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Hello, everybody, and welcome to

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00:00:31,380 --> 00:00:35,988
the Doctors of Running podcast, 
where we, a group of Doctors of 

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Physical Therapy, discuss the 
art and science of running and 

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the stuff that we put on our 
feet. 

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Today, at the round table, we 
have some known faces. 

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We have Dr. David Salas and 
myself. 

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I'll be hosting. 
I'm Nathan Brown. 

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And we also have a somewhat 
familiar face. 

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If you have been following this 
podcast for a while, we have 

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Paul Lang joining us from A6, 
the senior product line manager 

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for global performance running. 
So Paul, thank you for joining 

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us on the pod today. 
Hey, guys. 

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It's a pleasure to be back. 
I always enjoy myself with you. 

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Thanks for having me. 
Absolutely. 

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So if you have been following 
us, you probably remember a 

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conversation from last year when
the Mega Blast and Sonic Blast 

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came out, we had Paul on. 
He was able to shed some more 

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light on kind of what was the 
inspiration beside it behind 

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some of these designs. 
How was this whole blast line 

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getting built out? 
A lot of these conversations 

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were started last year. 
And so if you're wanting and 

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you're curious, you can always 
go back to hear more of that 

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conversation. 
But one of the teases that 

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happened in that conversation 
was this whole line is going to 

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start to make more sense once 
the new Superblast update comes 

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out. 
That's where we are now. 

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We have the Super Blast 3 from 
Asex has a big update from 

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version two. 
So we wanted to have Paul back 

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to be able to talk about what 
are these updates. 

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What might they mean for running
experience? 

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Both David and I have gotten 
miles on this shoe so we can 

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pepper in our thoughts in 
addition to kind of the design 

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side of things. 
But we're excited to dive into 

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the design of this product. 
But before we get to that, we 

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are also in the middle of the 
Olympics, Paul, do you have a 

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preference between summer winter
Olympics, and if it and within 

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the winter ones, because that's 
what we're doing, do you have a 

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favorite thing to watch? 
I'm having been a track and 

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field and cross-country athlete,
I always kind of took all to 

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some games. 
It's uh, a weak spot in my 

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heart, probably my favorite 
sporting event, but which I do 

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love. 
Um, I think there's some 

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unbelievable athleticism on 
display. 

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I was watching some of the 
downhill and just watching the 

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velocity that those athletes 
move with. 

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I think some of that ski jumping
and the aerodynamics that go 

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into that sport are incredible. 
Uh, you know, watching, you 

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know, 100s of meters uh, being 
passed underneath. 

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So, you know, all of that. 
And I'm a, I'm a 90s kid. 

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So I grew up watching the half 
pipe get introduced. 

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And so I'll always kind of have 
a soft spot for, you know, 

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flying tomato, you know, Sean 
White and, you know, everybody 

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that's kind of come after. 
So keep an eyes on Chloe Kim 

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this year in that sport as well.
That's great. 

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Well, let's dive into it. 
Let's start talking about this 

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new super blast. 
What was kind of the vision 

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behind this update, what made it
kind of what it is. 

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How'd you how'd you land here? 
Yeah, so I think when you go all

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the way back to Super Blast one,
to really kind of get to where 

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we are now. 
You know, Super Blast one was 

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this idea of creating experience
with the race foam, no plates. 

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We thought it was a really cool 
idea, but weren't sure, you 

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know, what the commercial appeal
was going to be, you know, how 

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it would truly scale. 
And I think we saw a response 

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was really, really strong um, to
this whole idea of a super shoe 

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without a plate. 
Uh, this kind of like video game

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cheat code, if you will, this 
shoe that could do a lot of 

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different things really well. 
And, you know, as we went 

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through the variations from one 
to two, I think you saw 

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incremental improvements. 
Um, there were some really good 

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touches. 
We went from that turbo to turbo

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plus and the midsole material, 
you know, the outsole, I think 

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one of the big things we heard 
was on V one, the little holes 

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that became our dust catchers 
or... remember that. 

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But if you liked V1, you know, 
V2 was a pretty, um, you know, 

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logical step forward. 
I think now watching just the 

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entire category of Super Trainer
that's proliferated all of the 

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brands. 
And for us, you know, we've got 

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this saying that we want to lead
and not follow. 

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And so I think it was time for 
us to take a little bit of a 

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bigger step forward. 
Luckily, looking back to the 

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spring and what we launched in 
Tokyo, the new meta speed 

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product, we're able to introduce
this incredible new foam in FF 

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Leap. 
Really soft, um, but incredible 

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energy return and bounce, really
light weight. 

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And so, you know, of course, uh,
the inline PMs are looking at 

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that phone thinking, okay, you 
know, how can we borrow that and

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pull it over? 
Uh, the challenge is, obviously,

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if you think about a meta speed 
ray and just how deformable that

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foam is underfoot. 
You know, one of the key, you 

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know, priorities of Superblast 
is that idea of kind of 

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protection or insurance that 
comes along with balance and 

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speed. 
And so, you know, our challenge 

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was how do we optimize that foam
in a setup that continues kind 

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of the legacy or the DNA of 
Super Blast, but also shows 

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evolution and kind of that next 
step in the path of where the 

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issue goes to. 
Yeah, that's great. 

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And when it comes to making the 
final decisions on what foam 

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gets placed, what outsole, how 
the lacing system works, like 

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all of the design elements, what
is the sort of testing process 

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that you all bring shoes 
through, or specifically for the

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Superblast 3, like is there lab 
testing, real world testing, 

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what does that look like for a 
shoe like this? 

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Yeah, so the season starts kind 
of with the seasonal brief. 

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Um, that's the product manager 
bringing the idea of the product

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to the design, the development 
team, the greater, you know, 

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Asics group. 
You know, within that, there may

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be suggestions on areas we'd 
like to explore. 

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But then, you know, our 
development team really dives 

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into some of those materials. 
They come up with a few 

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different types of protos or 
samples that we start testing. 

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Um, you know, I'll go to my 
grave saying ASIX has the 

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world's best development teams. 
Um, on this, uh, worked with a 

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partner, Masamoto's son, the 
king of bounce, and every stone 

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does not go unturned. 
And so the process through. 

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We actually had different 
setups. 

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You know, it's still a 2 layer 
system, top layer leap, bottom 

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layer, the blast plus. 
But through that testing, we 

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were pretty aggressive in trying
different things, what testing 

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actually looks like is 
multifaceted. 

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So, you know, we've got our 
institute of sports science 

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in-house. 
That's kind of our sports 

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research lab. 
We also use out-of-house 

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partners. 
So we partner with helix out of 

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Santa Barbara for independent 
testing. 

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Um, we use uh, internal testing 
uh, that goes on in the Boston 

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office. 
We use external testers kind of 

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across the United States. 
And that's not a one round 

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thing. 
That's multiple rounds going 

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through different types of 
shoes. 

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You know, even at one point, we 
were comparing super blast 

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against mega blast. 
So all of that is kind of 

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continuously feeding us in terms
of information. 

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And so this feedback loop helps 
us kind of understand what the 

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right choices are. 
You know, a lot of times, I 

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think, on paper, you think, oh, 
okay, you know, this is a better

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foam in my mind, you know, I 
enjoyed this ride better, but 

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then when you actually get the 
testing feedback, you know, 

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these trends start to show up 
that are pretty definitive over,

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you know, what the consumer is 
feeling, what they're 

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understanding, and oftentimes 
they're going into it blind. 

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So they don't have the 
preconceived notions that we 

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made being so close, uh, to the 
sun in these instances. 

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So it's, it's pretty fun 
process. 

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Um, you know, you have to remove
yourself pretty significantly, 

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just from a biased standpoint. 
But once you're able to do that 

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and kind of think independently 
in bits and pieces. 

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It all comes together really 
nicely. 

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That makes a lot of sense. 
When it comes to, so I love that

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you have these different types 
of feedback, when it comes to 

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like the lab testing within your
internal like sports lab, is 

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that, uh, like materials testing
or is it shoe on person testing 

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or a combination of both? 
So it's both. 

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The material testing is kind of 
ongoing always. 

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So we've got these materials 
being tested and oftentimes new 

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phones are put in the same 
tooling, um, just so we kind of 

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have a consistent base of 
tooling is, you know, the the 

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mid-soul shaping of the shoe. 
Um, You know, we're able to 

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understand, oh, this phone feels
like this, this phone feels like

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this, and that gives us a 
baseline of consistency knowing,

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okay, this phone reacts this way
to the mechanical testing or 

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this way to the human testing. 
And so a lot of these foams are,

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you know, being developed, 
tested way beyond uh, we've even

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begun to think about some of 
these models. 

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And so that's one track. 
You know, on the other track, 

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you know, we're testing our 
shoes, we're testing competitor 

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shoes. 
We're working through mechanical

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testing, perception testing, 
just to kind of get greater 

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handles on the metrics that we 
deem are kind of the most 

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important. 
And those may change based on 

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the shoot. 
You know, something like this, 

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you know, we may be paying a lot
more attention to the energy 

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return, right, through the 
forefoot of the shoe than we are

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to the shock attenuation and the
rear foot of the shoe. 

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We have stabilizing metrics we 
use. you know, those types of 

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things. 
So with this one, one of our 

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00:09:30,532 --> 00:09:33,344
really big focuses was this 
energy return coming out of the 

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forefoot. 
And so we're able to benchmark 

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this issue against other 
versions of the sample, 

186
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benchmark it against previous, 
uh, super blasts, other ASIC 

187
00:09:43,158 --> 00:09:47,723
shoes, you know, a great example
is Novoblast, uh, Sonic Blast, 

188
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Super Blast, and Mega Blast. 
You know, we've had these 3 

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shoes in the A 6 blast family. 
People ask, you know, what's 

190
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usage occasion, what's 
difference? 

191
00:09:56,220 --> 00:09:58,980
Well, one of the really simple 
metrics outside of usage is just

192
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the amount of bounce that you 
get out of each one. 

193
00:10:01,500 --> 00:10:05,781
As you work through from Nova to
Sonic to Super to mega, you 

194
00:10:05,781 --> 00:10:08,742
know, we've got a measured 
difference that shows that 

195
00:10:08,742 --> 00:10:12,032
incremental increase as you work
through price and bounce through

196
00:10:12,032 --> 00:10:14,279
the different models. 
And so that's really helpful to 

197
00:10:14,279 --> 00:10:16,548
us too. 
Just because we want to make 

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00:10:16,548 --> 00:10:19,012
sure that we're carving out, you
know, differentiated 

199
00:10:19,012 --> 00:10:22,090
experiences, not just in the 
blast line, but if you're 

200
00:10:22,090 --> 00:10:24,239
putting this shoe against a 
Nimbus, right? 

201
00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:26,724
They should be very different 
experiences for very different 

202
00:10:26,724 --> 00:10:28,968
people. 
And that's part of, you know, 

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00:10:28,968 --> 00:10:31,259
how we holistically build the 
product line. 

204
00:10:31,259 --> 00:10:35,999
No, that's great. 
I love the comparative analysis.

205
00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:40,228
That goes on from a, on foot and
off foot kind of testing because

206
00:10:40,228 --> 00:10:43,550
I think, like you said, there 
can be this intimate knowledge 

207
00:10:43,550 --> 00:10:47,778
of how a shoe or a product or a 
material is supposed to respond 

208
00:10:47,778 --> 00:10:51,100
because of its properties, and 
then you put it on someone's 

209
00:10:51,100 --> 00:10:54,418
foot and they're like, that's 
not at all what I experienced. 

210
00:10:54,419 --> 00:10:57,479
That's why I sometimes like to 
do blind wear testing where it's

211
00:10:57,479 --> 00:10:59,519
like, I don't look at the tech 
sheet. 

212
00:10:59,519 --> 00:11:03,232
I just go run and then I kind of
give that sort of analysis of 

213
00:11:03,232 --> 00:11:04,859
it. 
That's a fun way to do it. 

214
00:11:04,860 --> 00:11:06,479
Otherwise it does. 
It kind of biases you. 

215
00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:10,335
And as a doing some of my 
research, my writing makes a ton

216
00:11:10,335 --> 00:11:12,733
of sense to me. 
And then when I submit my 

217
00:11:12,733 --> 00:11:14,753
writing to like a journal, 
they're like, what are you 

218
00:11:14,753 --> 00:11:16,674
talking about, man? 
It's because it made sense to 

219
00:11:16,674 --> 00:11:18,418
me, but it didn't make sense to 
them. 

220
00:11:18,419 --> 00:11:21,868
So it sounds like you get a 
little bit of that feedback or a

221
00:11:21,868 --> 00:11:24,820
lot of that feedback before you 
really like send it out for 

222
00:11:24,820 --> 00:11:26,278
everybody to do. 
So that's really cool. 

223
00:11:26,279 --> 00:11:29,843
Your conversation about the 4 
foot energy return kind of leads

224
00:11:29,843 --> 00:11:34,379
us into what I was curious about
next, and it was how you ended 

225
00:11:34,379 --> 00:11:37,295
up making decisions about what 
constituted this mid-soul, how 

226
00:11:37,295 --> 00:11:40,209
you chose the specific 
materials, how much of those 

227
00:11:40,209 --> 00:11:43,439
materials, and even the shaping 
and the design of that. 

228
00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:46,456
How did that come to be and why 
were the decisions made that 

229
00:11:46,456 --> 00:11:48,893
were made? 
Yeah, so I think when FF Leap, 

230
00:11:48,893 --> 00:11:52,841
you know, became known to us and
we knew it was going to start 

231
00:11:52,841 --> 00:11:55,943
working in a meta speed, there 
was really high interest in 

232
00:11:55,943 --> 00:11:58,757
pulling that into Superblast, 
and that was for a couple 

233
00:11:58,757 --> 00:12:00,621
reasons. 
You know, we thought that was a 

234
00:12:00,621 --> 00:12:02,879
film that could really evolve 
the feel of the shoe. 

235
00:12:02,879 --> 00:12:05,312
And we also knew that would 
build some greater separation 

236
00:12:05,312 --> 00:12:07,499
from the mega blast that's in 
the line now. 

237
00:12:07,500 --> 00:12:11,016
So once we understood that this 
foam was a possibility for the 

238
00:12:11,016 --> 00:12:14,815
shoe, you know, then like I 
said, we had to figure out how 

239
00:12:14,815 --> 00:12:17,735
to optimize it, because we 
couldn't have this super soft 

240
00:12:17,735 --> 00:12:20,655
foam as a standalone single 
piece, you know, knowing what 

241
00:12:20,655 --> 00:12:24,451
this shoe is supposed to do and 
what it stands for, how it's 

242
00:12:24,451 --> 00:12:25,619
positioned for different 
runners. 

243
00:12:25,620 --> 00:12:31,080
And so we went through a process
of, um, This is all after our 

244
00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:34,163
initial design inspiration and 
shoes designed. developer starts

245
00:12:34,163 --> 00:12:37,059
getting into construction. 
And so, you know, there's 

246
00:12:37,059 --> 00:12:40,619
construction is such an under 
heralded part of the process. 

247
00:12:40,620 --> 00:12:43,587
I think everyone's really 
excited to talk about the phones

248
00:12:43,587 --> 00:12:47,139
that are in shoes, but we're not
really talking about how the 

249
00:12:47,139 --> 00:12:50,099
foam is built and worked out 
from an architecture standpoint.

250
00:12:50,100 --> 00:12:54,858
And so with a bunch of different
bottom layers, we played with a 

251
00:12:54,858 --> 00:12:57,418
bunch of different shaping along
the way. 

252
00:12:57,419 --> 00:13:01,661
So, you know, one of the things 
I'll call out is the paint is 

253
00:13:01,661 --> 00:13:04,079
obviously looking like a very 
large dividing line. 

254
00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:06,538
That's not the foam separation 
line. 

255
00:13:06,539 --> 00:13:10,675
So there's just 10 millimeters 
of the blast plus that runs 

256
00:13:10,675 --> 00:13:14,699
along that bottom layer. 
Um, that's for a little 

257
00:13:14,699 --> 00:13:17,219
increased uh, stability, 
durability, reinforcement. 

258
00:13:17,220 --> 00:13:20,460
Yeah, you can see it right there
where David's running over with 

259
00:13:20,460 --> 00:13:22,305
his finger. 
If you look closely, there's a 

260
00:13:22,305 --> 00:13:24,810
seam line. 
Um, The only place where that's 

261
00:13:24,810 --> 00:13:28,335
not just a flush straight line. 
It's actually going to be on the

262
00:13:28,335 --> 00:13:29,999
medial side on the inside of the
shoe. 

263
00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:33,418
So through that arch, we raised 
it up a little bit this time. 

264
00:13:33,419 --> 00:13:36,695
That's one of those touches just
to help kind of harness that 

265
00:13:36,695 --> 00:13:40,517
foam a bit to keep us a little 
bit more in control, you know, 

266
00:13:40,517 --> 00:13:43,783
at midstance, and then, you 
know, the lips of that foam as 

267
00:13:43,783 --> 00:13:45,959
well, kind of raise up a little 
bit. 

268
00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:48,660
So the side walls are a bit 
brought up. 

269
00:13:48,660 --> 00:13:52,259
That'll help the foot sit nicely
in that shoe without too much 

270
00:13:52,259 --> 00:13:54,359
movement. 
Uh, and then, you know, what's 

271
00:13:54,359 --> 00:13:57,959
really cool is I think the 
bounce pod um, or the trampoline

272
00:13:57,959 --> 00:14:00,959
pod is one of the hallmarks of 
our bounce shoes. 

273
00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:04,779
But thinking back to the 
previous version, Superblast 2 

274
00:14:04,779 --> 00:14:08,419
had a pretty flush forefoot. 
We really didn't have that pod 

275
00:14:08,419 --> 00:14:11,291
pronounced as much. 
So what we've been able to do on

276
00:14:11,291 --> 00:14:14,195
this model construction wise is 
we actually have this same kind 

277
00:14:14,195 --> 00:14:17,099
of diamond shaped sitting on the
top sole underneath the upper. 

278
00:14:17,100 --> 00:14:20,884
So as that foot, you know, works
into the forefoot and we get 

279
00:14:20,884 --> 00:14:23,503
compression, you're starting to 
push down on that trampoline 

280
00:14:23,503 --> 00:14:25,249
pod. 
And then from a geometry 

281
00:14:25,249 --> 00:14:28,450
standpoint, this is much more 
pronounced than it's been in the

282
00:14:28,450 --> 00:14:30,778
past, a little bit larger, more 
surface area. 

283
00:14:30,779 --> 00:14:34,112
And so you really get that 
engagement of that pod with 

284
00:14:34,112 --> 00:14:37,439
contact to the ground and then 
the idea of working back. 

285
00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:41,235
So, you know, the foam along 
with the way we've constructed 

286
00:14:41,235 --> 00:14:44,339
it, um, based off of our 
measurements at ISS. 

287
00:14:44,340 --> 00:14:48,043
Um, we're about 15, a little bit
over 15%, um, you know, more 

288
00:14:48,043 --> 00:14:51,735
energy in the 4 foot than where 
we've been on the previous super

289
00:14:51,735 --> 00:14:54,203
blast. 
We're able to do that at 10 

290
00:14:54,203 --> 00:14:56,399
grams less weight. 
So we lost some weight along the

291
00:14:56,399 --> 00:14:59,732
way as well. 
Um, So I think for us, you know,

292
00:14:59,732 --> 00:15:02,519
the experience of the shoe is so
important. 

293
00:15:02,519 --> 00:15:05,759
And if we're able to give a 
little bit more balance with 

294
00:15:05,759 --> 00:15:07,379
softer step in and lighter 
weights. 

295
00:15:07,379 --> 00:15:10,091
Um, we feel like we're really 
hitting on the priorities we set

296
00:15:10,091 --> 00:15:12,119
out um, ahead of the brief of 
this issue. 

297
00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:15,593
That's great. 
And is the weight loss coming 

298
00:15:15,593 --> 00:15:18,239
from the movement to flight 
phone leap? 

299
00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:21,360
Like, is that where that weight 
loss is coming or is it other 

300
00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:23,879
things too? 
It's a combination of things. 

301
00:15:23,879 --> 00:15:26,714
We're always looking to figure 
out where we can find a gram 

302
00:15:26,714 --> 00:15:29,423
here, a gram there. 
So, you know, outsoul, there is 

303
00:15:29,423 --> 00:15:32,657
a little less rubber coverage at
midfoot from where we were 

304
00:15:32,657 --> 00:15:37,859
previous on YouTube. 
Um, we have, um, new foam. 

305
00:15:37,860 --> 00:15:40,679
And then we'll get into the 
upper as well, but just having a

306
00:15:40,679 --> 00:15:42,839
little bit of weight kind of all
over the place. 

307
00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:47,939
So I think we're 239 grams or so
in a men's nine. 

308
00:15:47,940 --> 00:15:50,507
Nice. 
David, can I pitch you a 

309
00:15:50,507 --> 00:15:53,477
question too, just from a, from 
an experience standpoint, you've

310
00:15:53,477 --> 00:15:57,959
gotten to run in the shoe. 
I have a run in this shoe. 

311
00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:01,918
You have at least a really long 
run in this issue. 

312
00:16:01,919 --> 00:16:06,128
What's your experience with the 
forefoot between the 2 and the 3

313
00:16:06,128 --> 00:16:09,978
from your experience so far? 
Yeah, I actually, do you think 

314
00:16:09,978 --> 00:16:12,569
it's noticeable? 
I think I was really trying to 

315
00:16:12,569 --> 00:16:15,539
think about it, especially going
into the podcast today and then 

316
00:16:15,539 --> 00:16:18,509
also recorded a video for the 
YouTube channel as well this 

317
00:16:18,509 --> 00:16:21,479
morning and really trying to 
just get my thoughts centered in

318
00:16:21,479 --> 00:16:24,178
like what are the differences 
that I'm noticing and feeling? 

319
00:16:24,179 --> 00:16:28,139
And I think there's a couple 
things. 

320
00:16:28,139 --> 00:16:30,843
And I think it's interesting 
with having the blast plus on 

321
00:16:30,843 --> 00:16:33,538
the bottom and then having the 
flight phone leap up top. 

322
00:16:33,539 --> 00:16:36,739
That flight phone leap, 
especially with it being one to 

323
00:16:36,739 --> 00:16:40,259
one, like, it's so much more 
compliant than the turbo plus. 

324
00:16:40,259 --> 00:16:42,976
However, the changes in that 
blast plus, like you almost feel

325
00:16:42,976 --> 00:16:45,940
that blast plus a little bit 
more than you did in the 

326
00:16:45,940 --> 00:16:48,653
previous version because of the 
compliancy of the foam on the 

327
00:16:48,653 --> 00:16:50,699
topsole. 
And I think that does come 

328
00:16:50,699 --> 00:16:53,699
through where that, like, medial
arch that Paul was talking 

329
00:16:53,699 --> 00:16:56,999
about, you can almost feel like 
a little cradling sensation as 

330
00:16:56,999 --> 00:17:01,159
you load into that shoe. 
And then that 4 foot pod, I do 

331
00:17:01,159 --> 00:17:04,513
think you can notice it. 
It feels just a little bit more 

332
00:17:04,513 --> 00:17:07,417
bulbous and you just kind of, 
you get a little spring back 

333
00:17:07,417 --> 00:17:10,318
from it that I just didn't quite
get in the Superblast too. 

334
00:17:10,319 --> 00:17:13,388
Like the Superblast 2 kind of 
felt like this structured 

335
00:17:13,388 --> 00:17:16,152
lightweight rocker and that 
turbo plus definitely had a 

336
00:17:16,152 --> 00:17:18,298
bounce to it, but it didn't 
feel... 

337
00:17:18,299 --> 00:17:21,419
It didn't feel quite as 
compliant. 

338
00:17:21,420 --> 00:17:23,904
Like, you got this like kind of 
firmer bounce where, like, this 

339
00:17:23,904 --> 00:17:26,792
now has a little bit more of a 
give in ascent, if that makes 

340
00:17:26,792 --> 00:17:28,680
sense. 
Um, ironically, though, like, 

341
00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:32,880
and I'm sure we'll talk about 
this later in differentiation 

342
00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:37,500
with the mega blast, but it's 
like that daily training bounce,

343
00:17:37,500 --> 00:17:40,452
if that makes sense. 
Like, it feels like it almost 

344
00:17:40,452 --> 00:17:42,988
like, it doesn't want to go 
super fast, but it wants to 

345
00:17:42,988 --> 00:17:45,559
bounce. 
And so, like, it just kind of 

346
00:17:45,559 --> 00:17:48,251
feels nice and rhythmic at the 
easy paces. 

347
00:17:48,251 --> 00:17:50,939
And, um, yeah, like Nate alluded
to this. 

348
00:17:50,940 --> 00:17:53,759
But yeah, yesterday I ran 21.5 
miles in this. 

349
00:17:53,759 --> 00:17:58,259
I think you said I might run 5 
tomorrow. 

350
00:17:58,259 --> 00:18:01,911
I might run 15. 
And then he ran 21, so... 

351
00:18:01,911 --> 00:18:07,047
I literally, so I mapped out 
this run for those that are 

352
00:18:07,047 --> 00:18:10,255
familiar with Santa Barbara. 
Like I live in like the upper 

353
00:18:10,255 --> 00:18:12,598
state area, kind of like give or
take Lakumra and state. 

354
00:18:12,599 --> 00:18:15,719
And so like, in the neighboring 
town is Golita. 

355
00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:20,648
And so I ran up La Coombra and I
hit foothill and I made a left 

356
00:18:20,648 --> 00:18:24,239
and that road is a long one. 
It basically goes the entire 

357
00:18:24,239 --> 00:18:27,401
length of Golita, and then it'll
literally meet up with another 

358
00:18:27,401 --> 00:18:30,558
main street called Hollister, 
and then that can take you to 

359
00:18:30,558 --> 00:18:33,715
like where Costco, and you see 
Santa Barbara, and like those 

360
00:18:33,715 --> 00:18:36,298
things are over that on the 
outside of town. 

361
00:18:36,299 --> 00:18:40,541
So I basically made a left and 
then just went straight for like

362
00:18:40,541 --> 00:18:43,451
9 plus miles. 
And Along the way, there's a lot

363
00:18:43,451 --> 00:18:47,315
of like major crossings, you 
know, and I kind of had it in my

364
00:18:47,315 --> 00:18:51,455
head, like, if I don't feel good
or I don't feel like I can keep 

365
00:18:51,455 --> 00:18:55,319
going or like, I have a rough 
idea of the distance if I just 

366
00:18:55,319 --> 00:18:58,078
made a loop out of each of those
major turns. 

367
00:18:58,079 --> 00:19:01,703
And so I just kind of went one 
road after the next, after the 

368
00:19:01,703 --> 00:19:05,057
next, after the next, and then I
hit this road named Glenn Annie,

369
00:19:05,057 --> 00:19:07,379
and I was like, there's no 
turning back now. 

370
00:19:07,380 --> 00:19:11,284
I'm like, I either go left and 
I'd turn it or I'm sending this 

371
00:19:11,284 --> 00:19:13,391
thing over 20. 
I wasn't sure what the number 

372
00:19:13,391 --> 00:19:15,928
would be because I've never done
the full loop for my place 

373
00:19:15,928 --> 00:19:19,122
there. 
Um, but yeah, it ended up being 

374
00:19:19,122 --> 00:19:22,542
21 and change. 
And I did cut a couple pieces 

375
00:19:22,542 --> 00:19:25,444
off through campus. 
It probably would be 22 if I did

376
00:19:25,444 --> 00:19:28,171
like what the normal loop would 
have been envisioned because it 

377
00:19:28,171 --> 00:19:31,419
came out to 21.6 But yeah, I 
just focused on running easy and

378
00:19:31,419 --> 00:19:34,679
getting into rhythm and I gave 
myself the out if I needed it. 

379
00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:37,760
And then I hit that point where 
I had to just make the decision 

380
00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:39,959
and I was like, well, there's no
turning back now. 

381
00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:43,832
I was in the middle of the run, 
and I sent them a message in our

382
00:19:43,832 --> 00:19:46,977
DOR group chat, and I was just 
like, guys, I'm 10.5 miles out 

383
00:19:46,977 --> 00:19:50,338
right now. 
I got to go back. 

384
00:19:50,339 --> 00:19:54,400
Besides 10.5 more. 
It's awesome Yeah, but yeah, it 

385
00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:56,506
was good. 
I mean, from the 4 foot 

386
00:19:56,506 --> 00:19:58,976
experience, I definitely, it 
does feel a little bit more 

387
00:19:58,976 --> 00:20:01,199
compliant and that balance is a 
little more noticeable. 

388
00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:05,879
Yeah, great. 
So the thinking about this shoe.

389
00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:09,114
The original plan with the 1st 
super blast was like this 

390
00:20:09,114 --> 00:20:11,459
premium, kind of super foam 
without a plate. 

391
00:20:11,460 --> 00:20:15,444
When you go to like leap, was 
there any temptation to think 

392
00:20:15,444 --> 00:20:19,428
about plate integration or was 
it known, hey, this is not a 

393
00:20:19,428 --> 00:20:22,739
plated shoe, we got to make it 
work somehow else. 

394
00:20:22,740 --> 00:20:24,058
What was that thought process 
like? 

395
00:20:24,059 --> 00:20:28,139
Yeah, that's the secret sauce 
has been the lack of a plate. 

396
00:20:28,140 --> 00:20:32,340
I think you could even argue 
that Super Blast helped set that

397
00:20:32,340 --> 00:20:34,439
non-plated super shoe category 
in motion. 

398
00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:39,148
And so, you know, That means a 
lot to us and we have a lot of 

399
00:20:39,148 --> 00:20:42,887
respect for the product itself. 
And so really a plate wasn't 

400
00:20:42,887 --> 00:20:46,280
ever a consideration here. 
You know, we brought a plate 

401
00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:49,100
into Sonic Blast. 
We've got our racing options, 

402
00:20:49,100 --> 00:20:53,983
you know, with plates, you know,
all the way from magic speed up 

403
00:20:53,983 --> 00:20:58,331
through your 3 meta shoes. 
And so this, for us, continues 

404
00:20:58,331 --> 00:21:03,275
to be a quickly growing, you 
know, adopted by kind of all 

405
00:21:03,275 --> 00:21:07,265
speed shaped sizes trainer. 
And so we wanted to make sure 

406
00:21:07,265 --> 00:21:10,280
that we weren't handicapping 
anybody that didn't want, um, 

407
00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:12,959
you know, that plate involvement
in a shoe. 

408
00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:15,827
Yeah. 
And thinking back to some of the

409
00:21:15,827 --> 00:21:19,391
testing that goes into this, is 
there a difference in stack 

410
00:21:19,391 --> 00:21:23,916
height between the 2 and the 3 
and how have you settled as a 

411
00:21:23,916 --> 00:21:25,527
group? 
Like what's, because how high do

412
00:21:25,527 --> 00:21:27,239
you go with a shoe like this, 
right? 

413
00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:28,979
Like, you could go technically 
go higher. 

414
00:21:28,980 --> 00:21:31,199
How do you end up landing on the
stack height that you do? 

415
00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:36,900
Yeah, um, so there's a half 
millimeter difference in stack 

416
00:21:36,900 --> 00:21:40,657
fairly negligible. 
Um, you know, for us, stack is 

417
00:21:40,657 --> 00:21:43,642
inclusive of sockliner, insole, 
midsole, outsole, um, so 

418
00:21:43,642 --> 00:21:47,745
depending on just slight 
changes, you can get a bit of 

419
00:21:47,745 --> 00:21:50,079
variants. 
I think this has been our sweet 

420
00:21:50,079 --> 00:21:52,318
spot in terms of stack and then 
offset. 

421
00:21:52,319 --> 00:21:57,526
We've reached a point of comfort
and I think athlete adoption and

422
00:21:57,526 --> 00:21:59,195
love. 
And so that's something we 

423
00:21:59,195 --> 00:22:01,416
didn't want to change. 
There's certain points of 

424
00:22:01,416 --> 00:22:03,270
consistency that are great to 
keep. 

425
00:22:03,270 --> 00:22:07,275
So the last, you know, the foot 
form, the shoes built on, some 

426
00:22:07,275 --> 00:22:10,663
of those simple geometry, like 
stack, and offset, but then, you

427
00:22:10,663 --> 00:22:14,051
know, upper, um, phone types, 
uh, 4 foot, you know, geometry, 

428
00:22:14,051 --> 00:22:18,055
that's where we really start to 
radio dial kind of up and down 

429
00:22:18,055 --> 00:22:20,519
where we want to change the 
experience from. 

430
00:22:20,519 --> 00:22:24,039
Very cool. 
And you may or may not be able 

431
00:22:24,039 --> 00:22:26,905
to answer this question. 
But from the testing you've 

432
00:22:26,905 --> 00:22:30,514
done, you've got certain stack 
heights, you have geometries, 

433
00:22:30,514 --> 00:22:35,158
you have new foam compounds. 
I think a lot of peop, there's 

434
00:22:35,158 --> 00:22:38,174
discussion out there about, 
Running economy changes with 

435
00:22:38,174 --> 00:22:41,939
super shoes depending on how 
fast you, you may run. 

436
00:22:41,940 --> 00:22:45,515
We actually recorded a kind of 
myth busting type episode on 

437
00:22:45,515 --> 00:22:49,415
this, but, Do you, do you all 
have information about, from a 

438
00:22:49,415 --> 00:22:52,990
running economy standpoint, like
who may benefit from the shoe or

439
00:22:52,990 --> 00:22:56,879
is that not stuff that's either 
tested or able to be shared? 

440
00:22:56,880 --> 00:23:00,240
We've got that internally, but 
that's not something that we 

441
00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:04,272
share externally at this point. 
You know, our goal is more for 

442
00:23:04,272 --> 00:23:07,623
the consumers that are wearing 
it, giving them an experience 

443
00:23:07,623 --> 00:23:09,298
that is consistent with 
Superblast. 

444
00:23:09,299 --> 00:23:12,137
It's involved, it's still 
evolved, but most importantly, 

445
00:23:12,137 --> 00:23:13,620
it's more enjoyable. 
Yeah. 

446
00:23:13,620 --> 00:23:18,659
It's easy to get really caught 
up in figures and in fact 

447
00:23:18,659 --> 00:23:21,334
sometimes. 
But at the end of the day, I 

448
00:23:21,334 --> 00:23:24,706
think we find that when you are 
in a shoe that you're 

449
00:23:24,706 --> 00:23:27,516
comfortable in, you run relaxed,
you're uneasier, you know, you 

450
00:23:27,516 --> 00:23:30,361
find efficiency. 
And so for us, you know, we 

451
00:23:30,361 --> 00:23:33,613
really focused on the consumer 
experience when we talk about 

452
00:23:33,613 --> 00:23:36,213
kind of the external 
conversations we have about 

453
00:23:36,213 --> 00:23:37,379
Superblast. 
Cool. 

454
00:23:37,380 --> 00:23:40,933
Well, that's kind of what we 
wanted to talk about mid-soul 

455
00:23:40,933 --> 00:23:43,979
wise specifically. 
I just wanted to add from my one

456
00:23:43,979 --> 00:23:45,839
run. 
I could definitely tell the 

457
00:23:45,839 --> 00:23:48,737
change from 2 to three. 
I think one to 2 felt 

458
00:23:48,737 --> 00:23:50,907
consistent. 
It just felt like, okay, this is

459
00:23:50,907 --> 00:23:53,055
a, it feels protective. 
It's cushioned, it's rockered 

460
00:23:53,055 --> 00:23:55,379
and it's kind of similar to what
David said. 

461
00:23:55,380 --> 00:23:58,979
This certainly has that little 
bit of a pop to it. 

462
00:23:58,980 --> 00:24:01,139
You have a little bit of sink 
into the mid soul. 

463
00:24:01,140 --> 00:24:04,584
You have some of that return, 
but it still felt as structured 

464
00:24:04,584 --> 00:24:08,021
for the most part with my one 
run as the previous versions. 

465
00:24:08,021 --> 00:24:11,167
Because I think that was always 
something that we loved about 

466
00:24:11,167 --> 00:24:13,741
the super blast, really high 
stack, which can potentially 

467
00:24:13,741 --> 00:24:16,601
introduce some instability, but 
it was always stable because of 

468
00:24:16,601 --> 00:24:18,540
the wide platform. 
The foam was a little bit 

469
00:24:18,540 --> 00:24:21,036
firmer. 
You have this firmer, sort of 

470
00:24:21,036 --> 00:24:25,282
softer foam now, but from our 
experiences so far, there's a, 

471
00:24:25,282 --> 00:24:27,598
still a decent amount of 
structure. 

472
00:24:27,599 --> 00:24:31,379
I think part of the, part of the
buildup that you have on that 

473
00:24:31,379 --> 00:24:34,889
medial side with, with the, um, 
plus, uh, it's designed in a way

474
00:24:34,889 --> 00:24:38,129
that keeps that consistent, but 
gives a little bit more of a, 

475
00:24:38,129 --> 00:24:41,639
some flavor, some bounce to 
even, I took it on a very easy 

476
00:24:41,639 --> 00:24:44,338
run as I'm coming back from my 
bone stress injury. 

477
00:24:44,339 --> 00:24:48,819
So that mid-soul certainly has a
new feel to it, and I could tell

478
00:24:48,819 --> 00:24:52,019
the 4 foot, uh, response to was 
certainly different, again, 

479
00:24:52,019 --> 00:24:55,539
mostly because you actually sink
into it, and it comes back, 

480
00:24:55,539 --> 00:24:59,059
which, again, I didn't know, I 
didn't even know about the 

481
00:24:59,059 --> 00:25:01,619
increased cutouts for the 
trampoline pod here, both 

482
00:25:01,619 --> 00:25:05,139
internally and externally, but I
could see where that would come 

483
00:25:05,139 --> 00:25:06,738
in. 
I'd be curious once I start 

484
00:25:06,738 --> 00:25:09,503
putting more miles, just kind of
feeling for that as I pick up 

485
00:25:09,503 --> 00:25:12,589
the pace too. 
But transitioning now to the 

486
00:25:12,589 --> 00:25:15,059
upper. 
What kind of went into the 

487
00:25:15,059 --> 00:25:18,384
design here. 
There's kind of a unique lacing 

488
00:25:18,384 --> 00:25:22,292
system decision and colors. 
I'm a big fan of wild colors on 

489
00:25:22,292 --> 00:25:24,839
shoes. 
So that's fun for me to see, but

490
00:25:24,839 --> 00:25:27,118
what went into the design of 
this upper. 

491
00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:29,038
Any big changes that fit the 
same? 

492
00:25:29,039 --> 00:25:31,618
What should people expect? 
Yeah. 

493
00:25:31,619 --> 00:25:34,819
So holistically, obviously, the 
shoes kind of designed as a 

494
00:25:34,819 --> 00:25:38,019
singular piece and then would 
dive into the material choices 

495
00:25:38,019 --> 00:25:41,591
and all that stuff. 
Um, I'll give you the design 

496
00:25:41,591 --> 00:25:46,552
inspiration kind of at the end 
of the tech of the upper, uh, 

497
00:25:46,552 --> 00:25:48,838
designers can be incredibly 
creative people. 

498
00:25:48,839 --> 00:25:52,619
And so it, it'll get a little 
bit uh, wacky but fun to give 

499
00:25:52,619 --> 00:25:55,318
you the story of where all this 
has come from. 

500
00:25:55,319 --> 00:25:57,719
But from a simple tech 
standpoint. 

501
00:25:57,720 --> 00:25:59,999
We've kept it woven. where we've
been in the past. 

502
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:02,326
You know you can just kind of 
see the way that it's 

503
00:26:02,326 --> 00:26:04,598
engineered. 
Um, hoping to run a little bit 

504
00:26:04,598 --> 00:26:07,558
more seamlessly with the foot in
terms of the fit. 

505
00:26:07,559 --> 00:26:09,815
Um, the laces aren't really 
interesting, you know, 

506
00:26:09,815 --> 00:26:13,199
previously we used to use kind 
of the punctuales in the back. 

507
00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:16,950
Or the release structure. 
Obviously, you can see the 

508
00:26:16,950 --> 00:26:19,975
corded situation we have now. 
So the punch rolls have 

509
00:26:19,975 --> 00:26:24,058
continued for the 1st 3 islets. 
But as you work down to the 

510
00:26:24,058 --> 00:26:27,222
bottom couple, the laces are 
only going through the corded 

511
00:26:27,222 --> 00:26:29,639
system. 
The reason for that was a little

512
00:26:29,639 --> 00:26:32,874
bit more personalization of fit.
You know, if we're pulling the 

513
00:26:32,874 --> 00:26:35,759
upper tight, you know, the fit 
of the upper itself. 

514
00:26:35,759 --> 00:26:39,824
Um, has to fit the shape of the 
foot and we know that this is 

515
00:26:39,824 --> 00:26:43,076
used for such, you know, long 
runs where maybe foot shape is 

516
00:26:43,076 --> 00:26:45,779
is changing a little bit, 
whether it's, you know, some 

517
00:26:45,779 --> 00:26:48,209
increased blood flow and 
swelling or the foot's moving 

518
00:26:48,209 --> 00:26:49,915
forward. 
So we just wanted to make sure 

519
00:26:49,915 --> 00:26:52,571
that, you know, you had a little
bit more personalized of a fit 

520
00:26:52,571 --> 00:26:55,043
down there. 
It also gave us this really cool

521
00:26:55,043 --> 00:26:57,896
opportunity to pop color. 
So there's some where you'll see

522
00:26:57,896 --> 00:27:00,686
it in complete contrast, some 
others where you'll see it 

523
00:27:00,686 --> 00:27:02,639
total, just a fun little added 
detail. 

524
00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:06,894
Tongue is pretty similar. 
The holes are a little bit 

525
00:27:06,894 --> 00:27:09,681
bigger that run across the top, 
just from a ventilation 

526
00:27:09,681 --> 00:27:12,120
standpoint. 
So hoping to give some increased

527
00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:14,580
breathability. 
And then from an iconography 

528
00:27:14,580 --> 00:27:18,778
standpoint, you can kind of see 
this rear heel graphic. 

529
00:27:18,779 --> 00:27:22,475
Um, just looks kind of like 
design, but this was actually 

530
00:27:22,475 --> 00:27:25,499
our love letter to the uh, super
blast consumers. 

531
00:27:25,500 --> 00:27:30,058
So we took ton of Super Blast 
one and Super Blast 2 consumers.

532
00:27:30,059 --> 00:27:33,011
We learned about their journey 
along the way, you know, what it

533
00:27:33,011 --> 00:27:36,455
meant from them from the 1st day
they laced up to their last day,

534
00:27:36,455 --> 00:27:39,480
they retired the shoe. 
And what we found is for many of

535
00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:42,528
these runners, the journey was 
from the lace up, you know, it 

536
00:27:42,528 --> 00:27:45,500
took you to the roads. 
You know, it carried you to the 

537
00:27:45,500 --> 00:27:47,687
finish, whether that was a 
personal accomplishment, a race,

538
00:27:47,687 --> 00:27:51,036
whatever that might be. 
And then finalizing here in kind

539
00:27:51,036 --> 00:27:54,404
of elation or celebration. 
And so that's that 3 prong story

540
00:27:54,404 --> 00:27:57,452
of the Super Blast journey, 
which we felt was a really cool 

541
00:27:57,452 --> 00:28:00,246
story to tell. 
And kind of nod to all of the 

542
00:28:00,246 --> 00:28:02,278
runners that have loved the 
issue so far. 

543
00:28:02,279 --> 00:28:04,798
Well that's cool. 
Yeah. 

544
00:28:04,799 --> 00:28:09,509
And then from an all over design
and what's going to bring in 

545
00:28:09,509 --> 00:28:13,491
this side graphic, um, our 
designer was living in a very 

546
00:28:13,491 --> 00:28:17,370
like celestial space, right? 
The blast series was coming from

547
00:28:17,370 --> 00:28:21,010
this kind of, uh, outer space, 
uh, inspiration theme. 

548
00:28:21,010 --> 00:28:25,050
And this shoe comes to you 
through the inspiration of 

549
00:28:25,050 --> 00:28:28,491
temporal fold. 
And so, you know, the idea of 

550
00:28:28,491 --> 00:28:32,999
kind of the visual, um, of what 
the experience is like, right? 

551
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:36,980
So his his thought was, you 
know, you're moving through 

552
00:28:36,980 --> 00:28:41,754
space beyond the speed of light 
speed to the point that you 

553
00:28:41,754 --> 00:28:43,739
collapse, the space time 
continuum. 

554
00:28:43,740 --> 00:28:47,700
And so that is supposed to be 
the visual that we're getting 

555
00:28:47,700 --> 00:28:51,587
out of the shoe. 
And so you see kind of the speed

556
00:28:51,587 --> 00:28:54,797
element coming off the tiger 
stripes there, the galaxy kind 

557
00:28:54,797 --> 00:28:58,768
of around you, falling apart. 
This is going to be one of the 

558
00:28:58,768 --> 00:29:00,838
more extreme executions on the 
cobalt blue. 

559
00:29:00,839 --> 00:29:03,089
This will match the elite 
athlete uniforms, you've seen 

560
00:29:03,089 --> 00:29:06,339
the meta speeds with that dipped
toe that have just come out, all

561
00:29:06,339 --> 00:29:08,338
of these shoots be able to sit 
together. 

562
00:29:08,339 --> 00:29:10,139
But then we'll have some more 
simple ones. 

563
00:29:10,140 --> 00:29:13,656
There's an all white, um, that 
will have just kind of some 

564
00:29:13,656 --> 00:29:15,118
black accents, full white 
midsole. 

565
00:29:15,119 --> 00:29:18,345
There's another one in coral. 
So depending on, you know, what 

566
00:29:18,345 --> 00:29:20,016
you think. 
You can kind of turn it up, turn

567
00:29:20,016 --> 00:29:21,917
it down. 
Uh, and then, of course, we'll 

568
00:29:21,917 --> 00:29:25,186
see additional colors coming in 
the summer and fall as we move 

569
00:29:25,186 --> 00:29:27,659
into the back half of 2026. 
Yeah. 

570
00:29:27,660 --> 00:29:30,791
That's awesome. 
I love like art and the 

571
00:29:30,791 --> 00:29:34,324
inspiration and just, like you 
said, there's a lot of probably 

572
00:29:34,324 --> 00:29:38,176
parts of this process that are 
unheralded and design can be one

573
00:29:38,176 --> 00:29:40,386
of those. 
Actually, can I, I want to go 

574
00:29:40,386 --> 00:29:42,579
back to a conversation. 
You talked about sculpting and 

575
00:29:42,579 --> 00:29:45,705
design of the mid-soul. 
I remember a shoe from you all 

576
00:29:45,705 --> 00:29:49,573
that really highlighted that for
me was the 1st ever, um, oh my 

577
00:29:49,573 --> 00:29:52,798
gosh, uh, what's it called? 
The glide ride. 

578
00:29:52,799 --> 00:29:56,742
The 1st glide ride shoe. 
And that 1st one had like a 

579
00:29:56,742 --> 00:30:00,402
completely kind of convex 
surface on the medial side on 

580
00:30:00,402 --> 00:30:03,719
the lateral side. 
It almost had a concave like V. 

581
00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:08,338
And so that design change within
the, not just the foam, but like

582
00:30:08,338 --> 00:30:12,243
the shaping of it really changed
the stability structure of that 

583
00:30:12,243 --> 00:30:13,757
shoe. 
And so that's again what you're 

584
00:30:13,757 --> 00:30:15,298
building in with some of this 
foam stuff. 

585
00:30:15,299 --> 00:30:18,019
The other really thoughtful 
design element from a function 

586
00:30:18,019 --> 00:30:21,039
standpoint, I think, is y'all 
choosing to keep the lacing 

587
00:30:21,039 --> 00:30:24,059
going through the islets for 
those 1st couple, because I've 

588
00:30:24,059 --> 00:30:27,683
had experiences and know people 
who have had just the kind of 

589
00:30:27,683 --> 00:30:31,005
corded structure, and they, 
they, there's a lot of pull that

590
00:30:31,005 --> 00:30:34,931
can come and they just fall out,
and so then they're not as 

591
00:30:34,931 --> 00:30:38,857
durable, but most of that pull 
is going to be coming from these

592
00:30:38,857 --> 00:30:41,575
top couple laces as you're 
actually undoing and redoing 

593
00:30:41,575 --> 00:30:44,046
your lacing. 
So I really appreciate from a 

594
00:30:44,046 --> 00:30:47,149
durability standpoint that those
upper ones are going to be 

595
00:30:47,149 --> 00:30:49,170
secure. 
They're not gonna pull the cord 

596
00:30:49,170 --> 00:30:52,018
off or anything, but there's 
that flexibility from the cord 

597
00:30:52,018 --> 00:30:55,710
on those distal parts to even, 
either open it up or hold it 

598
00:30:55,710 --> 00:30:57,815
cinch down. 
Um, David, from your 

599
00:30:57,815 --> 00:31:01,268
experiences, from a fit 
standpoint, have you noticed any

600
00:31:01,268 --> 00:31:05,098
differences fit wise on your 
runs between 2 and three? 

601
00:31:05,099 --> 00:31:08,067
Totally. 
Yeah, I feel like the Super 

602
00:31:08,067 --> 00:31:10,874
Blast 3 is actually a little 
more spacious. especially in the

603
00:31:10,874 --> 00:31:13,773
forefoot. 
Um, I have always felt like the 

604
00:31:13,773 --> 00:31:16,094
super blast. 
It was never a problem for me, 

605
00:31:16,094 --> 00:31:18,118
but the volume in the one in the
two. 

606
00:31:18,119 --> 00:31:21,499
It just felt a little bit lower,
and I didn't really have an 

607
00:31:21,499 --> 00:31:24,096
issue with it because the mesh 
was always pretty comfortable 

608
00:31:24,096 --> 00:31:27,204
and it breathed well and I never
developed hotspots, but it did 

609
00:31:27,204 --> 00:31:31,020
feel a little bit lower. 
Whereas in the Super Blast 3, 

610
00:31:31,020 --> 00:31:34,798
like, it's like noticeably more 
spacious up up front. 

611
00:31:34,799 --> 00:31:38,649
Um, I'm trying to see if there's
a way I could like put them 

612
00:31:38,649 --> 00:31:41,363
together on the video here. 
I don't even know if that would 

613
00:31:41,363 --> 00:31:43,847
really show on video, but like 
just the way it's kind of carved

614
00:31:43,847 --> 00:31:45,338
out. 
You can kind of see off the 

615
00:31:45,338 --> 00:31:47,723
tongue on the two. 
It just kind of sits a little 

616
00:31:47,723 --> 00:31:50,297
lower naturally where like this 
almost looks like it's puffed up

617
00:31:50,297 --> 00:31:53,731
a little bit. 
Um, I felt like I did have more 

618
00:31:53,731 --> 00:31:56,459
space in the forefoot and 
lockdown was good. 

619
00:31:56,460 --> 00:31:59,565
You know, I, honestly, they're 
both really comfortable uppers, 

620
00:31:59,565 --> 00:32:04,050
but I think if I was to, like, 
have something specific that I 

621
00:32:04,050 --> 00:32:07,499
noticed, the mesh or the woven 
on the Superblast 3. 

622
00:32:07,500 --> 00:32:10,247
It probably feels a touch softer
and then the forefoot feels a 

623
00:32:10,247 --> 00:32:13,141
little bit more spacious. 
And over the course of that 21 

624
00:32:13,141 --> 00:32:16,534
mile run, there was not a single
hotspot or blister or anything 

625
00:32:16,534 --> 00:32:18,739
like that. 
So that's always a good, always 

626
00:32:18,739 --> 00:32:20,999
a good sign. 
My feet are totally fine. 

627
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:22,499
I will not show them to the 
viewers. 

628
00:32:22,500 --> 00:32:29,359
Thank you for not showing us. 
I always find that interesting, 

629
00:32:29,359 --> 00:32:31,949
Paul. 
Maybe you can speak into this 

630
00:32:31,949 --> 00:32:35,599
because Many times, like 
companies are going to use the 

631
00:32:35,599 --> 00:32:38,519
same last that they build the 
upper around. 

632
00:32:38,519 --> 00:32:41,991
And you even said it's still a 
woven like mesh material, but 

633
00:32:41,991 --> 00:32:44,881
then sometimes we feel this 
difference as testers, what sort

634
00:32:44,881 --> 00:32:48,638
of insight do you have on like, 
hey, we designed it the same 

635
00:32:48,638 --> 00:32:51,239
from a fit perspective, but you 
experience it different? 

636
00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:52,798
What do you think might play 
into that? 

637
00:32:52,799 --> 00:32:57,224
Yeah, I mean, we keep the same 
foot form or last on a lot of 

638
00:32:57,224 --> 00:32:59,873
shoes, but the construction 
around the last and the 

639
00:32:59,873 --> 00:33:02,225
materials used can cause, you 
know, pretty different 

640
00:33:02,225 --> 00:33:04,175
experiences. 
I think even think through like 

641
00:33:04,175 --> 00:33:07,487
your running gear at home and 
some of the different shirts or 

642
00:33:07,487 --> 00:33:10,513
jackets you have and the amount 
of like body stretch and 

643
00:33:10,513 --> 00:33:13,215
material might have. 
Um, so those are all things that

644
00:33:13,215 --> 00:33:17,325
can kind of play into it. 
You know, we do measure um, from

645
00:33:17,325 --> 00:33:21,974
a fit profile standpoint, and we
have kind of a, an area of 

646
00:33:21,974 --> 00:33:25,184
acceptance, uh, if you will. 
So we're always, you know, 

647
00:33:25,184 --> 00:33:27,179
focusing on staying within that 
A6 fit. 

648
00:33:27,180 --> 00:33:30,441
So, you know, we're in that 
realm and we know that materials

649
00:33:30,441 --> 00:33:32,338
may have a little bit more 
stretch. 

650
00:33:32,339 --> 00:33:35,095
I think the other thing too, to 
your point of the compliancy of 

651
00:33:35,095 --> 00:33:36,689
the foam. 
Sometimes when you're in a 

652
00:33:36,689 --> 00:33:38,561
softer foam, you do feel like 
you're single. 

653
00:33:38,561 --> 00:33:41,038
That's probably a part of it. 
That's probably part of it. 

654
00:33:41,039 --> 00:33:44,519
Give you a little bit of that to
box height. yeah That's great 

655
00:33:44,519 --> 00:33:47,399
Well, the we've kind of talked 
about this a little bit. 

656
00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:50,461
You had made some changes where 
there's less outsole on that 

657
00:33:50,461 --> 00:33:53,519
medial side of the shoe in the 3
versus the two. 

658
00:33:53,519 --> 00:33:56,951
Are there any other kind of big 
updates to the outsold decisions

659
00:33:56,951 --> 00:34:00,659
that were made here or how did 
you choose the one that's here? 

660
00:34:00,660 --> 00:34:05,285
Um, and the design of it? 
Yeah, so, you know, we felt 

661
00:34:05,285 --> 00:34:08,594
pretty comfortable, um, but 
wanted to keep a few things, 

662
00:34:08,594 --> 00:34:11,905
change a few things. 
Um, we've kept asex grip rubber 

663
00:34:11,905 --> 00:34:14,518
in the forefoot. 
That's that really tacky rubber.

664
00:34:14,518 --> 00:34:17,681
Um, you know, you might even 
hear gripping the ground the 1st

665
00:34:17,681 --> 00:34:19,259
couple times you walk on 
linoleum. 

666
00:34:19,260 --> 00:34:21,658
So we're really confident in 
what we've got there. 

667
00:34:21,659 --> 00:34:25,271
Um, in terms of coverage, like I
said, we reduced just a little 

668
00:34:25,271 --> 00:34:28,318
bit at the midfoot, um, based 
off what we were seeing. 

669
00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:31,353
We were still testing, you know,
as strong, if not stronger on 

670
00:34:31,353 --> 00:34:33,717
grip scores. 
So had no concern with that. 

671
00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:37,047
And then that outsole, 4 foot. 
So that trampoline geometry, 

672
00:34:37,047 --> 00:34:39,538
that was kind of our other big 
play there. 

673
00:34:39,539 --> 00:34:45,143
Um, very negligibly, the base 
with the base nets are a little 

674
00:34:45,143 --> 00:34:46,918
bit wider. not going to notice 
that. 

675
00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:51,366
Um, like from, the flare of the 
foam in the sidewall in areas 

676
00:34:51,366 --> 00:34:55,469
might be a little bit further, 
but that's all just uh, to 

677
00:34:55,469 --> 00:34:59,916
address that FF neep, uh, foam 
on the top layer, uh, in its 

678
00:34:59,916 --> 00:35:01,318
compression underload. 
Yeah. 

679
00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:04,660
Very cool. 
Well, I think where we want to 

680
00:35:04,660 --> 00:35:09,058
go next is zooming out from just
the Super Blast 3. 

681
00:35:09,059 --> 00:35:12,538
Now we have this full blast 
family. 

682
00:35:12,539 --> 00:35:16,445
Now, in some sense, the whole 
blast line is kind of have a has

683
00:35:16,445 --> 00:35:19,232
a true iteration of itself in 
relation to everything else, 

684
00:35:19,232 --> 00:35:21,178
knowing things are going to 
always change. 

685
00:35:21,179 --> 00:35:25,739
How do you feel like this new 
design has appropriately 

686
00:35:25,739 --> 00:35:30,755
differentiated this model from 
the other ones in it and where 

687
00:35:30,755 --> 00:35:33,958
things where everything sits? 
Yeah. 

688
00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:38,121
Um, so this is kind of the last 
of the the cycle of the Florida 

689
00:35:38,121 --> 00:35:40,512
updates. 
And so I think when we sat and 

690
00:35:40,512 --> 00:35:43,149
talked at some temper about 
mega, there were some questions 

691
00:35:43,149 --> 00:35:46,042
about how those 2 shoes sit 
against each other, what's going

692
00:35:46,042 --> 00:35:48,146
on there. 
And so I think hopefully this 

693
00:35:48,146 --> 00:35:49,198
will clarify pretty 
significantly. 

694
00:35:49,199 --> 00:35:52,741
You know, one of the key 
hallmarks of Super Blast, you 

695
00:35:52,741 --> 00:35:56,605
know, has always been kind of 
that video game cheat coat where

696
00:35:56,605 --> 00:36:00,466
it's got the balance, it's got 
the energy, but it's also an 

697
00:36:00,466 --> 00:36:03,997
extremely protective shoe, uh, 
in terms of, you know, going out

698
00:36:03,997 --> 00:36:06,886
for the long run, feeling like 
you're you're maintaining 

699
00:36:06,886 --> 00:36:09,775
without any um, loss of 
stability or protection, well, 

700
00:36:09,775 --> 00:36:13,059
still being energized. 
So, I think if we're to sit mega

701
00:36:13,059 --> 00:36:16,826
side by side with super now, and
I'll always use the, the idea 

702
00:36:16,826 --> 00:36:19,138
like go to your local running 
store, right? 

703
00:36:19,139 --> 00:36:21,856
And you've got them on side by 
side, you know, what are you 

704
00:36:21,856 --> 00:36:24,364
experiencing from the minute you
put them on to the minute you're

705
00:36:24,364 --> 00:36:26,998
out the door running? 
And so I think right now, you 

706
00:36:26,998 --> 00:36:30,082
know, we've got super on one 
foot, we're looking down and we 

707
00:36:30,082 --> 00:36:33,414
see, you know, a much more kind 
of traditional upper in terms of

708
00:36:33,414 --> 00:36:36,522
structure on the foot. 
Um, where mega, a little bit 

709
00:36:36,522 --> 00:36:39,638
more transparent, kind of race 
oriented, the sawtooth laces 

710
00:36:39,638 --> 00:36:44,136
like you'd see on a meta speed, 
um, looking back over to super, 

711
00:36:44,136 --> 00:36:46,558
the more traditional lace with 
some stretch. 

712
00:36:46,559 --> 00:36:49,078
Sorry, David, I'm making your 
work for this. 

713
00:36:49,079 --> 00:36:51,510
You're good. 
For the listeners, I'm doing 

714
00:36:51,510 --> 00:36:53,218
visual examples as he's 
speaking. 

715
00:36:53,219 --> 00:36:56,458
So I'm grabbing and pulling 
shoes left and right. 

716
00:36:56,460 --> 00:37:00,343
So, you know, visually, I think 
you have this, you know, 

717
00:37:00,343 --> 00:37:04,570
confidence in super blast where 
on the right foot with mega, it 

718
00:37:04,570 --> 00:37:07,738
feels like it's a little bit 
more technical, right? 

719
00:37:07,739 --> 00:37:10,819
A little bit more advanced. 
And then as we stand up, I think

720
00:37:10,819 --> 00:37:13,918
you feel a much softer initial 
step in on Superblast. 

721
00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:18,287
You know, mega is going to feel 
like it's just a tad bit firmer 

722
00:37:18,287 --> 00:37:20,279
underfoot. 
Um, and then we've got the 

723
00:37:20,279 --> 00:37:23,639
single piece on that mega 
midsole, uh, where we are a 2 

724
00:37:23,639 --> 00:37:26,160
layer on super. 
So we've got that FF blast plus 

725
00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:28,985
on the bottom layer. 
You know, we tested a couple 

726
00:37:28,985 --> 00:37:30,538
different foams through the 
process. 

727
00:37:30,539 --> 00:37:34,123
And we just went back to where 
we were because we felt like 

728
00:37:34,123 --> 00:37:37,148
this was the phone that best 
worked in the construction, that

729
00:37:37,148 --> 00:37:39,898
gave the best experience 
compared to some of the others. 

730
00:37:39,900 --> 00:37:43,464
It was still authentically a 
super blast, but it also allowed

731
00:37:43,464 --> 00:37:46,378
that FF leap really to sing in 
that construction. 

732
00:37:46,380 --> 00:37:49,498
So I think then when you get out
and you start moving on them. 

733
00:37:49,500 --> 00:37:50,759
There's a couple different 
things. 

734
00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:54,512
The versatility of Superblast 3.
It's a shoe that you can run 

735
00:37:54,512 --> 00:37:57,298
pretty slowly in, you know, 
whatever that paces to you. 

736
00:37:57,300 --> 00:38:02,370
You know, you can be moving, um,
you know, at what's just super 

737
00:38:02,370 --> 00:38:06,660
easy, where in mega, I don't 
think mega moves quite as 

738
00:38:06,660 --> 00:38:10,253
efficiently at slower paces. 
Mega really sings when you start

739
00:38:10,253 --> 00:38:14,652
to pick up, get to midfoot, 4 
foot, or I think Super Blast 

740
00:38:14,652 --> 00:38:18,370
really has that range, that 
Swiss army knife nature, to go 

741
00:38:18,370 --> 00:38:22,448
from slow to mid-pace to fast. 
I think that was one of the the 

742
00:38:22,448 --> 00:38:25,264
secret sauces too that runners 
that were doing long runs that 

743
00:38:25,264 --> 00:38:27,823
wanted more protection that 
didn't want to be in carbon 

744
00:38:27,823 --> 00:38:29,299
plated. 
They found that super, they 

745
00:38:29,299 --> 00:38:31,978
could go out, start a little bit
slower, get into it. 

746
00:38:31,980 --> 00:38:34,928
And then if you were cutting 
down on the back end, like the 

747
00:38:34,928 --> 00:38:36,058
shoe surprisingly reacted with 
you. 

748
00:38:36,059 --> 00:38:39,930
Um, and so I think those the 
experience really starts to to 

749
00:38:39,930 --> 00:38:43,809
separate the 2 shoes. 
Um, you do have a little bit 

750
00:38:43,809 --> 00:38:47,419
more energy return in mega. 
You are a little bit lighter 

751
00:38:47,419 --> 00:38:50,118
weight in mega. 
So I think, um, we're super 

752
00:38:50,118 --> 00:38:53,145
initially was this idea of us 
pushing the boundaries and 

753
00:38:53,145 --> 00:38:55,259
trying something new on the 
experience side. 

754
00:38:55,260 --> 00:38:58,954
It's normalized a bit. 
It's still a high experience, 

755
00:38:58,954 --> 00:39:03,070
like premium energy trainer, but
I think Megan now is where you 

756
00:39:03,070 --> 00:39:06,832
can see us really push the 
boundaries in future seasons of 

757
00:39:06,832 --> 00:39:09,810
what bounce means. 
So kind of walking back, David, 

758
00:39:09,810 --> 00:39:14,026
to your initial holding all 4 of
the shoes, you know, we've got 

759
00:39:14,026 --> 00:39:17,914
Nova Blast, which is that great,
you know, everyday option in the

760
00:39:17,914 --> 00:39:20,158
family. 
You know, Sonic Blast. 

761
00:39:20,159 --> 00:39:24,058
So that's the same bottom layer 
as Nova, but we've added a 

762
00:39:24,058 --> 00:39:27,298
P-backs plate and a super foam 
turbo square top layer. 

763
00:39:27,300 --> 00:39:30,778
So that's for kind of snappier, 
more up-tempo type efforts. 

764
00:39:30,780 --> 00:39:36,000
You know, super is going to be 
that, you know, energetic, um, 

765
00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:39,755
yet somewhat protective shoe. 
Um, your Swiss army night or 

766
00:39:39,755 --> 00:39:43,157
video game cheat code. 
And then as you get into that 

767
00:39:43,157 --> 00:39:46,391
mega, that's really kind of that
premium expression of bounce and

768
00:39:46,391 --> 00:39:49,684
lightweight performance. 
Yeah, I think I can I can double

769
00:39:49,684 --> 00:39:53,739
down on the concept of what 
happens when you go slow because

770
00:39:53,739 --> 00:39:56,098
I've been doing that a lot 
lately. 

771
00:39:56,099 --> 00:39:58,738
But the Superblast felt great 
slow. 

772
00:39:58,739 --> 00:40:01,943
I remember when I was 1st 
testing the mega blast, it just 

773
00:40:01,943 --> 00:40:04,613
felt like wobbly because there's
just so much, there's almost 

774
00:40:04,613 --> 00:40:07,817
something to harness within it 
with the type of foam and it's 

775
00:40:07,817 --> 00:40:11,020
that single, single foam of the 
entire thing and it's a little 

776
00:40:11,020 --> 00:40:13,523
bit more narrow. 
It's not narrow by any stretch 

777
00:40:13,523 --> 00:40:14,938
of the imagination, but 
relationally. 

778
00:40:14,940 --> 00:40:16,558
It's got a little more wiggle to
it. 

779
00:40:16,559 --> 00:40:20,638
So, I think that versatility is 
a really, really good point. 

780
00:40:20,639 --> 00:40:23,339
And they do, in my mind, feel 
much more different because the 

781
00:40:23,339 --> 00:40:25,589
thing that was so similar was 
that slightly firmer experience 

782
00:40:25,589 --> 00:40:28,559
in both. 
I think now with the new super, 

783
00:40:28,559 --> 00:40:32,859
it is a bit softer. 
So, Paul, for you, if you're, if

784
00:40:32,859 --> 00:40:37,138
this is a hypothetical, which 
means I can make up the rules. 

785
00:40:37,139 --> 00:40:41,939
The rule is only at one of these
shoes that you get to run it and

786
00:40:41,939 --> 00:40:45,839
the rest of them go away, which 
which blast line model would you

787
00:40:45,839 --> 00:40:49,978
be taking with you? 
Yeah, I'm keeping super. 

788
00:40:49,980 --> 00:40:52,378
I'm doing a little bit more 
slower running right now. 

789
00:40:52,380 --> 00:40:55,259
Um, I like something that's 
versatile. 

790
00:40:55,260 --> 00:40:58,215
I travel a lot for work, and so 
I like the idea of having, you 

791
00:40:58,215 --> 00:41:00,178
know, one shoe to rule them all 
in the bag. 

792
00:41:00,179 --> 00:41:02,759
And so that's where super kind 
of falls for me. 

793
00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:05,218
Unfortunately, I'm a pretty big 
foot. 

794
00:41:05,219 --> 00:41:06,598
So it takes up a lot of the 
suitcase. 

795
00:41:06,599 --> 00:41:08,849
It's a lot of food. 
Yeah. 

796
00:41:08,849 --> 00:41:13,139
Yeah, it's much easier to put 
one pair of 11.5 in there than 

797
00:41:13,139 --> 00:41:15,778
stack up 3 or 4 different pairs 
altogether. 

798
00:41:15,780 --> 00:41:18,814
So, yeah, right now it's this. 
Um, there's also some stuff 

799
00:41:18,814 --> 00:41:21,922
that's coming down the pipeline 
in the future in this line that,

800
00:41:21,922 --> 00:41:25,548
uh, has been making its way onto
my feet, but I, this is that 

801
00:41:25,548 --> 00:41:29,164
shoe that just kind of sits by 
the front door and it just keeps

802
00:41:29,164 --> 00:41:31,776
falling into rotation. 
It's easy, you know it, you love

803
00:41:31,776 --> 00:41:33,383
it. 
You're a little excited to put 

804
00:41:33,383 --> 00:41:36,743
it on and get out the door and, 
you know, that to me, that's the

805
00:41:36,743 --> 00:41:40,164
hallmark of a great shoe. 
I think back to my last 20 or 30

806
00:41:40,164 --> 00:41:42,980
years of running and there's, 
you know, a handful of those 

807
00:41:42,980 --> 00:41:46,558
shoes that meant that to me or 
if I could have, you know, had 

808
00:41:46,558 --> 00:41:48,598
30 pairs and just kept them on 
repeat. 

809
00:41:48,599 --> 00:41:51,979
Um, I've been lucky enough to 
have been running in super 3 now

810
00:41:51,979 --> 00:41:54,579
for quite some time and 
hopefully I'll keep running in 

811
00:41:54,579 --> 00:41:57,178
it until we're going to go to 
the next one. 

812
00:41:57,179 --> 00:42:00,959
Keep smuggling some from, you 
know, Essex headquarters just 

813
00:42:00,959 --> 00:42:03,118
when you can. 
Just don't tell anybody. 

814
00:42:03,119 --> 00:42:05,578
If you tell us here right now, 
we won't tell anybody, you know?

815
00:42:05,579 --> 00:42:07,519
All right. 
David, what would your answer 

816
00:42:07,519 --> 00:42:09,058
be? 
You get to keep one. 

817
00:42:09,059 --> 00:42:12,589
The rest go away. 
Yeah, it's a really hard one for

818
00:42:12,589 --> 00:42:15,040
me. 
Because I do like the Mega Blast

819
00:42:15,040 --> 00:42:18,900
a lot too. 
And because I tend to like, like

820
00:42:18,900 --> 00:42:25,200
easy pace for me tends to be 
kind of in that like low 7 to 

821
00:42:25,200 --> 00:42:28,642
mid 7 anyways. 
So like if I pick up the pace, 

822
00:42:28,642 --> 00:42:31,035
even just remotely. 
Like, it's gonna be 6 mid and 

823
00:42:31,035 --> 00:42:33,710
down. 
Um, and so that mega blast does 

824
00:42:33,710 --> 00:42:38,218
come alive a lot more. 
Um, It's a hard one. 

825
00:42:38,219 --> 00:42:42,793
I feel like The mega blast is 
smooth enough at my easy pace 

826
00:42:42,793 --> 00:42:47,707
that I might lean this way just 
for the upside of going a little

827
00:42:47,707 --> 00:42:50,928
faster. 
I, um, I think the Super Blast 

828
00:42:50,928 --> 00:42:55,018
does feel better to me at like 
easy shuffling paces. 

829
00:42:55,019 --> 00:42:57,611
Like if I'm just literally going
out the door and just like, 

830
00:42:57,611 --> 00:42:59,338
yeah, like we're just going for 
a run. 

831
00:42:59,340 --> 00:43:01,678
Like I have 0 intention at all 
of going fast. 

832
00:43:01,679 --> 00:43:05,384
But I feel like I have a little 
bit more upside out of that full

833
00:43:05,384 --> 00:43:08,590
length turbo squared as far as 
like turning it over and like if

834
00:43:08,590 --> 00:43:12,034
I wanted to do a long tempo run 
during that mar, like during a 

835
00:43:12,034 --> 00:43:15,219
marathon build or whatever. 
But I don't know, I got to go 

836
00:43:15,219 --> 00:43:18,794
run another 21 mile run, and 
then I can get back to you. 

837
00:43:18,794 --> 00:43:22,094
between the 2 Nova would come in
pretty close too, just because 

838
00:43:22,094 --> 00:43:25,940
it's very balanced and it's easy
to kind of do a little bit of 

839
00:43:25,940 --> 00:43:29,502
everything in, but I think I do 
think I like mega and super 

840
00:43:29,502 --> 00:43:32,435
slightly more than Nova. 
especially if I'm going to have 

841
00:43:32,435 --> 00:43:37,000
any option of racing. 
I'm, Oh, man, I, I, I feel like 

842
00:43:37,000 --> 00:43:42,838
if I have any option of racing, 
I think I'm going to lean mega. 

843
00:43:42,840 --> 00:43:46,326
If I have absolutely no interest
in racing at all for that year, 

844
00:43:46,326 --> 00:43:48,936
I'm gonna go super. 
Is that do I am I allowed to 

845
00:43:48,936 --> 00:43:49,858
cheat there? 
You're fair. 

846
00:43:49,860 --> 00:43:51,538
Yeah, you cheated, but it's 
fine. 

847
00:43:51,539 --> 00:43:53,338
You're allowed to cheat. 
That's great. 

848
00:43:53,340 --> 00:43:56,279
That's great too. 
You're showing the separation 

849
00:43:56,279 --> 00:43:58,678
between the 3 different models 
there as well. 

850
00:43:58,679 --> 00:44:02,411
So hopefully that means we've 
done our job well, you know, who

851
00:44:02,411 --> 00:44:05,518
has that different purpose in in
place in your lineup. 

852
00:44:05,519 --> 00:44:09,545
Yeah, I think like you were 
saying, like the introduction of

853
00:44:09,545 --> 00:44:12,833
Super Blast 3, like the 
differentiation became much more

854
00:44:12,833 --> 00:44:14,439
clear. 
Because I remember, like, 

855
00:44:14,439 --> 00:44:17,849
vividly, like getting the mega 
blast and being like, well, this

856
00:44:17,849 --> 00:44:21,877
could be Super Blast 3, you 
know, but now that we have Super

857
00:44:21,877 --> 00:44:24,658
Blast 3, it's like, oh, no, they
are different. 

858
00:44:24,659 --> 00:44:26,578
Like I can see that now and feel
that. 

859
00:44:26,579 --> 00:44:28,558
And that's not just me saying 
that. 

860
00:44:28,559 --> 00:44:30,898
So like, it's kind of cool to 
see that. 

861
00:44:30,900 --> 00:44:34,330
The hard part with update 
cadences, I think people see 

862
00:44:34,330 --> 00:44:37,072
something, and they don't 
necessarily know what's coming 

863
00:44:37,072 --> 00:44:40,409
down the road. 
And so we're trying to, you 

864
00:44:40,409 --> 00:44:44,254
know, build logical, you know, 
line plans and points of 

865
00:44:44,254 --> 00:44:47,710
differentiation, but in terms 
of, you know, updates, cadences 

866
00:44:47,710 --> 00:44:51,934
and technologies that are coming
through, uh, the balance of it, 

867
00:44:51,934 --> 00:44:55,774
you know, is is difficult for 
everybody that's in this 

868
00:44:55,774 --> 00:44:57,929
industry. 
So hopefully we've got you on 

869
00:44:57,929 --> 00:45:00,879
the calendar now that makes 
sense and works and everybody 

870
00:45:00,879 --> 00:45:02,938
listening and watching can feel 
the same. 

871
00:45:02,940 --> 00:45:05,928
Yeah. 
All right, I have one more 

872
00:45:05,928 --> 00:45:09,210
question for you, Paul. 
And then we'll we'll let you fly

873
00:45:09,210 --> 00:45:12,256
free on a Sunday afternoon. 
Thanks for giving us a Sunday 

874
00:45:12,256 --> 00:45:15,875
afternoon. means a lot. 
If you were to look at the blast

875
00:45:15,875 --> 00:45:20,090
line as it is, and you wanted to
pick one of those shoes that you

876
00:45:20,090 --> 00:45:23,181
just really wanted to update, 
you're like, this is the one 

877
00:45:23,181 --> 00:45:26,834
that I would change the biggest,
which one would that be and why 

878
00:45:26,834 --> 00:45:31,498
would you pick it? 
Hmm, that's a good question. 

879
00:45:31,500 --> 00:45:35,578
Um, I might have inside baseball
on this because... 

880
00:45:35,579 --> 00:45:38,878
That's kind of your job. 
Yeah. 

881
00:45:38,880 --> 00:45:44,730
I didn't P.M. mega, uh, lore on 
our team, uh, our product 

882
00:45:44,730 --> 00:45:49,367
director had handled that. 
I got to touch it a little bit, 

883
00:45:49,367 --> 00:45:53,970
but then Super Blast 3 and then 
Nova 6 and Sonic 2 I've worked 

884
00:45:53,970 --> 00:45:57,173
on all for the next year. 
So we'll get the next nova 

885
00:45:57,173 --> 00:46:00,161
coming in the summer and then 
the sonic kind of following in 

886
00:46:00,161 --> 00:46:03,299
the fall. 
And I think, um, a lot of the 

887
00:46:03,299 --> 00:46:06,929
inspiration from, you know, 
super will kind of make its way,

888
00:46:06,929 --> 00:46:09,238
you know, into those to some 
degree. 

889
00:46:09,239 --> 00:46:13,078
Um, It's a, it's a great 
question. 

890
00:46:13,079 --> 00:46:16,641
I think to me, super is the shoe
that changed the industry, so 

891
00:46:16,641 --> 00:46:19,655
that's probably the easy answer,
but Nova has become such an 

892
00:46:19,655 --> 00:46:22,933
integral part of running just in
terms of the pure amount of 

893
00:46:22,933 --> 00:46:26,888
runners that are in it. 
Um, So I might pull a David here

894
00:46:26,888 --> 00:46:30,118
and give you a two-parted answer
to a one-part question. 

895
00:46:30,119 --> 00:46:32,158
We'll take it out. 
We're used to it. 

896
00:46:32,159 --> 00:46:35,219
Right now, super, when we come 
back to talk about Nova next 

897
00:46:35,219 --> 00:46:37,760
time, it'll probably be that or,
you know, whatever, we're 

898
00:46:37,760 --> 00:46:39,538
catching up on the next time 
around. 

899
00:46:39,539 --> 00:46:42,589
Yeah, fantastic. 
Well, thank you again for 

900
00:46:42,589 --> 00:46:45,735
joining us and giving you, 
giving us your time and your 

901
00:46:45,735 --> 00:46:48,881
expertise and knowledge and just
being willing to share more with

902
00:46:48,881 --> 00:46:52,027
all of us about what the 
processes are that go behind 

903
00:46:52,027 --> 00:46:55,745
this stuff and all of the, you 
know, sometimes we just see a 

904
00:46:55,745 --> 00:46:58,318
shoe and they're like, oh, it's 
just a shoe. 

905
00:46:58,320 --> 00:47:01,271
But when you get to see how it's
made, there's some beauty to 

906
00:47:01,271 --> 00:47:03,599
that. 
So thanks for bringing us on the

907
00:47:03,599 --> 00:47:05,625
inside. 
And if anyone has further 

908
00:47:05,625 --> 00:47:09,765
questions for us as doctors of 
running or for anyone else on 

909
00:47:09,765 --> 00:47:13,905
this podcast, we can always try 
to pester Paul and send him 

910
00:47:13,905 --> 00:47:18,722
questions on the back end, feel 
free to reach out to us at docks

911
00:47:18,722 --> 00:47:22,082
of running.com at gmail.com. uh 
before we sign off, Paul, do you

912
00:47:22,082 --> 00:47:24,058
have anything else that you want
to share? 

913
00:47:24,059 --> 00:47:28,679
Yeah, I think I got to talk a 
lot about Super Blast today, but

914
00:47:28,679 --> 00:47:32,969
this is the beauty byproduct of 
just a ton of people that go 

915
00:47:32,969 --> 00:47:36,030
unmentioned. 
So a quick shout out to Arthur 

916
00:47:36,030 --> 00:47:40,320
and Ando on design, Masamoto San
and the development team, you 

917
00:47:40,320 --> 00:47:44,054
know, Taffy, watching you. 
I think the pattern makers, the 

918
00:47:44,054 --> 00:47:47,312
sole engineers, all these 
people, the factories, you know,

919
00:47:47,312 --> 00:47:52,018
It's amazing the amount of hands
that touch a shoe along the way.

920
00:47:52,019 --> 00:47:56,099
And so just my appreciation, um,
to the larger group, and A6 

921
00:47:56,099 --> 00:48:00,178
itself are giving me the ability
to be a part of this. 

922
00:48:00,179 --> 00:48:03,330
It's really special and I'm just
couldn't be happier to be here 

923
00:48:03,330 --> 00:48:06,330
with you guys today. 
Yeah, we appreciate your time 

924
00:48:06,330 --> 00:48:11,400
and you should be able to see 
this new mega or sorry, super 

925
00:48:11,400 --> 00:48:13,858
blast launching early March. 
Is it March 1st? 

926
00:48:13,860 --> 00:48:18,989
Yes, and coming in at $210. 
So keep your eyes open for that.

927
00:48:18,989 --> 00:48:20,458
And Paul, talk to you again 
soon. 

928
00:48:20,460 --> 00:48:22,738
Thanks again. 
Always a pleasure guys. 

929
00:48:22,739 --> 00:48:22,800
Thank you.