Mizuno Enigma 5 – Review

“Disclaimer: I received the Mizuno Wave Enigma 5 to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!”

I was excited when I heard the news that I would be receiving a pair of shoes to review, before they are available in stores.

I’ll be honest, I was also a bit nervous. I am a supporter of going to your local running store to get fitted for the shoe that works for you. I have been running in the same shoe for years, it works for me, I don’t have to break them in and I stay (mostly) injury free.

However as someone who has already logged over 800 miles running this year, I appreciate the chance to try new shoes, as I buy about 4-5 pairs a year.

The Mizuno website has all the technical information and item specifics, and since they already wrote that for you, I am here to share my experience as I ran around my town. Bear with me, I ran a lot, this is long 🙂

I came home to a brown box, nothing flashy, but it peaked my curiosity.

I opened the box to find my blue, white, sliver, black colored shoes, woohoo!!

The next morning I laced the shoes up, and took them on their maiden voyage, a photo shoot, lol. They fit my foot really well. No slipping or sliding in the heel or toe box. They were a true fit to my shoe size. I didn’t even have to tug and pull to get the tight fit I like with the shoe laces as they have a little stretch to them. They also had a nice cushion to them, however they were loud, like the rubber on the sole had to be broken in. Reminded me of the noise high heels make. I also thought my foot looked big, but hey it’s not small either.

The dogs thought they looked good, as they pulled me along on a nightly walk.

Then came the true test, their first run. I decided even after my morning relay on the trails, I was going to run to a “Movie Night” event at the University’s football stadium. It would be just over 3 miles to get there. I had been wearing my trail shoes all day, they are extra bouncy, so when I put the Mizuno’s on, I was like WHOA. Such a different feel, still cushy, yet firm.

I didn’t notice any major problems on this first run, they felt very similar to my trusty neutral shoes I am used to running in. My feet did feel warm just under the fore foot, which could have also been from running on hot pavement, or already running that day. I had no foot or leg issues as I enjoyed the movie. They never felt heavy, even though I still feel my feet look big in them.

After just one run and a few walks around the neighborhood, I wasn’t ready to make a decision on the shoes. So of course I ran some more miles. It also helped that I was really close to my monthly mileage goal to keep me on track for hitting 2015 miles in 2015.

I set out on a 5 miler, just on the sidewalks around town. The shoes once again felt great on my feet, and I had no issues. I was specifically waiting to see if my fore foot got hot again. No issues, but it was first thing in the morning. However I still noticed the loud sound they made when I walked my warm up.

After some chatter on twitter with my #bibchat pals, someone else had noticed the noise they made. So with my next run, I was specifically listening to how they sounded when running, not walking. Yes, I understand this is not a huge problem, and has no effect on my performance, but I am being thorough. 🙂

I had told myself I needed to run 8 miles, I needed the miles for my #2015in2015 goal. This length was a really good test for me to determine if I will add these shoes into my rotation.

As I ran, they weren’t as noisy as walking, probably because I am lighter with my running gait than with walking? I just wondering if the shoes need to be broken in more? Like I said it’s not a huge problem, just something I noticed. I was also running negative splits, GO ME!! The hot fore foot thing did make an appearance, but in one foot, just a little thing. Also not sure if this is something that is related to breaking in the shoe. It was also a super hot & humid run, I had to cool off when I was done.

After around 18 total miles, I decided it was time to take them to a race. These shoes are like a new pet, you have to show them off and be seen around town!

The Clayton Ridge Interact 5k is where the shoes toed their first start line.

Race review coming soon, but I’ll give you a recap on how the shoes carried me to a 4th place overall female finish. Just seconds before the race started they announced there would be prizes for the top 5 males and top 5 females. I was already sizing up the competition after the first 100 feet, so I pushed it the entire race. I made it to mile 2 when I started to struggle, it wasn’t super hot, but it was humid and the paved, non shaded running surface didn’t help. The hot fore foot problem re-emerged, so I backed it off just so I wouldn’t collapse. OK so maybe it wasn’t that dramatic.

I finished the race close to a PR time of 25:48 and as the 4th female, earning me a gift card to a local store. Overall no leg or foot problems after the running. Just the hot bottom of my feet as I ran.

After the race I had to make it back home. I had to tackle the “trail/path” alongside the busy highway. It was all up hill and kind of washed out with lots of weeds. The shoes felt good as I ran across this terrain, no hot feet problem.

Update: I wore these shoes to participate in a farmer’s market. No running involved, just standing around outside, in 86 degrees for 3 hours. No hot feet problem, no leg pain, a nice cushy shoe for everyday things as well.

My conclusion: I would recommend these shoes to a neutral runner, who likes a firm cushy shoe. I will be adding them into my rotation(which is now up to 3 shoes). I think if it’s hot, I will wear something different as I am not sure what the hot fore foot thing is all about, unless it’s just the warm running surface.

I am happy to have the opportunity to try a new shoe, like I said I am all for getting fitted, with a gait analysis at a local running store. However getting to try them out is great, wish there was a program like this for all shoes.

Check back soon, you never know where my Mizuno’s will take me next.