Gear Review: Mizuno Wave Rider 17 and GIVEAWAY!

The Mizuno Wave Rider has been a mainstay in the neutral running category for as long as I can remember. Seriously, the first Rider was introduced in 1998, and I didn't start running until '99. And I'd bet there are some young'uns reading this review who are actually younger than the Rider! In an industry that seems to have remarkably high shoe model turnover, for a shoe to last that long without being discontinued or replaced, it must be a fairly successful shoe. This holds especially true for Mizuno, who currently seems to be in the process of hacking down its line, with the Elixir and Precision being consolidated into the Sayonara, the Ronin and Musha being replaced by the Hitogami, and the Nirvana and Alchemy being discontinued in favor of the Paradox. That's not to say the Rider hasn't hit any stumbling blocks, with the original Rider being a bulky nightmare nicknamed the "Kiss boot," and even the relatively recent Rider 14 getting a lot of negative backlash from longtime Rider fans. After the Rider 14 debacle, Mizuno returned to more familiar territory with the Rider 15. Two iterations later, Mizuno hasn't strayed far from that formula, introducing a familiar, yet much lighter, Mizuno Wave Rider 17.

Gear Review: Brooks PureConnect 3

Never let it be said that Brooks doesn't listen to their customers. There were two issues that people seemed to complain about with the PureConnect: the poor durability caused by a lack of lateral forefoot rubber and the narrow toebox. While the PureConnect 2, which was pretty much the PureConnect with a burrito-upper, was most likely already designed and a done deal by the time these complaints came out, these issues were addressed for the third iteration. The result is the Brooks PureConnect 3, a new shoe that has seen an extensive redesign, yet still shares some of the DNA of its predecessor (no pun intended).

Gear Review: Mizuno Wave Universe 5

The Mizuno Wave Universe 4 was a cool shoe. Light, responsive, flexible, and fast, it was the closest thing to my beloved Adidas adiZero PR that I could find (the PR was an early ultralight that had been discontinued a while ago). It had one big issue that held it back though, and that was the somewhat sloppy upper, which traded the sleek performance-fit of the PR for a roomy forefoot that seemed more in-line with minimalist shoes allowing for toe-splay than racing flats that prioritized speed. Thankfully, Mizuno has finally realized that women like to run fast too, and now offers both men's and women's specific Universes (women generally have proportionately narrower feet, and though the Universe 4 was finally available in small sizes, they were still men's D width instead of women's B width), and the gender-engineered Mizuno Wave Universe 5 is a winner.

Gear Review: Topo Athletic Train RX

Tony Post is probably best known as the CEO of Vibram during the rise of FiveFingers. However, in his post-Vibram days, Post has founded a new company, Topo Athletic, that does away with the five toe design and instead draws inspiration from the Japanese tabi (aka the ninja shoe) to be the Topo two-toe. They're also coming out with regular non-split toe shoes, but I digress. Topo has different lines for different purposes: the RR for racing, RT for training, and RX for cross-training/lifting (the ST is their regular non-split toe shoe, but I'm not sure of where it fits into the line as of this writing). In a bit of a change of pace from my normal running shoe reviews, because Cait Chock guilted me into lifting more, I'll be reviewing the Topo Athletic Train RX (sometimes called the M-RX for men and W-RX for women).

Gear Review: Tifosi Podium XC

A little while ago, I reviewed the Tifosi Slip. Tifosi fills a niche as a budget-performance sunglass company, with most of their offerings falling between $50 and $80. I've always considered them a great value, bang-for-your-buck company, since they're less than half the price of similar products from companies like Oakley and Smith, yet they're still high quality products (though perhaps not quite as solid feeling as their far more expensive brethren). My parents both wear Tifosi, and I tend to wear the Slip whenever I'm doing something where I want sunglasses but am afraid of breaking my expensive Oakley Flak Jackets (mountain biking comes to mind), or whenever I want something other than the really dark Flak Jacket lenses (replacement Oakley lenses are ridiculously expensive). Today I'll be reviewing the Tifosi Podium XC.

Competitor's 3 Things Every Runner Should Do

Just got a shout-out on Competitor from Cait Chock (first high school girl to run sub-16:00 and former professional runner for Nike, currently working as a running writer/blogger/artist). Well, actually, it was a couple days ago, but I've been swamped lately and just had time to post it now. Check it out here!

Gear Review: PlantFusion protein powder

In a perfect world, we'd get all the protein we needed from real food. And for those of us whose mouths water at the thought of a thick, juicy, medium-rare steak, getting protein from real food probably isn't much of a problem (though I do supplement with whey protein shakes because steak right after workouts tends to not happen nearly as much as I'd like...plus protein shakes are just so convenient). Protein's a little trickier for my vegetarian and vegan friends though, since while animal sources of protein tend to be complete proteins (includes all essential amino acids), plant sources are usually incomplete, and you have to mix and match plant proteins in order to get all of your essential amino acids (for example, beans and rice combine to make a complete protein). There are exceptions, like quinoa, which is considered a complete protein, but even mighty quinoa has a lower Protein Digestability Corrected Amino Acid Score than say, whey and casein (from milk), eggs, and beef. Vegetarians and vegans may turn to soy for protein, but soy is such a controversial food right now that many people want to avoid taking in more than they already do. So what's a vegan to do? Well, if my several of my fellow chiropractic student friends are any indication, PlantFusion may be an option.