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Mizuno Wave Sayonara: Review

A brief preamble before I get to the guts of this: As someone invested in running and pretty heavily interested in running shoes, I spend a fair bit of time reading shoe reviews online and in print. But I also recognize that these reviews often fail to offer much. Print reviews (in Runner’s World, Running Times, etc.) are usually very brief descriptions of a shoe’s features along with a smattering of one-sentence opinions from a handful of anonymous shoe testers, in a magazine that just happens to feature numerous ads from the same shoe manufacturers being reviewed. Online reviews tend to be more in-depth, but they almost always omit critical context. What is the reviewer’s running history? Have they been running competitively since they were 12 or did they take up the sport in the last couple of years to get into shape? What is their gait like? At what pace do they usually run? What is their “ideal” shoe and have they ever found that ideal? Did they wear the shoes for a week or two before writing the review, or is the review a “post-mortem” once the shoes have outlasted their lifespan? Did they receive the shoes as a media sample and does this arrangement explicitly require positive feedback? There are certainly some thoughtful, clever reviews out there but a lot of what I’ve read tends to fall short.

All of this being said, I keep reading shoe reviews, because I’m interested in seeing how shoes actually perform, and also to see how effective the design decisions being made by shoe manufacturers actually are. There’s a huge amount of noise in the way running shoes are marketed, from cryptically high-tech names for proprietary cushioning materials, to advance claims of what a shoe can “do” (look through the website of any given manufacturer and it won’t take long to find the assertion that a shoe can “promote” a certain kind of footstrike).

I plan on including reviews from time to time on this site. These reviews will be a reflection of my experiences in using a given pair of shoes but I hope I can also draw on some of the wider context around the shoe’s release (design, industry trends, past models from the manufacturer) that I think is worth mentioning.

I started seeing previews for this shoe back in Spring 2013 and I got excited. I had worn several mizuno models (mainly in the alchemy series) going back at least 10-12 years, but I gave them up when I moved to lighter-weight options from other manufacturers in 2007/2008. I didn’t pay much attention to the brand after that - I knew they made some pretty wild racing flats for the Asian market, but my sense was that their daily trainers were clunky and dated.

Fast-forward to last Spring, where I had come off a stress reaction in late Summer 2012 and had spent the next several months getting back into shape. What I read about the Sayonara seemed to check a lot of boxes for me…..lower (but not low/zero) drop, lower stack height, lightweight but with ample cushioning for big miles, and a slightly soft ride without a loss of responsiveness. Not unlike some shoes that I had really enjoyed in the past, like the old Nike Marathoner, the first iteration of the Saucony Kinvara, and the New Balance 890 V2.

I bought a pair when they were released in Summer 2013 but had to put them on the shelf for a while when my shin issues returned. I was eventually diagnosed with a stress fracture in my left tibia, and I had to take almost three months off before it healed.

When I got back to running in Fall 2013, the Sayonara felt too firm and unforgiving. I was lacking strength and my stride was missing the smoothness that comes with regular miles. The few times I wore them, they were jarring and uncomfortable, and made my shin flare up where the bone was still healing. I wore a softer, more flexible shoe while I got stronger, and over the last 6 months or so, I have moved back to using the Sayonara as part of my regular rotation. I’ve gone through two pairs of the shoes, with the second pair currently on it’s last legs. Most of my mileage has been on a mix of semi-technical trails and roads, with weather ranging from 10 C right down to -20 C (most of it was on the colder side).

OVERALL RIDE AND FEEL

The Sayonara is lightweight (approximately 8 oz in a men’s size 9.0) - but more importantly, It feels balanced, which is sometimes lacking in lightweight/minimal shoes that I’ve tried. Mizuno attributes the light weight to their new “u4ic” midsole formulation, which is supposedly 30% lighter than their older AP+ midsole foam, while offering the same cushioning as what you might get from a “conventional midsole”. I can’t confirm or deny this, but I can attest to the fact that the shoe rides responsively. It’s more on the firm/responsive side of the scale than the cushy/marshmallow side.

The forefoot is quite flexible, but the back half of the shoe is much firmer and more rigid, and the shoes also have quite a bit of torsional rigidity. I find that if I slow down my pace and contact the ground more towards my heels, the shoes feel somewhat clunky and slappy, but at faster speeds and striking more towards the midfoot or forefoot, the ride and responsiveness open up considerably.

One issue I have found with the Sayonara is the way the shoe’s ride changes over its lifespan. As the midsole breaks down, the shoe has a tendency (for me) to feel more rigid and unforgiving, especially in the back half. I think this may be due to the rigidity of the plastic wave plate in the shoe….it simply breaks down at a slower rate than the rest of the shoe, resulting in a ride that gets somewhat uncomfortable as the shoe nears the end of its natural lifespan.

UPPER

I had to go a half-size down in the Wave Sayonara from what I usually wear in other running shoes. The fit was much better this way but there are still a few nagging fit issues in the upper. The toebox is quite roomy laterally, but the volume of the upper is somewhat low and the shoe tends to fit pretty tightly over the instep. This caused some initial discomfort, but as both pairs broke in and softened up slightly, the fit has improved.

The heel counter is stiffer than I’d like, but the padding in the heel and around the collar of the shoe is fairly minimal. This was probably a conscious decision in order to reduce weight, but it means that the fit in the heel is a little indistinct. I would prefer slightly more padding in that area of the shoe, or even something like the foam “pods” that Saucony has put in the Kinvara.

The upper is seamless, consisting of a mesh that’s very finely woven, with clear plastic film overlays on the exterior to provide structure. This combination makes for an upper that is very lightweight but more inherently stable and structured than what you see in many shoes with a combination of mesh and welded overlays. I’ve only worn these in weather that has ranged from mild to straight-up cold so I wonder what the breathability is like in hotter conditions, considering how finely woven the mesh is.

The laces that came with the shoes felt stiff and slipped too often. I pulled them out and replaced them with some flat woven laces that hold a knot much better and allow for a better range of fit.

OTHER DESIGN FACTORS

The Sayonara is a well-executed shoe. The clear plastic overlays on the exterior are subtle and effective. There are several bands of printed overlays that arc around the forefoot and across the saddle of the shoe, containing a densely-rendered web of lines. I think the rendering is a little inelegant, but I do admire the fact that Mizuno is including printed graphic elements like this in their shoes - most manufacturers these days are sticking to a combination of their logo along with a mix of mesh and overlays, avoiding anything even remotely graphic.

I’ve gone through two colourways of the Wave Sayonara - there’s the “Dude Blue/Anthracite/Bolt” colourway (aka the blue one) and “White/Anthracite/Lime Punch” (aka the white one). The blue colourway is a little tired - I feel like this shade of royal blue is used way too often in men’s running shoes and it doesn’t do much for me. The white colourway is more effective, and once again, I have to admire Mizuno’s designers for releasing a shoe that’s primarily white when the rest of the market seems determined to go the other direction.

OVERALL

The Wave Sayonara is a balanced, lightweight, and responsive shoe. If you’re looking for something that can handle long runs and interval workouts equally well, it’s a very solid option - but my recommendation comes with a caveat that the shoe may not accommodate all foot shapes due to its low volume upper, and that the firm/responsive ride of the shoe may become uncomfortable over its lifespan due to the inherent rigidity of the wave plate.

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