICS handheld is very light, just the right size, more compact than any others I have used.

This winter has been especially hard on my glove supply. I am wearing them out, and they are in such constant use that I have misplaced them like never before. Can't find my awesome 2012 Harrisburg Marathon Expo registration gloves, can't find my old Sugois, just lost a Nike, and I only have one of the 2013 NYC Marathon ASICS Expo Five Borough gloves left that I wore in the race. So it was time for a new pair, and I went as bright and reflective as possible. When you run the West Side path down the Financial District to Battery Park, the problem is not cars, but bikes. These gloves gave me a little more protection, and the best part about all those little ASICS logos on the palm is that they are hard rubber and make it even easier to carry the handheld. These are the Liner models and they aren't too heavy, so my hands did not overheat. Between the gloves and the Storm Shelter Jacket, I was feeling just right.

Let's have a big hand for ASICS and their new NYC store!