the Wave Cabrakan

Miles today: 3.2

Miles this week: 11.3

Miles in 2010: 130.1

Ran the same route out to Oakwood Country Club and back tonight. My ankles, calves, and shins are tired from all this stabilizing for snow running. I could feel them burning about 3 minutes into the run. I think tomorrow might just be a one mile day...we'll see.

I had the pleasure of receiving a pair of these trail shoes on Tuesday afternoon, right before I headed out for an evening run. Typically, I'm not a huge trail runner, but one of my goals for Project 365 is to run trails more often this year. I know its great for strength, endurance, and hills. So...with that in mind, I ordered a pair of the Cabrakan.

I wasn't expecting to use them before trail-running because I have plenty of road shoes, but Tuesday night's weather unexpectedly dropped an inch or so of snow on us in the matter of an hour and it was right when I needed to run. So I laced them up and went out for a run...and ran in them again tonight.

here's a review:

Mizuno: Women's Wave Cabrakan

Rating: 5 stars 

Mizuno makes their shoes a bit differently then all of the other shoe companies. For instance, where most shoe companies handle "stability" shoes with a dual-density EVA foam, with most of the shoe in one soft density, and then a wedge-shaped part of the shoe under the medial side of the arch in a denser foam, Mizuno does not. In dual-density shoes, the dense material acts as a post to slow down a pronating foot.

However, Mizuno's shoes use a different technology, called a wave plate. The wave plate in combination with an EVA midsole, covers the heel and midfoot in all of the shoes, and in some of their maximum protection shoes, the wave extends the whole length of the shoe.

In the Cabrakan, there is a double fan wave, meaning the wave on the medial side of the arch has two pieces, one that kind of fans out toward the top of the EVA, which acts kind of like the post in a dual-density shoe, but does it in a way that uses any overpronation motion to propel the foot forward. It's kind of like the Conservation of Energy from physics...or something like that. The shoe would therefore be considered a stability trail shoe.

Some other great benefits of the Cabrakan are water resistance in the upper and wet traction in the outsole.

The water resistance is definitely awesome. When I ran through snow, slush puddles, and water, my feet stayed perfectly dry. My socks were only wet at the ankles where my shoe didn't cover.

The wet traction is also an awesome feature of these shoes. Basically, wet traction just means the outsole has a "bi-directional rubber compound that breaks through water, improving grip in all conditions." When I ran on snow, ice, and slush, my feet stayed very stable.

The color scheme of the shoes is navy and yellow. Laces are dark navy...overall look of the shoe is pretty cool.

Easy to run in, comfortable, firm cushioning, and fitted upper that holds my feet nicely. Toe bumper isn't huge, but seems more protective than a regular road shoe.

Very functional, great for running in the current crazy Lynchburg snow weather, but I can only imagine how good it will be on trail as well. Can't wait to go out and use it again.