Hoka One One

[daddy_runner]

Thanks, good to know. I am sitting up unable to sleep with my aching feet and calves right now. I hope they help.

If you're a size 11.5 and show up to a trail race, let me know beforehand and I'll let you try on my pair.

[kab]

I ordered a pair of Mafates. The price at Kintec was right.

[FishHog]

I just got my pair of bondi b's. I've been dealing with a calf injury that has kept me from running for 6 weeks now. I also got a compression calf sleeve and tried a run on the TM Thursday night. I was able to do 12k pain free, although I took the first couple km's to warm everything up with a lot of walking and short run stretches. The last 10 were a steady run. Very cushy shoes, took a bit to get used to that feeling, but I like them. Not sure if it was the shoes, the calf sleeve or the last week of no attempts to run at all, but I was able to run. Going to give it a few more before I try it on my old shoes.

Either way, they look funny but are pretty light for the size and felt pretty nice. I'm anxious to try them on the roads, but I'm still to nervous of reinjuring my calf to try that yet.

[kab]

My Hoka One One Mafates came today. Blasted around the block in them and cannot describe how wonderful they feel under my sore feet. Thank you for turning me on to these!

[kab]

...and they do look funny. My whole family was laughing at me.

[FishHog]

...and they do look funny. My whole family was laughing at me.

Mrs Fishie calls them my "Clown Shoes"

[ngcaper]

Awesome Kab I'm happy to hear they are helping. I just got back last night from 7 wet/rainy days in the Adirondacks. 7days camping, 7 days raining...and I didn't take the Hoka's but ran 5 of the 7 days none-the-less. What a difference after spending 2wks in the Hoka's. I did an 18k in the Fuji Racers (basically minimalists, but not quite) and I was aching the next morning. I switched back to the Gel-Scouts, more shoe, but not Hoka's and felt better. I'm now home, and excited again about running in them

I agree with Fishhog, the first 2 runs they felt quite strange to be in...but after that I'm in love. I still can't dunk a basketball, but I finally can reach that jar on the top shelf.

[NMG]

Geez, I may have to try these things out!

[ngcaper]

If your a 10 or 10.5 (mine are 10.5) try mine on first...they're a bit on the pricey side to guess.

[NMG]

Cool, thanks for the offer. I wear 9.5 but they may be close enough that I can get a feel to see if I think they would be worth a shot.

[kab]

I found my Hoka's to hot for the summer but they are really warm for winter. I purchased a trail model (Mafates) and they have a great sole for ice and snow. I haven't slipped yet and it is icy here.

[NMG]

I ordered some Mafate 3's and they arrived in the mail yesterday. My first impression was laughter, LOL. They really do look as strange as they do online.

Anyway, when I first slipped them on I found them too tight in the fore foot area and that was with the speed laces as loose as they would go. I got out the knife, chopped the laces out and replaced them with the standard laces they came with. I quickly realized that they were too short for me and that I wasn't able to get the toe box area loose enough for my liking. The next step was to replace the regular laces with a pair of laces from a pair of Mizuno's I had laying around and these were WAY better. It helped that they were probably a foot longer. I tried conventional lacing and they were okay but still a little snug. I then tried a method that is described on Altra's website where you basically eliminate the cross lacing in the 2nd and 3rd eyelets and they felt WAY better. I was now happy with the fit on my somewhat wide foot. I should add that it was simply the comfort of the upper that was the issue, the sole never felt too narrow. It seems quite stable side to side.

I haven't run in them yet (waiting for trails to open up), but I did walk around the house with them and I can't believe how soft they are. The biggest thing I noticed was in the fore foot. They honestly feel quite a bit softer than the heels in my Mizuno's, LOL. It's definitely a bit of a weird sensation and it's going to take some time to get used to. After walking around in them a bit I put on my normal trail shoes (Ecco Biom's) and they felt like slabs of concrete in comparison. Talk about going from one extreme to another.

I'm really interested in seeing how I enjoy running in them. I suspect I'm going to lose quite a bit of ground feel, but on the flip side, I can't imagine having any serious leg fatigue. They just seem so protective and so absorptive that longer runs should feel great. I also expect that I'll be able to run over terrain on trails that I would have to be more careful with in my normal shoes. Stuff that would cause me to shift and tilt ever so slightly, I suspect will just get eaten up by the extra thickness of the soles on the Hoka's.

Can't wait to try them out. My only "concern" now is how different they feel from my road shoes, the Mizuno's. I'm running the Ottawa half in May and I'm a little concerned that I'll get so accustomed to the Mafate's while running trails in the spring that the Mizuno's are going to beat me up when I run in them. I think I'll just have to alternate runs and be cognizant of it. On the flip side, perhaps running in the Hoka's will keep my legs fresher for those days when I do thrown on the Miznuo's. I'm hoping that is the case and it seems it would be the more logical result.

Time will tell!

[kab]

I still love mine for running in the snow. My feet have been warm all winter. They have stayed very soft and cushie.
Enjoy!

[ngcaper]

Use them for recovery only until after the race. So long road days in Mizunos and Sunday trail days in Hoka's. I found after I started using them exclusively the road feel was terribly hard. I've been trying to stay Hoka free the past few months as I think I simply wussed out because of the cushion. Sometimes too much of a good thing can be bad. I've been running recently in Brooks Green Silence, they are definitely toughening up my feet/legs.

[NMG]

Use them for recovery only until after the race. So long road days in Mizunos and Sunday trail days in Hoka's. I found after I started using them exclusively the road feel was terribly hard. I've been trying to stay Hoka free the past few months as I think I simply wussed out because of the cushion. Sometimes too much of a good thing can be bad. I've been running recently in Brooks Green Silence, they are definitely toughening up my feet/legs.

I really like this suggestion and I'm going to go with it!

What's funny is that I've actually been paranoid the last couple of days and I have been searching the web for some options for a second trail shoe that I can use if I do shorter trail runs during the week, say 5-10K type stuff. I'd like to have a pair that I can rotate in when I want the feel and firmness that I'm used to with my current Ecco's. I think this will give me the best of everything. Mizuno's for the road, some new trails for the shorter stuff and the Hoka's for recovery runs.

Pretty soon I'll have more shoes than fly rods and that's saying something, LOL

[Spirit Unleashed]

Interesting pics:

http://fellrnr.com/wiki/Hoka_Shoe_Review


I personally hate my Hokas because the arch is too far back and there is not enough room inside the shoe to insert correction pads.

[daddy_runner]

Was just made aware of these: http://shop.kintec.net/shop-by-brand/altra/altra-men-s-olympus.html

Basically, Hoka One One shoes but with zero drop and a roomier toe box.

[NMG]

Just a quick update to say that I tried my Mafate 3's for the first time today on a 7K run. In short, these are not going to work for me. The toe box is way too narrow and inflexible. I actually couldn't feel my toes after the first couple of KM's, LOL.

While the cushioning was incredible, I also found them to be far bulkier than what I'm used to. They just didn't feel like they were an extension of my leg. I felt very artificial running in them if that makes any sense. I suppose it's something I could probably get used to if it wasn't for the sizing issues, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

Anyone interested in a pair of Mafate 3's that have 7K on them?