Last December, during a sales presentation with ASICS, they unveiled the latest updates to the four models in the Blast lineup coming in 2026. According to ASICS, each served a specific need for the consumer based on their preferred amount of Blast. I recently did a video explaining each model and when you’d pull them out. However, even having run miles in each, it still became a challenge explaining the difference between a SuperBlast and a MegaBlast. The names become muddled, and while I legitimately like all of them, it’s hard to convince someone they need to spend $750 to be fully blasted. Just this past week, I had an awkward conversation with a regular customer comparing his ASICS Kayano to the SuperBlast. Without context, names like Sonic and Nova just become semi-obnoxious words.
At the end of the presentation, they unveiled another new model joining the ASICS family this winter. One they felt could tell its story right in its name. The ASICS SLOWCUSH. Simple and effective. This week, I logged my most miles since gimping myself a few weeks back, and quite frankly, some SLOWCUSH sounded lovely.
When I first started this blog, I ran in a shoe called the Mizuno Sky Prime, the antithesis of a Sunday Shoe. Something that accommodated plodding along after a tired week. A shoe that screamed lazy Sunday. After logging some miles in the SLOWCUSH, I actually think I have another made-up category. A Winter Shoe. No, it’s not a hot shoe, more like a Snuggie for your feet. Like wrapping yourself in a sweater on a chilly day. Unlike the Sky Prime, you immediately sink into the SLOWCUSH. Its stretchy upper and soft midsole engulf your foot with each step. It’s like mixing an old Nerf football with a box of Kleenex.
On a personal level, though, I don’t like overly soft shoes. Never have. I absolutely see the appeal, and walking out the door, I loved how wide and deep they felt for my banged-up feet. But as soon as I got going, it felt like I was running much harder than the splits suggested. Which is also to say, they’re not meant for speed. It says so right in the name. It’s a recovery shoe. A post-long-run shoe. An all-day-at-work shoe. Not a speedy shoe. But today, I wasn’t even trying to run fast. I wanted to recover in them. Yet with each step, I felt like I was sinking deeper and deeper into a quagmire of cushion. My tired legs had to dig deep, literally and figuratively, to keep up the momentum. The thing I really liked about the Sky Prime was its ability to be soft and responsive. Slow and fast. This was absolutely a one-speed shoe.
I also couldn’t help but think of the scene in Jerry Maguire with the Cushman character the night before the NFL Draft. After looking out the window and seeing his face on a Times Square billboard, he mused that he had “Cush-Lash” from all the attention he was getting. It’s sort of how I feel about this category. I feel like two years ago everyone was making plated trainers. Then that market died off. Then we hit the Max era, and now it’s recovery shoes. Believe you me, this spring we’re going to be inundated with $150 tempo shoes. Every brand came up with the same concept shoe and rushed to get it to market, and by now, I’m having Cush-Lash. Again, I’m not crapping on the category. It’s just not my style, and by now I’m sort of over it.
I did want to note that the number one buyer of shoes at our shop, who has even more shoes than me, said the SLOWCUSH is his favorite shoe of the year. He’s an older runner who wants to run three or four easy miles every other day without feeling terra firma beneath his feet. For him, this is his jam. So, to each their own. Figure out if you’re someone looking to Blast off or slow down into Cush. We should be thankful we live in a time when we can have those options.
