In my last post, I talked about the reasons why runners should vary their pacing from day to day. In this update, I’ll provide a simple way to think about structuring training weeks, so that you can apply pacing variation to get the most out of your body.

A Training “Week” Does Not Always Equal 7 Days

The first step in determining how to structure your training weeks is to figure out how much recovery time you need between hard workouts. This varies greatly from runner to runner, though there are a few general approaches that work quite well. Two of them use a traditional 7-day week, and the other uses 9 or 10 days per training “week.”

1. The Traditional Week: You’ll note that most “stock” training plans that you can download or purchase online feature 3 “quality” days per week (usually a workout on Tuesday, a workout on Thursday, and a long run over the weekend). This is the most common training week used by recreational runners, and for people with jobs and families, as well as for younger runners, this is the best fit. When using this approach, I only schedule 2 strenuous sessions and use the 3rd workout as a moderate/support day. If you use the traditional approach, either do (a) Hard workout Tuesday, moderate workout Thursday, long run with some speed mixed in; or (b) Hard workouts Tuesday and Thursday, steady SLOW long run. If you are using this approach and find that you feel flat or tired for your workouts, then switching to one of the other options can help you.

2. The Single Workout Week: Depending on the specifics of a cycle, I will mix in a 1-workout week for my runners, even if they are on a traditional schedule. In this approach, the long run stays on Saturday/Sunday, but the weekdays feature one hard session, usually on Wednesday. This allows you to run hard during your Wednesday workout, but still have time to recover before the weekend long run. I like this approach as a standard for many masters runners (who need more adaptation time in general), or for the later-cycle weeks in a race buildup where the workouts are taxing and specific (i.e. long tempo runs, long intervals, etc.).

3. The Expanded Week: Another approach that can be very successful, and one that you will see used more frequently by elite athletes that don’t need to fit in long runs on the same day each week, is the 9-day or 10-day training “week.” Within this block of days, three workouts are generally targeted (one of them being a long run). This allows for two or three days of adaptation between all hard efforts, in an effort to allow for better recovery and more leeway to attack workouts. This can also be a great approach for runners who require more recovery time in general (older runners, and beginners).

In general, the key is understanding that a training week can be different for various runners, or various training situations.

Most of Your Training Should Be Easy

Once you’ve determined the general structure for quality days, you are left with the majority of the week to fill with other training. This is usually the process I go through when planning a week for a client: Add key workouts first, then fill in the remainder with easy miles, cross-training, or rest.

It’s important to note that active recovery can come in the form of recovery/easy running, or cross training, and in both cases, you will be improving your general aerobic fitness. You can be a successful runner, depending on your experience and level, with anywhere from 3-7 days a week of running. On the other days, the focus should be very easy training, to maintain your base of fitness and encourage adaptation in between hard workouts.

Variability is the Key; One Week Should Not Look Like the Next

Your weekly plan should always be completed in the context of what came before, and what will come after. The main thing to remember is that your body adapts to new stimuli more effectively than it does to repeated stimuli. So, when you plan your workouts, make sure that you vary the approach. This means that you have to get away from the same distance intervals every Tuesday, and tempo run every Thursday. Instead, mix in strides, hills, fartlek, and other forms of quality. You will get more from each session, and also improve your adaptation rates by using your muscles in different ways from week to week.

Tie it All Back to Your Goals

Finally, ensure that your approach to any given training week is tied to your goals. If you are training for a specific race, each week should take you closer to that goal in the smallest and most manageable step possible to stay on track. If your goals are more general, like adding general speed or general endurance, you should look at what you accomplished the previous week and make things just a bit more challenging. Your workouts should target your goals, specifically, rather than just being chosen at random.

Don’t Forget the Step-back Weeks

We all want to make as much progress as possible, and that means that we both train hard AND allow for complete adaptation. As a general rule of thumb (which can vary from person to person), every fourth or fifth week should be used for recovery and adaptation. This means reducing mileage (by 10-20%), reducing intensity (less strenuous workouts), and reducing frequency (extra rest day, one less double-run day, etc.). It’s only when we train hard, with a smartly designed structure, and then adapt that we actually become faster.

Ask Coach Caleb is a monthly column on Runblogger.com. If you have a training question that you’ like to be considered for a future post, feel free to leave it in a comment!

In contrast, a really common habit for the rest of us is to fall into a single pace or effort on our training runs. We either run the same easy pace day after day, or we try to push each run to the point where we burn out. And when we do vary pace, it’s often over a much narrower range – maybe 75-90 seconds vs. the 3 minute range covered by Cole Atkins in the example above. If you want to get the most out of your training and your body, you need to take a page out of the elite training book and work both ends of the speed/effort spectrum and everywhere in between. Here are three major reasons for varying your pacing from workout to workout.

Distribution of Impact Forces

Rightly so, the concept of varying impact force distribution has been getting more attention lately. For example, this appears to be a major factor behind the benefits we can get from rotating shoes of different types/designs from day to day. Similarly, when you vary your pace from one workout to the next you vary how forces are applied to the body and may thus reduce the likelihood of suffering a repetitive overuse injury. The keys here are the subtle differences in stride length and stride rate that naturally occur at different paces (both rate and length of stride tend to increase with faster pace). These little differences create different impact angles, and therefore different shock absorption profiles in your body. Over a lot of strides through a lot of runs, this can mean the difference between being healthy or dealing with one of the classic running injuries like IT Band Syndrome, Achilles Tendinitis, or Runner’s Knee. So, pace variation can be an important part of injury prevention.

Energy System Training

We have multiple pathways to deliver energy to our muscles, and they are largely regulated by effort. Most easily measured in terms of heart rate, we’re relying on very different sources of energy when running a very easy effort (aerobic) versus running a very hard effort (anaerobic). And, this isn’t just a “one or the other” scenario, as we’re always using a blend of both aerobic and anaerobic energy when we run. The more we train a particular energy system, the more efficient it becomes. When we train across the entire spectrum of effort, we build a much better engine for future running and racing. This allows us to be able to change gears in races, finish them strong, and run for longer distances. So, pace variation is also a part of speed and endurance development.

Adaptation

For people who have become serious about running, taking each day too hard is a more common problem than taking each day too easy. This is an easy trap to fall into; at first, pushing it on a daily basis leads to a lot of improvement. The problem arises when, inevitably, all of the hard training catches up with the runner and they find they are either unable to run as fast as they recently had been, or they succumb to an injury. Seasoned runners have learned (maybe the hard way) that adaptation must always be considered and respected. It’s really true: You don’t actually get faster when running faster, you get faster when your body has a chance to adapt and compensate for the training you’ve completed. This is why recovery runs are important – mixing in slower runs after hard workouts allows the body to recover and adapt to hard training without breaking down. So, in summary, pace variation from workout to workout plays an important role in allowing the body to adapt over time.

How To Estimate Your Training Paces

A good training approach will feature pacing that goes all the way from very easy to max-effort sprints. When mixed together in the right combination, significantly more progress can be made at the same time that injuries and layoffs can be avoided. Just remember: Hard days hard, easy days easy, and make sure you touch everywhere in between along the way.

To get a ballpark estimate of paces for various types of workouts, check out the McMillan Running Calculator or the Jack Daniels Running Calculator. Both allow you to input a recent race time as a way to tailor paces to your current level of fitness. A word of caution – be careful with the race pace predictors on these sites. Without adequate training, your best time in a 5K may not accurately predict what you are capable of in a longer race like a half-marathon or marathon.

Editor’s Note: Ask Coach Caleb is a new feature on Runblogger. If you have any training questions you would to be considered for a future post, please leave a comment!

Workout Summary:

Monday: Planned off day.

Tuesday: 3.03 miles at 8:19 pace. Easy run in the adidas Energy Boost. Too much heel for my taste, but better than previous runs in the shoe. Definitely built for a pronounced heel striker, so not a good match for me.

Wednesday: 9.03 miles at 7:46 pace. Solid 6 mile progressive run, followed by 3 easy. Didn’t feel great out there, but got it done. Saucony Fastwitch 6 on the feet. Splits:
1 08:41.7
2 08:09.9
3 07:41.1
4 07:22.7
5 07:02.7
6 06:45.5
7 08:05.9
8 08:06.3
9 08:03.6

Thursday: 2.6 walk-jog miles with my 5K Yes I Can! team.

Friday: Family in town, took the day off.

Saturday: Family in town, took the day off.

Sunday: 20.05 miles at 8:10 pace. Ran 20 miles in 2:43:39. Got it done, but it hurt a bit in the last 5 miles. Kept the pace steady throughout, finished strong with a 7:24 mile 20. Saucony Virrata on the feet – love the shoe, but calves were sore at the end so may opt for a 4mm heel lift for the marathon. Stopped mid-way for a gel and 16oz of Nuun. Sick of the wind!!! Splits:

1 08:29.2
2 08:08.7
3 08:13.9
4 08:15.2
5 08:22.9
6 08:15.8
7 08:16.0
8 08:14.5
9 08:17.6
10 08:17.8
11 08:12.3
12 08:21.1
13 08:02.8
14 07:59.3
15 07:59.3
16 08:07.1
17 08:11.2
18 08:12.7
19 08:04.5
20 07:23.9
21 :23.7

Low mileage week, but glad I got in a solid 20 miler.

Caleb’s plan next week (April  22-28):

• Easy Miles: 5, single run

• Strength Routines: Taekwondo

• Workout 1 (Tuesday/Wednesday): 10 miles total.  Warm up for 25 minutes, then run one fartlek cycle:
  • 6 minutes on (at moderate/hard effort)
  • 2 minutes recovery
  • 5 minutes on
  • 2 minutes recovery
  • 4 minutes on
  • 2 minutes recovery
  • 3 minutes on
  • 2 minutes recovery
  • 2 minutes on
  • 2 minutes recovery
  • 1 minute HARD

Cool down to reach mileage for the day.

• Workout 2 (Thursday/Friday): 10 miles total.  Warm and cool distances are up to you.  Meat of the workout is 6 x 2k.  Run paces between MP and HMP for the first 4, then push hard for #5, and then ease back to MP/HMP for the last rep.  2:00 jog recoveries in between repeats.
• Long (Saturday/Sunday): 18 miles with some quality. Run the first 10 easy, then for the remaining 8 miles run the first 60 seconds of each mile at a moderate to hard effort, and run the remainder easy. Be sure to fuel like a marathon for this one, so you don’t bonk late in the run!

Workout summary:

Monday: Planned off day

Tuesday: 6.69 miles at 6:48 pace. Ran intervals on the track with my local running club. 1 mile warm-up, two laps with strides on the straightaways, then 2×200 at 5k pace, followed by 6×800 at 5k pace. 200m jogs in between. Managed sub-6:00 mile pace comfortably on most of the 800s, very happy with that. No foot issues. Adidas Takumi Sen on the feet.

Wednesday: 3.63 miles at 8:36 pace. Easy run with Jack (the dog), big kids came along on their bikes. Kids spent most of the run bickering, Jack decided to poop on someone’s lawn a mile into the run, so had to carry it in a plastic bag for the remainder of the run (the things you do to be considerate…). Not a relaxing run. First run in the Nike Free 5.0 – not bad, except got blisters on the outside of my little toes. Not enough space on the lateral side due to the curved last.

Thursday: 5.32 miles at 8:09 pace. Easy does it, nothing much to say about this one. Brooks PureCadence 2 on the feet.

Friday: 9.4 miles at 7:20 pace. I blame this one on the new Saucony Kinvara 4. Caleb ordered 2 miles easy, 6 at marathon pace, and 1 cool-down. Wound up being 9+ at about 20-30 seconds faster than marathon pace. Felt too good out there to slow down!

Saturday: Planned off day, youngest son’s 3rd birthday party!

Sunday: 18.18 miles at 8:06 pace. Good music in the ears, new shoes on the feet (Saucony Fastwitch 6), and 18 fantastic miles in the books. This was the confidence boost I needed. Opted for a bit of a flatter (relatively speaking) route than my last several long runs, and felt the strength the hills have built up in my legs. I was feeling really good so I ran progressively faster in the second half (see splits below) and felt strong till the end.

Took the risk of making my first run in a shoe a long run, but was surprised by how good the Fastwitch 6 felt – wasn’t expecting it since the last FT I wore was not a personal favorite. Wore a heart rate monitor for kicks and was hovering around 140bpm for most of the first 10 miles, average HR for the run was 149bpm. Drank no fluids during the run, with no ill effect, and took one gel at mile 12. I have a tendency to overhydrate (landed me in the med tent after Boston 2011), so experimenting with my hydration a bit lately.

Splits:

Later in the day I added another 1.25 miles at easy walk-jog pace with the 5K team I’m co-coaching. Loving it!

Week Total = ~44 miles

Workout schedule for the coming week – bring it on!:

• Easy Miles: 8 (2 runs)

• Strength Routines: Taekwondo

• Workout 1 (Tuesday/Wednesday): 10 miles total. 2 easy, 5 @ MP, 2 @ HMP, 1 cool-down (SLOW)

• Workout 2 (Thursday/Friday): 9 miles total.  1.5 easy to warm-up including 5 x 20 seconds strides, skips, drills, and a change of shoes into flats (if you want).  Then run 5 x mile averaging HMP.  First mile should be just faster than MP, last mile should be around 10k pace, with a progression in pace throughout the workout.  Standing/walking rest of 2:00 between repeats.  1.5 mile EASY cool-down following the mile repeats.

• Long (Saturday/Sunday): 18 with a fast finish.  15 easy, 3 assertive by feel.  Fuel throughout this run on the planned marathon fueling schedule (based on minutes, not miles).

My mantra for this week has been “do no harm.” I messed up my middle right toe last week during a speed workout, and it has been a cause of concern ever since. I’m not sure exactly what the problem is, but early on this week it felt like there was a lump under the base of the toe, and it hurt when I squeezed the proximal phalange or put weight on it. My biggest fear was that I somehow broke it.

My plan for this week included two quality workouts during the week, some easy miles, and a 16 mile long run. The speed workouts were mostly at marathon pace, but Coach Caleb had included some strides in one of them, and the second was supposed to be a bit harder than marathon pace effort. My fear was that pushing the pace too much (e.g., doing strides) might force me to push off hard and aggravate the toe. As such, I modified the plan to eliminate any running much faster than marathon pace (which hopefully will be somewhere between 7:45 and 8:00 min/mile), and I opted to do the easy miles very, very easy. The plan seems to have worked as my toe didn’t bother me much on my long run today, and it feels pretty good right now as I write this.

Here’s what the week looked like:

Monday: Planned off day for long run recovery.

Tuesday: 5.16 miles at 7:46 min/mile pace. First run with my local running club in several years. Toe felt sore during the run. Felt great to have some company, miles pass by so much faster! Saucony Virrata on the feet.

Wednesday: Toe felt sore in the morning so I took the day off.

Thursday: 10.61 miles total at 7:55 min/mile pace. I’m co-coaching a couch to 5K program starting next week and had an appointment scheduled to check out our meeting location. It was only 5.5 miles away and not formal at all so I decided to run to it instead of drive. Ran a few more miles to scope out some easy routes to start the program, and felt good enough that I opted to run home as well. The toe started acting up after a few uphill miles and luckily my wife passed me in the car (she was driving my sleeping 2yo around, the life of a parent!) and I opted to hitch a ride the rest of the way home. Asics Gel Lyte33 on the feet.

Friday: Toe sore in the morning, took the day off.

Saturday: 6.02 miles at 9:16 min/mile pace. Did Taekwondo in the morning for an hour, no toe issues. Wanted to get some miles in since it felt ok, but wanted to go super easy since I had 16 miles planned for Sunday. Took all three kids along with me to ensure a nice, easy pace (little guy in the BOB stroller, big kids on their bikes). Toe felt fine throughout, which was encouraging. Asics Gel Lyte33 on the feet.

Sunday: 16.06 miles at 8:10 min/mile pace. Another hilly long run, but not as bad as last week. Felt good until mile 13-14 when I started to feel a bit dehydrated (didn’t carry any water). Stopped at a gas station for a drink then finished up the final 2 miles. Tough run, but no major complaints from the toe, so happy about that. Asics Gel Lyte33 on the feet, hopefully will get a review up this week.

Elevation profile for the long run:

37+ miles on the week. Encouraged by how the toe feels, glad I scaled back the speed. On to next week!

Here’s what’s on tap, fearing the 18 miler just a bit…

Easy Miles: 6 (1 run)

Strength Routines: Taekwondo

Workout 1 (Tuesday/Wednesday): 9 miles total.  Warm/cool up to you.  Middle portion is 3 x 3k with paces descending from MP (first 3k) to 10-mile pace (last 3k).  Jog recovery for 3 minutes in between 3k’s.  If you are doing this by Garmin, 3k = 1.86 miles.  I would recommend trainers for warm-up and cool-down, flats (Virrata?) for the pacing work.

Workout 2 (Thursday/Friday): 9 miles total.  2 easy, 6 @ MP, 1 easy.  Complete 30 seconds each of side shuffles and backward skips after this run to open your hips back up.

Long (Saturday/Sunday): 18, steady easy effort throughout.

Here’s how this week went for me:

Monday: planned off day

Tuesday: unplanned off day due to blizzard (another foot of snow!)

Wednesday: 1.5 mile warmup, then 4 x 1 mile from marathon pace down to half marathon pace with 2:00 walk breaks between. Mile splits = 7:39, 7:29, 7:07, 6:37. 1 mile cool down to finish. 7.31 miles total. New Balance MO80 on the feet.

Started feeling some pain under my right forefoot about midway through the run, middle toe was sore when I put pressure on it the next morning. A bit worried that the MO80’s were a really bad choice for a speed workout on asphalt due to the lack of cushion and a firm rubber outsole.

Thursday: unplanned off day to give my foot a break

Friday: 2 miles warmup, 3+ miles fartlek at a wide variety of paces (that’s what fartleks are for I guess!), two miles cooldown. 7.63 miles total. Asics Gel Lyte33 v2 on the feet. Foot achy, middle toe pretty sore the following morning.

Saturday: 1 hour Taekwondo workout. Foot felt ok during the workout. Been about a month since my last TKD class and it felt amazing to be back. Made me realize how tight I’ve gotten from only running for the past several weeks. Stretching was much needed.

Sunday: Ran 15.1 miles in 2:05:40 and it kicked my butt. Total elevation gain over the course of the run was 1,343 feet, and had to walk a few of the ups toward the end. Despite that, pretty pleased with an 8:20 min/mile pace (walk bits included in avg. pace). This was a run to remember! Skechers GoRun 2 on the feet, felt amazing, might be the frontrunner for the Vermont City Marathon. Could feel the toe, but not too bad.

Here’s the elevation profile for the long run – intense!

Total miles for the week = 30.04. A bit off my planned total of 36 since I skipped the easy runs due to my foot worries. Foot feels ok after the long run, so don’t think it’s serious.

All in all not a bad week, got all of the quality workouts in, and only missed the 6 easy miles.

On to next week, here’s what Caleb has planned for me:

Easy Miles: 4 (1 run, you choose the day)

Strength Routines: Taekwondo

Workout 1 (Tuesday/Wednesday): 8 miles total.  1 warm-up including 5 x 20 seconds strides, 3 @ MP, .25 SLOW jog recovery, 3 @ MP, .75 cool-down.

Workout 2 (Thursday/Friday): 8 miles with ON/OFF effort.  First mile easy, 2nd mile at a bit harder than marathon effort/pace, then alternate the remaining miles of the workout (even miles hard, odd miles easy).

Long (Saturday/Sunday): 16, steady easy effort throughout

Looks like fun!

After returning from vacation in Florida last Saturday, I finally managed a decent long run of 13.1 miles on Sunday, and started the week off strongly with two easy runs and a decent long interval workout. As always seems to happen though, I started feeling feverish on Thursday afternoon, and promptly crashed on the couch for 14 hours after arriving home from work. Seems I had caught the stomach bug my 9yo son brought home from FL, and my planned runs for Friday and Saturday had to be scrapped.

I woke up this morning feeling better, and when I checked my email my coach (Caleb Masland) had an email waiting for me in my inbox. Because I’ve received a lot of questions about what my training plans look like, Caleb and I had been talking about sharing my weekly workout plan here on the blog on the weekend. I’d then follow up the next weekend with how things went, and post the next schedule of workouts. The idea was that it would keep me accountable to getting the workouts in, and it would give those who might have an interest an idea of what getting a weekly marathon training plan from an on-line coach is like.

Our intent was to start with this coming week’s workouts, but Caleb’s plan started with the following: “…if you can get out for an aerobic 14 mile run tomorrow (Sunday), that will be huge.” I can tell you that after the past two days, the last thing I felt like doing today was running 14 miles. And to make matters worse, it was cold outside, and the wind was whipping.

Three weeks ago I would have bagged this run, but impending races have a way of making you suck it up when you might otherwise choose to bail. I also knew I’d be writing this post later in the evening, and it would not have looked particularly good if I ignored the first run on Caleb’s schedule, especially one he referred to as “huge.” The experienced marathoner in me also new that skipping another long run would be just plain stupid with just over two months until race day.

So suck it up I did. I bundled up, wore a balaclava for the first time this winter, and ran about 14.3 miles (my Garmin died around mile 11.2, but thankfully I had my iPhone tracking as a backup – I’m using the Saucony Run4Good app to log miles for their charity). My pace was about 8:35 min/mile, so right about where I wanted to be for an easy long run. The run was overall good, and I didn’t feel any fallout from the illness I’ve been dealing with. It’s amazing how much better I feel now having completed this run, and I’m incredibly happy that I didn’t skip out on it.

So on to the new week, and the workouts that Caleb has in store for me. First, a couple of notes.

1. My conservative marathon goal is 3:30, which would be a ~6 minute PR on the Vermont City Marathon course – it’s a bit of a personal nemesis. My Fall Half Marathon time (1:27) would predict a much faster marathon, but my mileage is my limitation for translating that up to the marathon. We’ll see.

2. Caleb also includes strength routines in his workout plans. I’m going to omit those here since I typically sub in Taekwondo workouts in their place. I need to get back to that on a regular basis as well…my kids are putting me to shame on that front!

Here is Caleb’s plan for me for the coming week:

Here are the general pace targets we will use for a marathon goal of just under 3:30

5k: 6:55
8k: 7:05
10k: 7:10
10-mile: 7:30
Half: 7:35
Full: 7:55

For next week (March 18-24):

Easy Miles: 6 total (1 or 2 runs)

Workout 1 (Tuesday/Wednesday): 7 miles total; 1.5 warm-up, 4 x mile descending from MP to HMP, 1.5 cool; rest intervals 2:00 (standing/walking) between mile repeats.

Workout 2 (Thursday/Friday): 7 miles total; 2 warm-up, 3 miles of fartlek (3 mins MP, 1 min recovery, 2 mins HMP, 1 min recovery, 1 min 10-mile pace, 3 recovery, repeat), 2 cool-down.

Long (Saturday/Sunday): 15, steady easy effort throughout

I’ll be back next weekend with an update on how things went, and the next training plan.

The first thing anyone will notice about the Wave Ekiden is the light weight.  They are under 5 ounces (for a men’s size 9, the published weight is 4.7 oz; my size 9.5 test pair weighed just under 5 oz on my scale).  The lack of weight means less total cushioning, which in turn leads to a firmer ride.  In my opinion, this is a good thing in a racing flat intended for shorter distance road races.

The overall feel of the shoe is characterized by flexibility in the forefoot and firmness in the heel.  The heel cup feels very solid to the touch, and underneath the heel and midfoot, Mizuno added a lightweight Wave plate.  From the midfoot forward, the shoe is made of very flexible materials; the upper is entirely mesh (except for one spot above the toe box, which I’ll get into in a bit), and the outsole is a combination of flexible AP material (like EVA) and rubber arranged in a dot pattern.  This design approach leads to a shoe that doesn’t feel overly soft at impact, and feels very responsive with a quick transition to toe-off.  In my opinion, Mizuno hit the nail on the head for a road flat in terms of ground feel and responsiveness.

The Wave Ekiden has a 6mm heel-toe offset (20mm heel stack height, 14mm toe stack height).  Although this is a slightly larger offset than some other flats in the marketplace today, I didn’t feel as though the shoe was encouraging a more-pronounced heel strike than normal, and I find no wear on the heel after 100 miles logged in the shoes.  They feel like a road racing flat should feel, and when running they aren’t noticeable in any particular way.  A good flat should mainly disappear from your mind when you’re running, and these shoes do that.

There are a couple of design elements in the Ekiden that I don’t love.  Neither of them impact the performance of the shoe; I would call them both minor annoyances:

1. Mizuno put a crinkly-sounding material in the toe box underneath the mesh (i.e. directly above your toes).  In my opinion, this material provides no real benefit.  What is does provide is that crinkly sound.  I just took all of the laces out of the shoes and cut the material out of my pair once I had access to the toe box.

2. Mizuno also likes to leave empty space in the heel so that you can see the Wave plate.  This also helps keep the weight lower.  However, this also becomes a convenient place for rocks to get lodged.  This shouldn’t be a problem during a road race that is all paved, but it could be a liability during a race that has sections of gravel.

I tried running both easy and fast over a variety of surfaces with the Wave Ekiden on my feet, and they had the same level of responsiveness and good traction over road, grass, trail, and even mud.  The dot patterned rubber outsole is able to grip pretty much anything, so I was confident pushing the pace on all surfaces.

I am generally willing to push the limits of recommended distances for flats, having run marathons in the 4.3 oz Asics Piranha SP4, and the slightly heavier Nike Zoom Streak 3.  However, I am going to stick with the other recommendations that I am seeing for the Wave Ekiden, and suggest keeping it to the half marathon distance or less.  Mizuno has done a good job creating a firm and responsive ride, which is ideal for shorter racing, but could become a fatigue risk in a longer race.

Final Word:  The Mizuno Wave Ekiden is a well-designed and reliable flat for workouts and races up to the half marathon.  It’s best suited for runners who like a firm ride and a snappy transition from landing to toe-off.  While it’s likely not enough shoe for most marathoners, it is a durable option to have in the rotation for short and fast road racing.

The Mizuno Wave Ekiden is available for purchase at Running Warehouse.

Caleb Masland is the founder and head coach of Team Wicked Bonkproof, where he works with runners of all abilities and distance specialties. Caleb has PRs of 15:45 (5k), 1:10 (half marathon), and 2:34 (marathon), and has won races ranging in distance from 5k to 50k. You can follow Caleb on Twitter, dailymile, and Google+. You can also find out more at coachcaleb.com.