I was very excited to be asked to review the new Mizuno Wave Rider 18. I had just come off completing the Grindstone 100 mile trail race, which I had been training for all summer on both road and trails, and I was desperately in need of some new road shoes! I had run in The Wave Rider 17 and also the Sayonara previously, and really liked both.
The Wave Rider 18 is a light, (9.2 oz for the Men's) neutral shoe, great for daily training. A few changes had been made from the Wave Rider 17, such as a updated sock liner and new outsole design. I thought the Wave Rider 17 felt just a bit "Boxy", but I knew the moment I slipped on the 18's that would not be an issue. They felt great right out of the box, and were light and comfortable. There was plenty of room in the toe box, which I really like!
The first few runs I took in the 18's were with some clients I coach. These were easy runs of about 3-4 miles. What immediately impressed me was that for a light shoe, the Wave Rider 18 provided some really nice cushioning. The drop on the 18's is 12mm, a bit higher than I prefer, but it did not take away from the overall performance of the shoe for me. After some of these easy 5am runs, I was ready to drop the hammer and see how the 18's did on a few harder intensity runs.
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| Ready to roll at 5am! |
The first run was a rather "unplanned" 4 mile tempo run with some friends. After a nice easy first mile warm up at 12:06 pace, we went 10:04, 9:39 and 8:22 for the last mile. I really like the responsiveness of the shoe at the higher intensity. Great cushioning even with hammering the last mile.
The following day I made a 2 hour trip to Wilmington, NC to run with a client of mine who I train online but try to visit with once a month in person. She just so happened to have a 45 minute tempo run scheduled for that day! Off we went again. We got in a good negative split run, 9:33, 9:14, 9:06, 8:50 and 8:43. The beach, of course, was flat and fast and the 18's really felt good at the sustained pace.
I returned from the beach that evening and the next morning (Saturday) I got up early and ran a nice little 5 mile recovery run at zone 2 in the 18's.
I highly recommend the Wave Rider 18 for anyone looking for a light, neutral every day training shoe. They feel great and respond well whether you are doing a long slow run or running tempo or track workouts.
For more information on Mizuno and the Wave Rider 18, check out their website: http://www.mizunousa.com/running
This is a sponsored post for Mizuno on behalf of Fitfluential LLC.
