I was incredibly lucky to win a pair of Mizuno’s and entrance into the Mezamashii project from Becca. A quick registration and I was able to order my free shoes. After perusing the Mizuno website I was a bit overwhelmed. I took the advice of the mezamashii project and called and spoke to a Mizuno representative instead. He was super helpful. The only hard part was choosing a shoe color!
I ended up with the Mizuno Wave Rider 15. I’m not gonna lie, I feel like I am cheating on Brooks…
new kicks
I’ve run in my new shoes several different times over the past week and each run has been different and served its purpose.
Tuesday I realized I have only 5 weeks until Hood to Coast. Perhaps I should focus on hills and double runs. My goal was to find a big hill in my neighborhood that I can use for hill repeats. I thought the run was really hilly till I pulled up my garmin stats. I swear the incline is insane. Even a lady on the street commented that I was going the wrong way on her street. I told her it was on purpose and she just laughed. Yes, it is that hilly. I don’t care if the garmin disagrees. So, run #1 in my new mizunos was pretty awesome. Nice and challenging (or so I thought).
the bottom looking up. can’t quite see the climb.
it really seemed more hilly! the hill above was at mile 1.
Wednesday I decided to do a double run. I ran my morning run in my Brooks Defyance to see if I could tell a big difference. Honestly, it’s hard to tell, but the Mizuno’s are technically a bit lighter. The heel feels heavier in the Mizuno’s and the toe box feels bigger. The Mizuno’s seem to have a different arch as well.
Wednesday evening it rained again and I headed to the gym to squeeze 3 miles in on the treadmill before my TRX class. It was nice and speedy. And it felt great.
3 outside in the AM, 3 on the treadmill in the PM
Saturday was my third run in my Mizuno’s. It was going to be an early, long run. But the work week totally exhausted me. I slept almost 12 hours Friday night and didn’t head out to run until 11am or so. It was cloudy so the heat wasn’t too bad-it was more the humidity. The run was exactly what I needed. Kinda hard, sweaty, and mind clearing.
So what do I think? Honestly, I really like the Mizunos. They will stay in my shoe rotation for sure. I’m running almost pain free (I was shocked to realize this on Saturday). Not sure if it’s the shoes or a combination with my stretching…but I’ll take it. Mizuno is all about the #brilliant run. I gotta say, each of my runs in my new Wave Rider’s were brilliant in their own way.
Have you tried Mizuno’s? What is a “brilliant” run to you?
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Sounds like I am not the only one who got a reality check when I looked at the calendar last week
I wonder if it is just the way they compress those elevation maps for the race or what, but the Garmin stats never look as impressive as those! I think it looks more dramatic because they don’t show the scale from “0″ but in a smaller scale? I bet if you could export those Garmin stats to an excel sheet and zero in a little it would probably look WAY worse?!
So happy you are enjoying the Mizunos!
I just got my Mizuno’s in the mail earlier. Can’t wait to give mine a test run as well. I’ve heard really good things and I typically run in Asics.
Glad to hear you found another pair! I hear you on cheating! From day one I ran in Saucony and love the shoe. No matter which pair, I pit them on and was in runner’s heaven, until they discontinued my last shoe and now I feel a little lost and start cheating with Brooks
So glad you like them! Mizuno has always been my main squeeze. Speaking of squeezes, The Bachelor wears Brooks….just saying. : D
I am a cheater too and have been reluctant to admit that my Mizunos feel really good too. I am going to keep using them for sure and over their lifetime will see how they stack up against the Brooks. Did you enter the contest for the entry into the Osaka Marathon?
Never tried Mizunos. I’m still liking the Brooks, although I think I may want a shoe with a lower drop eventually – so maybe a different model?
Glad you are enjoying your Mizunos. I have three pairs and love all of them!