Day 1: Responding To My Call...

By Frank

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adidas Malaysia...

I'm in need for a pair of training shoe, one that at least can do a 15KM run. I was eyeing at the new adidas Supernova Control 11 where I first saw the sample at the recent KLIM08 race kit collection day. But then, came the adidas second shoe seeding program of the year. I was very happy with the previous program and so, I decided to participate in this round too. Made an appointment with Krishnan and together with Ronnie, Kenny and Saiful, the 4 of us drop by at adidas Malaysia's office this noon. After informing on our feet size, Krishnan brought 4 pairs of shoes out. And here's the story...

The shoes...

The 4 shoes were the adizero Tempo, adizero Mana, Supernova Sequence and Response Control 7. I was presented with the Supernova Sequence due to the fact that I'm a mild pronator. However, after testing out each pair, Ronnie felt that the Supernova Sequence suits him better. I offered to change with his Response Control 7 as the shoe of suits me too, although I got to admit the Supernova Sequence was just excellent. But I believe Ronnie's feet can be pretty choosy on shoes, so I sacrificed. Hehe...

Details on the Response Control 7...

The adidas Response Control 7...

And so, I got my hands (or shall I say feet) on the adidas Response Control 7 for my second shoe seeding program. The shoe is a basic entry level model for the training/competition range. Not so much of high end technology built into the shoe. I love the colour of the shoe as it came in shades of white, metallic silver and red. And compared to the previous adidas adistar Cushion 6 I've got for the first program, this shoe is light. Here's a little background of the shoe's technology before I continue on.

adiPRENE: The main absorber at the heel.
adiPRENE +: The absorber at the forefoot which is also used for toe-off.
adiWEAR: A durable outsole used at high impact areaa.
FORMOTION: Acting as a suspension system provided by 2 plates at the heel area. And with it, the 2 plates moves around to adapt to the ground at every heel strike.
TORSION SYSTEM: A stabilizer used to provide arch support.
pro-moderator: Used by motion control shoes to limit the pronation of the feet.

One very interesting thing I found out was that, upon taking out the insole, I actually found out that instead of the usual adiPRENE 45 used on the inner rear heel sole, the LITESTRIKE 55 was used this time. Not sure on the diffrence though. But hey, let the running do the talking here.

LITESTRIKE 55 at the inner rear sole...

The weather was good today and training was on at Lake Gardens with Ronnie and the rest of the gang. And so, I slip into my new adidas Response Control 7 and away I went. First thing I felt was, the toebox was so roomy! I can move my toes around. Nice! But the heel area was pretty hard! Not sure was this due to the LITESTRIKE 55 or was the shoe too new? But as I ran, it felt better. The pro-moderator worked very well and I can certainly feel the support between my arch and heel. One thing that got me a little worried about was the stitching. As all my adidas shoes came with the noseam technology, the Response Control 7 didn't come with it. I was afraid of blisters or cuts that might happen but luckily it did not. Actually, it felt pretty nice except that the shoe isn't that well ventilated compared to my other adidas shoes. I miss the holes! Another concern of mine was the heel strike. Although the 2 FORMOTION plates were present, the mechanism that sits within it is missing. I'm not sure whether does this contributes to it, but I felt the rear sole to be moving too much. It was't really steady at every heel strike I made. Hmmm... But anyway, I felt really happy with the shoe as I ran pretty comfortable with it at a fast pace today covering 7.5KM. Here's a little summary of my early Day 1 test of the shoe:

Pros
1) Comfortable and light weight. No fancy high technology used.
2) Excellent pronation support by the pro-moderator although just only at the heel area.
3) 2E width suits those with wide feet.
4) Handsomely designed.

Cons
1) Ventilation could been better.
2) Heel area appear to be unsteady.

Pronation support by the pro-moderator...

The 2 FORMOTION plates...

The missing inner FORMOTION mechanism...

I'm happy with the Response Control 7 as it suits my requirement for running 10KM or max 15KM. I don't think I can run anything more than that in this shoe. Although the shoe is still new and have yet to run-in, I felt confident in it and might use it for this weekend's 10KM Larian Bersama Bomba 2008. How will the shoe fare in a race, only this weekend will tell. Till then, stay tune for my report.

And before signing off from this entry, I would like to thank Krishnan and adidas Malaysia for allowing yet another opportunity for me to participate in their shoe seeding program.

Group photo (From L-R: Saiful, Kenny, Ronnie, Frank, Krishnan)...