Dragonfly 2
Shopping gets me excited.
That remains true even now, in the golden age of online shopping.
For a runner, there is nothing that gets them more excited when shopping than shoes.
The thrill of getting a new pair of shoes,
in these days when every manufacturer is fiercely competing in shoe development,
feels like it has only increased.
When I entered junior high school and joined the track team,
the joy I felt when I first put on the Tarther F1
that I had bought for me is something I still cannot forget.
That is the same even after passing 50 years old,
and the joy of getting a new pair of shoes
is no different from when I was in junior high school.
Today's shoes have improved in performance so wonderfully
that it is said that just by changing shoes, you can shave off over 10 seconds in a 5000m race,
and several minutes in a marathon.
Of course, since humans cannot live two lives at the same time,
even if you set a personal best by several minutes,
you cannot definitively say
whether it was thanks to the shoes.
But when things get tough,
you can tell yourself,
I'm wearing these shoes, so I can still keep going.
I am an old-fashioned person.
Until last year,
I held the fixed idea that
"I don't want to rely on shoes. It's not the shoes that are running,
I am the one running."
I even had a twisted pride that I would train my own legs before relying on shoes, and beat the runners wearing the latest models.
However, last year, before the Hakodate Marathon,
I finally purchased Asics Metaspeed.
At first, I got injured,
and I felt uncomfortable with the sensation
that was clearly different from my previous shoes,
but I gradually got used to it, and now that twisted pride
is nowhere to be found.
"I want that too, I want this too,
I want more, I want even more"
And then, the other day, I finally got my hands on the pioneer of thick-soled shoes,
a pair of Nike shoes.
What I bought were track spikes.
The Dragonfly 2.
The moment the shoes arrived at my house and I opened the box,
my heart raced at their dazzling form.
The color is Electric.
Black spots reminiscent of the Ultra Kaiju Eleking
are scattered across a shocking orange base.
"So cool!"
An outdated exclamation of admiration spilled from my middle-aged mouth.
You might say that I ended up choosing Nike after all, but I had originally worn Nike shoes.
For races, Nike Speed Racers were my only choice.
So, there was no doubt they would fit my feet.
I couldn't wait to go to the track,
and as I was walking around on the wooden floor of my house wearing them,
my wife caught me and asked, "What is that?"
In my overwhelming joy,
I had forgotten that I ordered them online without getting my wife's permission.
"Well, um, you see...
...this is the last pair of spikes I'll ever buy in my life."
I think that was an excellent piece of persuasion, if I do say so myself.
Perhaps feeling pity after seeing me innocently wearing such disproportionately
shocking orange shoes,
my wife said,
"That's your birthday present, okay?"
and went back to the kitchen.
The shakedown is the first distance time trial of the autumn season.
I finish my warm-up and slip my feet into the shoes.
As expected, the fit is perfect.
When I tighten the laces, they wrap around my feet
snugly.
This feeling is Nike.
Asics' Metaspeed is good too, but
it has a bit too much room for my foot shape,
so the fit of the Nike shoes suits me better.
Standing at the start line of a track race,
I always feel gloomy imagining the hardship to come, but today,
the excitement of seeing what kind of performance these shoes
will show me outweighs that.
I was worried that if an old guy like me wore such flashy shoes,
I would stand out, but when I lined up at the start,
there were many students wearing these latest shoes,
so my worries were completely unfounded.
That in itself is a bit of a "what the heck" feeling.
The desire for self-display is a troublesome thing.
What matters is not standing out because of the color.
It's standing out because of the run.
I rub my nose with my thumb and step up to the start line.
(Enter the Dragon!)
1000m in 2 minutes 58 seconds.
It's a decent pace, but it doesn't feel like I'm going all out.
It's faster than at the Setagaya record meet in the spring.
Is this the true power of the Dragonfly 2?
2000m in 6 minutes 00 seconds (3 minutes 02 seconds).
It's starting to get a bit tough, but
the laps continue with the feeling of holding on
right at the edge where lactic acid is about to overflow.
3000m in 9 minutes 04 seconds (3 minutes 04 seconds).
This is the tough part of a 5000m race.
At the Setagaya record meet, I still had some leeway,
but today, I lost that leeway here.
The race moves, and the runners aiming for the 14-minute range
pick up the pace.
If I don't hold on here,
the good pace I've kept until now will go to waste.
I desperately throw my legs forward.
As if responding to that, the Dragonfly 2
breathes fire.
My upper body thrashes about like a dragon.
Usually, when this happens, my power disperses
and my pace drops sharply, but
I feel like it's thanks to the Dragonfly 2
that I'm somehow managing to gather that scattering energy
and turn it into the propulsion to move forward.
As long as you are on the right part of the plate,
propulsion to move forward is guaranteed even with little force.
That's the kind of shoe it is.
4000m in 12 minutes 12 seconds (3 minutes 08 seconds).
My body is quite exhausted, but there is a perfect group,
and looking at their faces, everyone is just as exhausted.
They all have faces that say, "Two and a half laps is long." If I can just endure in this group, it looks like I can break 15 minutes 30 seconds.
Passed the final lap at 14 minutes 7 seconds.
If I come back in 72 seconds for the last lap, I can break 15 minutes 20 seconds. The group's speed increases.
I can't keep up with the sharpness of the young people's final sprint.
However, until the very end, the Dragonfly 2
responds to the old man's efforts.
Burn, old man!
The combination of the latest shoes
and the worn-out legs of a runner
crossed the finish line
while painting a strange contrast.
15 minutes 18 seconds. A season best.
No, looking back, it's my best record for my 50s, 40s, and even my over-35s.
Of course, this is largely due to the benefits of the shoes,
but even more than that, the benefit of the increased motivation
to face hard training again thanks to the new shoes was even greater.
Since I'm wearing these shoes, they make me feel like
I have to train properly.
Perhaps this is their greatest effect.
Isn't that the most important benefit?
And they reminded me of the joy of running
that I felt when I first wore the Tarther F1
back in junior high school.
I felt like I could go anywhere without a single doubt,
just like the boy I once was.