Mizuno Wave Rider 18 Review

The following post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of Mizuno. Although I was compensated for this review, all thoughts are honest and opinions are my own!

Hi guys! Wow. I have been spending a lot of time reading through your responses to this morning’s reader survey and I am ecstatic!

It sounds like the majority of you all are on board with the idea of making some changes on the blog front and that makes me so happy to hear.

It’s very comforting to know I won’t lose your readership throughout the process. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave your opinions and also for the encouragement for me to do what I believe in.

Ya’ll really are the best, and I am grateful for each and every one of you!

Quick note…

I decided to include a section on sponsored posts into the survey because I have kept busy collaborating with what seems like several different brands in a short amount of time this month.

I want to make it clear that I don’t say yes to everything I am approached with, and in fact, I only agree to work with a small percentage of companies and products I’m prompted by. I reserve the “sponsored post” label for things I would honestly go buy myself, and in many cases I do!

I hope you understand that I am very true to my word in my reviews. I don’t gain anything different by giving a positive or extremely positive or just “okay” review. If I come across something I just don’t like, you probably won’t even see it on the blog.

I have never been in that situation before, but if I was, I would be sure to contact the company and reassure them that they probably don’t want the review to happen if that was the case.

(The end.)

That said, now you can trust me when I tell you these shoes are the ish.

Seriously.

The Mizuno Wave Rider 18 might just be my favorite running shoe to date!

(No but really.)

I had the opportunity to review the Mizuno Wave Rider 17 last year, and I still use those in my shorter run rotation. (I always suggest buying a couple pairs of running shoes to anyone training for races and continuously rotate them to extend the wear!)

I thought I would enjoy these shoes just the same, and didn’t have high hopes for them past that. I figured they would be great, but would end up being just another addition to the running shoe rotation collection.

Two weeks ago, I laced the Wave Rider 18 sneakers up for the first time and completed a quick three miles around the neighborhood.

I really liked them! They were the perfect blend of comfortable and supportive, so I put them on for my next run too.

I was still a big fan after that run, and wanted to put them to test by wearing them on my 11 mile training run the week before my half marathon.

I was actually pretty nervous about this. Mizuno has been my go-to long distance running brand for several years. For the past two, I have sworn by my Wave Enigmas and put them on my feet any time I feel more than five miles coming on.

It’s always been a complex for me. Long run = Wave Enigmas because that is what the kind people at Track Shack specifically put me in to train with years ago. Whenever I need a new pair, I hop on Amazon and replace that exact pair with a new version.

Knowing all of this, you can probably understand when I say that I don’t have super high hopes for any new running shoes that I come into contact with. They have to be pretty darn special for me to pick them over what I am already comfortable with.

After my 11 miles in the Mizuno Wave 18 running shoes, I was in love!

I put my running sole inserts in them, and wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

What I got was a comfortable run that was easy to get through without the slightest bit of knee pain or sensation of numb toes.

That almost always happens with anything over eight miles for me, even in my trusted Wave Enigmas.

I kept my inserts in my Wave Rider 18s and wasn’t sure which pair I would end up running my half marathon in. Do I really love the Wave Rider 18 sneakers that much to race in them? I mean… that’s kind of a big deal.

Well… the answer is yes.

I went off of my good feelings about the 11 mile run in them and decided to try them out for the 13.1!

I experienced a slight discomfort (pain on the bottom of my foot) around mile 12, but really… that was to be expected. I remember my feet hurting about eight miles into my first half.

Logging in over forty miles in these bad boys, you can definitely say I have given them a fair try. I absolutely love them!

Here are some of the features of the Wave Rider 18:

• a neutral running shoe with enough support for a wide range of runners

• provides the ideal balance of fit and performance

• smooth ride in a sleek, light running shoe

• U4ic midsole delivers optimal shock attenuation, resiliency, responsiveness and superior ride that is 30% lighter than AP+

• Dynamotion® Fit™ relieves the stress the foot naturally places on footwear which can help in eliminating distortion

• Mizuno Wave Technology® provides a stable ride from landing to toe-off and features a Double Fan Wave with articled forefoot Wave Plate for the optimal blend of shock attenuation guidance and lightweight flexibility

The Mizuno Wave Rider 18 is now on sale and retails at $119.99.

I plan on wearing mine on a rotation with my other running shoes, but that is only to make them last longer. I might need to evaluate the next time I go to replace my “normal” long distance running shoe!

Overall, they felt perfectly supported and extremely lightweight.

Thanks for the chance to test out the goods, Mizuno!