bimai mile21k running shoes five times real test experience
Time flies, and it has been two weeks since I received the shoes. Thanks to Codoon and Bmai. I received the shoes on January 16, 2017. This is how they looked when they arrived:
The shoes are indeed very stylish and eye-catching, and the bright colors match my personal preferences. The anti-shock packaging was done with great care.
There was also a letter inside, which was very heartwarming. The shoes were shipped via SF Express and arrived quickly.
After receiving the shoes, I weighed them:
The left shoe is about 11g heavier than the right shoe. After putting them on, I found them to be quite heavy, but the shoe shape is narrow with good wrapping. After jumping a few times, I found the condition to be acceptable.
Wearing these shoes, I conducted the following running evaluations:
The first time was on the day I received the shoes—January 16. Although the average pace for the first 16 kilometers was 6 minutes and 26 seconds per kilometer, it was actually a mix of fast and slow segments, and the road conditions varied.
From the above chart, it can be seen that after a normal warm-up, I reached my higher pace at the 3-kilometer mark (my half-marathon PB is 1:47:56, of course, I can't compare with the experts on Codoon, but I really tried my best, haha). I tried different paces in the middle and found that when the pace was above 6 minutes and 30 seconds per kilometer, the foot feel was good; when using a faster pace, the forefoot and midfoot felt uncomfortable or even painful (I didn't have plantar fasciitis before, so it can almost be ruled out as a personal issue). I usually land on my heel when running, so the discomfort in the forefoot and midfoot was quite strange to me. Of course, my professional knowledge is limited, so if there are any shortcomings in my evaluation, I hope the experts can provide criticism and guidance.
As mentioned earlier, this run involved switching between different surfaces, including hard stone slabs, permeable bricks, asphalt roads, cement roads, bike lanes, and grass:
When running on stone slab and permeable brick roads, I could clearly feel the rebound of the shoe heel, and the grip on dry surfaces was good. My knees did not feel uncomfortable after a long distance, indicating that the heel material is reliable and effective, with significant shock absorption during running. On other surfaces, although the grip was not as strong as on permeable bricks, the excellent wrapping of the shoe and the decent heel made the entire run feel comfortable at a slow pace. On grass, the shoes were relatively difficult to keep smooth, indicating that these shoes are not suitable for trail running.
When I ran into a puddle, the shoes became noticeably unbalanced, almost causing me to fall.
During the entire run, I experienced several uphill and downhill segments:
I found that when going uphill, the support from the heel made it easier and did not significantly affect my speed; conversely, when going downhill, the inadequacy of the forefoot became more pronounced, increasing the discomfort.
To reduce the randomness of my evaluation, I rested for a week to completely rule out any potential injuries affecting the objectivity of my evaluation. On January 24, I conducted the second running evaluation:
This evaluation differed from the first one in that it involved more uphill running, actually crossing several low hills. Except for a few kilometers where the pace was above 6 minutes and 30 seconds, most of the pace was around 5 minutes and 40 seconds, to evaluate the impact of pace on foot feel. As experienced in the first evaluation, a pace faster than 6 minutes and 30 seconds still caused foot discomfort, which did not subside even the next day. The uphill experience was the same as the first time, with significant assistance from the heel.
Then there were the third, fourth, and fifth evaluations, with the parameters as follows:
(Third evaluation)
(Fourth evaluation)
(Fifth evaluation)
The results of the third, fourth, and fifth evaluations were the same as the first two, with the only new finding being that after several runs, the imbalance on slippery surfaces decreased but was still insufficient to support normal running training on wet surfaces.
In summary, my personal feeling about the Bmai Mile 21K 2nd Generation shoes is that they are suitable for a pace of 6 minutes and 30 seconds per kilometer or slower, making them good for regular training shoes as long as it's sunny. Additionally, the color scheme and design are eye-catching. They are not recommended for racing or training in the rain. I weigh around 64kg, and after nearly 80km of evaluation, the wear on the soles is not very noticeable.
The above are my personal feelings about these shoes. If there are any inappropriate points, I hope fellow runners will provide criticism and guidance.