WRITTEN BY: MELISSA VANDEWATER - ELITE RUNNER AND RUN TECHNIQUE COACH

Say goodbye to your shadow, with the Mizuno Wave Shadow 3. It is the running shoe with quick responsiveness with foot contact, is lightweight, and a glove like feel for your feet.

I’ve tried and tested the initial Wave Shadow 1 and 2, and 3 is the most comfortable of the series. You will find the Mizuno Wave Plate, from heel to midfoot remains providing stability and response, while the U4ic midsole has the same cushioning feel. The Wave Shadow is a Neutral runner and you can observe that on the ‘curve’ of the plate through the midsole. The Wave Plate’s shape guide, to help absorb forces and stabilise, is less than say a Mizuno Wave Rider or Sky. The Wave Shadow, I find is your go to running shoe for tempo sessions, road racing. Keep in mind it does have an 8mm heel to toe offset, so if you have traditionally run in 10 or 12mm offset, it would be recommended to slowly integrate this shoe in to your planned runs. This also applies if you have been running in a shoe with more midsole.

This shoe has the advantage of less foam overall, that assists with feedback as to where your foot is striking the ground. The upper mesh has certainly evolved over each Wave Shadow. You’ll find that the Shadow 3 has reinforced the toe box cap, rather than extend breathable mesh to the end of forefoot. Its improved the look of the shoe, more refined over the upper mesh, lacing and heel cup with stitching unseen. This is literally a feel-good shoe to run in; a barefoot feel whilst still giving you enough cushioning and propulsion during push off phase.

Goodbye to your shadow and hello to responsiveness!  

Melissa Vandewater Elite Runner and Run Technique Coach

Instagram@soulrunner1

CLICK HERE to shop the Wave Shadow 3.

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