Let me start with the standard disclaimer:
I bought these with my own money and I have not been urged or paid to say anything good about them. This is my own opinion so do with it what you will!
Now on to the good stuff!
These shoes are Hoka's road version of the Mafate trail shoe. I haven't tried the Mafate and I'm unsure if I will. The Bondi B's are lighter and slightly smaller (run about a 1/2 size small compared to Mafate) but still fit me in my regular size 8.5 with my thick socks.
When I pulled them out of the box the first thing I noticed was the thickness of the sole. I can't believe how tall I am wearing these! It made me a little nervous for stability but it turned out not to be an issue. The second thing I noticed was the awesome slogan "Time to Fly" tattooed on the inside of the sole. I definitely won't mind seeing that every time I lace up!
I found that the upper was flexible and didn't seem to need breaking in. My general rule is that if a shoe feels stiff I'm sending it back so I was glad to find my foot slid in easily and the upper conformed to my foot as I tied the laces. Speaking of the laces, they give you plenty! Not too much but not too little either. I could easily tie a reef knot and then double knot for security and still have about 1.5 - 2" of lace on either side. Pretty much perfect as far as I'm concerned! Lastly the tongue was soft and didn't dig into the bone on the top of my foot that sticks up (I believe it's the middle cuneiform but could be wrong!). Usually I end up lacing my shoes specially to avoid pressure on this bone but it wasn't necessary this time!
The collar of the Bondi B's wrapped my achilles snugly and didn't slide or rub. The heel counter formed easily around my heel and held it in place. I was happy I didn't need to stop to tighten my laces even once as sliding of my heel is usually a problem for me. This also indicated to me that the saddle (side of the midfoot) is consistent in tension and helps keep the foot from sliding which is great for blister prevention.
Overall I am thrilled with the construction and that's before I even made it out the door!
Once on the trail I wanted to go for an easy paced short run since I'm still recovering from overdoing it with weights plus a vicious illness that landed me in the hospital last week. Still not sure what it was so I didn't want to risk missing Savannah this weekend.
I started out behind another woman running on the trail and I focused on the feeling of the Bondi B's as I began to run. I felt like I was bouncing more on the 40mm of cushioning. I leaned forward a little and that bounce became forward propulsion. That was my 'AHA!' moment! I was gaining on the woman and I caught her quickly. Uh oh! I glanced at my Garmin and I was running 9:40 pace. Too fast!
I had to work to slow down and it took me about a mile to get the hang of nice and easy in the Hokas. "Time to Fly" sure is fitting! The rocker profile turns a midfoot landing into forward propulsion through the responsive midfoot foam sole and encouraged a faster turnover. I didn't feel unstable at all even moving faster than I wanted to and my feet stayed snugly nestled inside the recessed midsole.
Once I managed to slow down I could feel the Hoka's claim that they encouraged engaging the glutes and lower back. My tender muscles leftover from last week's issues didn't like this much but I can tell on a 'normal' run it will help me fight the muscle imbalances and fatigue that I've had. Since the glutes are the largest muscles and mine are woefully flat I am more than willing to give them a larger share of the workload!
I did 3 miles total and I wanted to do more but Savannah is looming! Overall I am excited to see what the Bondi B's can do for my running. I'm even thinking of taking them to Savannah. Is that crazy? :)
Visit Hoka's site for more information and a list of vendors.
No comments:
Post a Comment