The other day, I got a very special gift in the mail from my friends at Mizuno. A brand new pair of Wave Inspires.


These are the Wave Inspire 8s and I think they might be my favorite version of the shoe to date.

I have been running in the Mizuno Wave Inspires since I started running seriously six years ago. They are by far my favorite shoes in the entire world to run in.

The Wave Inspires have gotten me through two marathons, 12 half marathons and a million other shorter races.


Like most shoes, the Wave Inspires change a little bit with each new iteration.

Most of the small changes in the shoes have never been a problem for me. But if you've been reading a while you might remember the epic problems I had with the Wave Inspire 7s. In short, the size I had been wearing for five years no longer fit and there were a couple design elements that just didn't work for me.


I blogged about it and then frantically scoured the Interwebz for a place that was still carrying the 6s and ordered several pair.


The next day I was shocked to find an email from Mizuno's VP of Running in my inbox, saying he appreciated my feedback on the shoes and offering to send me a pair of 6s if I didn't have any luck finding them.

I was impressed beyond words with Mizuno's amazing customer service.

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to meet some of the Mizuno team at an event in DC and I shared the incredible customer service story, about how one little email made me an even bigger fan of their brand than I was before.

As we were talking, I had mentioned that I was still running in a pair of those 6s I had ordered.

A few days after the event, I was gifted with the brand new Wave Inspire 8s. (Full FTC disclosure, Mizuno sent me the shoes for free. All my opinions on their awesomeness are my own.)


I have since taken them on a few runs and they are amazing. I thought I would never love a running shoes as much as I loved the 6s, but the 8s blow them out of the water.

The 8s hug and cushion my foot perfectly. The laces are the perfect length. Everything just feels right.

Oh and the colors are amazing. I am obsessed with the purple, black and yellow combo.

It's like Mizuno made the shoe just for me.

I can't say enough good things about Mizuno as a company. They obviously took all the feedback they got from their customers on the 7s and used it to make a drastically improved version of the shoe. The Wave Inspire 8s are an incredible shoe, and it makes me happy to see a company that I value so much actually listens to their customers.

A huge thank you to the team at Mizuno for sending me the Wave Inspire 8s to try out. I think I have many, many happy miles ahead!

When I got home from PA yesterday, I had two things waiting for me.

The first were new pairs of Mizuno Wave Inspire 6's. I didn't even attempt to unpack all my bags before I had ripped the box open, pulled on the new shoes and did a couple test laps through my living room and dining room. They fit perfectly! I was so excited, I did a happy dance around my house. I can't wait to take them out for a run.

The second thing waiting for me was an email from the VP of running at Mizuno. He had read my post on how unhappy I was with the Inspire 7's and was reaching out to let me know they were taking into account my comments (and all comments) about the 7's as they worked on the new model.

As a loyal Mizuno customer, I was really impressed someone took the time to contact me and let me know that they had not only read my post, but that they actually cared that I wasn't happy with the shoes.

I can't say enough about how impressed I am with Mizuno as a company after this small interaction. Knowing that companies are listening to their customers and care about what they say makes me happy.

Mizuno makes great running shoes. I would have tried the Inspire 8's when my new 6's wore out anyway, but knowing that the company heard my complaints and plans to make changes accordingly makes me really excited to try the new model even though it won't be out for several months. I criticized several design elements of the Inspire 7's and I'm looking forward to seeing how Mizuno takes that feedback and uses it in the new model.

Mizuno is open to hearing more comments about the Inspire 7's, so if there was something you particularly loved or hated about the model, feel free to leave it in the comments and I'll pass it on.

I'm having a Mizuno Meltdown!

Look what came for me yesterday!!!




Brand spanking new running shoes!



When my friend Tracy asked me how long it had been since I replaced my shoes I honestly couldn't remember. So I logged into Mint.com to see the last time I had a sizeable credit card charge from the running store. The answer: Labor Day weekend.



Wow. These babies have been with me for a while. Three half marathons. One full marathon. One 10 miler and countless miles of training.

While they still feel OK, I knew they were on their last leg so I ordered a new pair over the weekend.

I've been running in Mizuno Wave Inspires since I started running seriously five years ago. They are a moderate stability shoe and I love them. Through every updated style, version and color they have been extremely comfortable and fit my foot like a glove.

That is until the most recent edition.


From left to right Wave Inspires 4, 4, 5, 6, 6 and 7

(This isn't even my full collection, at least one pair of fours and a pair of fives are at my parents house and one pair of fives was thrown out after I hiked the Jamaican waterfall in them)

Mizuno why did you change what was so good?

I ordered the Mizuno Wave Inspire 7's in the same size I've been wearing for five years and suddenly now my toes jam against the front.

The sides of the shoes are tighter and higher and rub uncomfortably against my ankle bone.

And the laces. I don't even know how to describe this and certainly can't fathom a reason for why someone would do this to a shoe.


Weird gap between the lower laces and the upper laces.

The non-attached lace part bent very, very easily. I actually thought the shoe was damaged when I first pulled it out of the box.

It's a good thing Zappos has free return shipping because these babies are going right back where they came from.

Looks like I'll be heading out to my running store to find a new pair of shoes. I'm really sad that I might have to switch brands. I've tried on other brands before and nothing has come close to the comfort that I've had with the Mizunos.

I've searched to the depths of the interwebs to see if anyone was still selling Mizuno Wave Inspire 6's in a women's size nine, but I've found nothing.

Yes I am currently having a meltdown over my running shoes. Please don't judge me.

Update: By some small miracle I found a store that still had the Wave Inspire 6's in stock in my size! I ordered two pair and was able to use a $20 coupon. With tax and shipping, I paid $148. I'm hoping these get me through this year and that I'll like the Mizuno Wave Inspire 8's better.

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Sony Walkman W Series Winners:

According to Random.org, the winners of the Sony Walkman W Series players are

Katie who said
"I used to use shuffle but now I more or less "choreograph" my playlist to my run. I'll warm up with slower songs and speed them up as the playlist goes along to help me kick it up a notch!"


and Bridget who said
"Shuffle!"

Congrats guys! Please email me (jess@jessruns.com) your shipping address by noon EST on Thursday so I can get your players shipped. If I don't hear from you by then, I'll select another winner.

On my three mile run last night, my hips, knees and shins were all feeling the full effects of the pounding on the sidewalk. I got home and was pretty sure I needed new running shoes since I bought my current pair back in June.

I'm not as diligent as I should be about tracking the miles on my shoes. So when I went back and looked through old posts and MapMyRun training logs, I realized I only have about 160 miles on my current pair. (Assuming I blogged or mapped out the majority of my runs)

So maybe it was just an off day for me running wise.

But since I was on Amazon browsing discounts on my Mizunos, I happened to stumble across the Mizuno Wave Inspire 6, which is being released Nov. 9, in a pink and white color scheme.

Yea I'm pretty pumped. I think it would be awesome to have pink and white running shoes. I run in the Wave Inspire 5 now, but I've never had problems when Mizuno's made updates to their basic Wave Inspire. I've also run in the 3 and 4 and loved them too.

But because an update is coming out so soon and there was exactly one pair of the fives left in my size on Amazon, I'll probably have to go to the store and actually shell out the additional cash for a pair there. I don't want to order the 6 online and then have to ship it back because I don't like the new style and end up having to go the running store anyway.

I'm going to keep monitoring my current shoes and see how I'm feeling after runs in them. If I continue to have issues, I'll just get the new pair and assume I miscounted my miles.