I have been a loyal fan of the Mizuno Wave Riders for over 5 years now. I tried out the Mizuno Wave Inspires about 4 years ago upon the recommendation of the running shoe store guru who told me I might need stability now that I had given birth to my second child. While that may have been true of my psychological state, it was not true of my feet. I immediately hated them when I went for my first long run wearing them and got a new pair of Wave Riders as soon as I could afford them on a grad student and mother of two kind of budget. My feet are happy in the Wave Riders. Until the recent bunion episode that started on my 18 mile run. I decided to give the Wave Creation 12 a whirl hoping for a little more cushioning and room in the toe box.
Today I decided to take them out for a 10 mile test run. It was not good. The heel felt very tight and high, which made me worry that I was going to get a blister from rubbing on the ankle. It was not a problem, but it could be over time or in different conditions. The worse part was how awful they felt from the very first step. The shoe was really rigid. I did not feel cushioned at all. The rigidity made my foot land weird, and I felt like I was running on the outer edge of my foot and not being able to roll over onto the middle part of my foot or use any of my inner foot even when pushing off at the end of my step. The rigid sole and weird landing issues were making my joints ache. My knees never hurt when I run, but today my hips and knees ached. By mile 7 they felt like they loosened up a little and I was getting closer to a normal foot landing pattern, but it was still uncomfortable and just not right. I could not imagine having to run 26.2 miles in these shoes. It is not going to happen.
On the positive side, these toe box is different than the Wave Riders and did not put so much pressure on my swollen bunion. I, however, am still left in a conundrum. I cannot run 20 miles in my Wave Riders this weekend. My toe cannot take it. I do not think I can run 20 miles in the Wave Creations. My feet, knees, and hips cannot take it. And what am I going to wear for the marathon? I’m at a loss. Maybe I’ll visit the local running store tomorrow and see if there is anything there that might get me through the next few weeks of training. Maybe I should just rush order like 5 other shoes here to see if any of them are better.
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