 Beholden to no one. Beholden to no one. Mizuno is now in the studio. Now in the running shoe arsenal and the running shoe rotation and oh I have it's so exciting to try really a brand new brand for me. I've worn them before but it's been a long long time. I won't even mention how long it's been. So it's exciting to have Mizuno now in the studio and listen we know the story of Nike. We know the story of Adidas. Probably New Balance. Maybe Soccany. I'm a history guy. I love history. So here's a little history for you on Mizuno. The company was started in 1906. It's crazy. There's a lot of athletic apparel companies starting right around that time period in history. I believe Soccany was what New Balance Soccany. They're all right around that time frame. So the company was started by Rihashi and Rizzo Mizuno. Two brothers. How crazy. Adidas was started by two brothers as well. It's kind of interesting. Joseph are you listening. Maybe we need to start a running shoe company. Okay it started in 1906 in Osaka Japan. They started out by making baseball. I think actual baseballs or was baseball gloves eventually evolving into golf clubs. And it wasn't until the early 1970s that they came out with the M line. So it was it was called literally the M line running shoes. If somebody has ever held one I'd be fascinated to hear. Let me know down in the comments. So that was the early 70s that they started to make running shoes. Does anybody know is Mizuno just completely dominating the Japanese running market. Like Japan is the more I learn about running in Japan. It's amazing. Especially road running. They they they crush road running. So if somebody is familiar with Japanese running culture let me know if Mizuno is just like at the top of the class over there. Like are they just on everybody's feet because they were started in Osaka. And before we move along into the specs as I always say this is not my full review. This is just my first impression of the Wave Knit R2 full review will happen after 50 miles. Okay my size is coming in at nine ounces. I think a couple sizes up you're looking at 10 ounces. A little over 10 ounces is the reports that I'm reading. And listen to this drop. A 12 millimeter drop. A 12 millimeter drop. That is huge from heel to toe. So if you are a zero drop fan or like a four to six drop fan and I often think that I really enjoy like a right around six millimeter drop. Anyway I'll just say right now the 12 millimeter felt pretty nice today. So anyway 12 millimeter from heel to toe. That might be the highest drop almost that I've ever run in. I'd have to think back but because a lot of Nikes are 10 the Wave Knit R2 is a neutral shoe. But I'm just gonna put it out there right now because we're gonna we're about to talk about the outsole. It feels a little bit like a stabilized shoe. Just a little bit. It is a neutral shoe for sure. But I must say it's not your traditional kind of you know loosey-goosey neutral shoe. It's got a little bit of stability in it. And we're gonna talk about that in a minute. Okay I'm gonna save the upper and the midsole discussion for the full review. So stay tuned for that down the road. Let's jump to the outsole. It is a highly abrasion resistant compound that staves off like the debilitating effects of like repeated usage over and over and over again. And just feeling it with my fingers it feels very very tough. I'm just gonna say it right now. Very well constructed through the heel on the outsole. They have flex controllers placed in the in the forefoot section. These elements are a means of heightening flexibility and push-off energy. Especially when gearing towards the toe-off through your gate cycle. And guess what? I could feel it. I could feel a nice little energy return through the toe-off. You don't always get that on your first run in a shoe. But I could feel a nice little and not a lot but a little energy return as I was towing off through that gate cycle. As far as fit is concerned I went true to size and it's feeling real good. However and maybe a slight drawback the toe box is feeling a little wide to me. I usually like a pretty snug fit through my shoes and listen I don't have the widest foot in the world. But I did notice a little bit of displaying of my toes through the toe box and it was fine but I got used to it as the bottom line. I would have loved a little more of a lockdown feel through the forefoot on the top of my foot. And then also just a very very minor drawback. The shoelaces are too short for the runner's knot. I barely barely could tie the runner's knot today with the shoelaces. That is fixable and again just a minor minor detail. And for a couple positives you're ready for this. Are you ready YouTube? A couple positives. The cornering so I was noticing incredible grip and traction on the road. And like okay if you are racing a street 5k, 10k and you have tight corners to turn at high speeds like I felt so in control in this shoe today. Now I wasn't going terribly fast over the five miles but I just felt like I was gripping the road really well. Like more so than the Audios 4. And I was really kind of bullish about the Audios 4 grip with that continental rubber on the outsole. I don't know it was amazing. Okay the other positive. Bear with me on this illustration. Will you bear with me? Here we go. You remember you know when you're going down steps and you accidentally miss a step and you kind of slip just a little bit but it actually does not turn into a devastating slip where you fall. It's actually a slip that actually almost helps you. It's like you're going down an escalator of stairs. Like you just kind of da-da-da. It's like da-da-da. Again bear with me. So I was going I was doing a little bit of heel striking today just to feel it out and it felt like I was getting a nice little da-da-da. Through my gate cycle just like a nice little almost like I was missing a step and like it felt the ride was nice. The ride and listen I'm beholden to no one. I'm not being paid to say this. I was I am cautiously optimistic about this shoe and frankly about Mizuno now. I don't know and listen I only did five miles. Talked to me in like five more five more runs from now but I'm pretty excited about what I experienced today and I'll just say one last thing is that I only did five. I don't see the shoe going much past like 12 miles or a half marathon. It just felt like the outsole was a little rigid a little hard landing just a little bit especially through the just a little bit through the forefoot so I don't think this is gonna be a long-run shoe. I could be wrong but those are my first impressions of the Mizuno Wave Knit R2. Crazy. I never thought I would be running in Mizuno again and I'm I'm like I said cautiously optimistic about what I experienced today and you better believe the keyword is gonna be optimistic because that's that's how I'm feeling right now that's how I'm feeling and the question of the day for this video who has worn Mizuno ever have you raced in Mizuno I know they have a nice racing shoe lineup especially in track spikes so let us know what's your experience with Mizuno if you've never worn Mizuno let us know why as well if you feel comfortable sharing for me it basically comes down to a crowded marketplace and working it into the rotation okay one last thought and then I'm gonna be quiet in the middle of my run today I was almost thinking to myself when I do my next threshold run which is gonna be six miles in my two weeks from now I was thinking on the run today this shoe could be an option for that run which is exciting which is very exciting all right that is all for today I could talk all night cuz I'm kind of excited kind of excited seek beauty work hard and love each other see you tomorrow I'm back I'm back real quick did I mention this I think I forgot $130 so they're not giving it away but it appears that the quality of the material and the quality of the engineering behind it it seems like it's a very very well constructed shoe all right so I'm guessing the durability is gonna be on point so anyway $130 okay now we're signing off