I had not ran in more than 2 weeks, a relatively long “cooldown” period after recovery from my fever 2 weeks ago. Especially with many cases of runners suddenly collapsing when running under the influence of a flu, cough or even the lack of sleep, who knows what will happen. Take no chances and be a responsible runner to protect yourself.
Mizuno Wave Creation 8 Burn-in initial impressions
Took my new baby for a sub 2hour 18.18km burn-in leisure jog round my estate this evening, going through road and terrain allowing me to test the full capabilities of Mizuno’s Flagship running shoe. Man had not felt the good ‘ol shoe cushioning for ages, it’s just like those moments where you can enjoy your car’s “new care smell” but only for a while before it not longer feels new.
With that I have the following in review:
Stability
The shoe feels solid in build and silent on the run. I do not really know what Mizuno means by Sensor Point Technology on the shoes (those yellow spots on the sole) but you can only feel the points (you can pivot your feet on them) easily on flat concrete, otherwise you can’t when running on rougher terrain, tiled pavements and tarmac. The interesting thing is that you can actually feel the difference in terrain (slip, holes, texture, etc) despite the sole being almost 30mm thick, thats some impressive feedback.
Build Quality
The shoe is pretty well made, I had sometime getting used to wearing it at first, especially my right shoe having abit for excess material sticking out of the internal seams, but that can be easily remedied with a few minor alterations. Genrally looking at the sole construction it’s designed with interlocking cushioning pieces, in which the parts will hold itself up and won’t peel/fall off so easily like what Nike and Rebok shoes are notorious for – premature sole tear failure. I’ve always been with Asics and so far the running shoes I have with them never fail- always running to a ripe ‘old wear. I hope the creation can live up to it’s name. Also considering this is my first time with Mizuno for competitive running, I am still skeptical on this issue on durability, otherwise still confident that it won’t let me down.
Traction and Grip
You get consistent moderate good grip up on hills and down hills, but that too depends on what medium you run on. The shoes don’t shriek when skidded and don’t mark as well.
Cushioning
Despite it being one of Mizuno’s heavier shoes (370g) it makes up for it’s weight in technology, the mid sole and VS-1 cushioning effectively returns feedback on each bound, making it very light and easy to run. I will however, won’t take that as a selling point- if you prefer lighter racers stick to them, the Creation 8 is after all built for effective neutral cushioning and is still heavy in nature- you can’t change that fact.
Cooling
I always loved Asics shoes with front open air vents which lets cooling air in very effectively – too effective including letting in water spills from marathon water points and mud from cross country runs. Mizuno’s airmesh is different with this air mesh material wrapped all round the shoe which does not give you the toe chills when you pick up speed but also does not make you feel too warm and sweaty inside as well. It’s like a filtered mesh which I still yet to know won’t allow water spills in too easily (hopefully like those breathable goretex material). The main drawback is the multilayer construction of the mesh, which can possibility makes cleaning more of hassle if mud or debris gets stuck in between. The mesh is promising but I kinda miss the cold toe feeling my DS trainer provides.
Ok thats all for my initial impressions I’ve picked up from my 1st run with the shoe, will be running more with the shoe and at the same time testing out the shoe on future races for each component:
Mizuno’s Wave run – Tarmac and Pavements
New Balance real run – Trial and sand ability
AHM Half Marathon – Road endurance & cushioning
SCM Full Marathon – Further endurance & prolonged cushioning
Sunset way run: 5.33km – Tuesday
SP Gym 3+1 Sets Weight Training – Thursday
Redhill/Tanglin Canal Route: 18.18km (MCW8)- Sunday
Total Millage for week: 23.51km
Total 2007 Accumulative Mileage: 566.64km
[…] such as Asics, Nike, Adidas and even new balance. They had been in the market for decades producing quality running shoes I adore. The wave creation is one such pair of running shoes. It sits on the upper segment of […]