Hoka One One

I bought my first Hokas. That's right. There will almost surely be more.

I first saw Hokas on Karl Meltzer, the ultra runner who ran the Wells Fargo Stagecoach trail, running something like 50 miles a day for 40 days. Totally different concept, I thought, from my 5-fingered Vibrams.

Reading the reviews convinced me that I should take the chance (the very expensive chance) that they would be worth it. People were saying that they felt like they could run forever in them, that their legs did not take the same beating over long distances, that recovery time was shorter, that the biggest problem was the tendency to run too fast!

So a week ago, I bought them and the next day ran 12 miles. Now I am living in Hoka euphoria. I ran 12 miles faster than I have all year, I did not feel as tired, and I think that I fell in love.

Could it be the placebo effect? Maybe. If so, "Hooray for placebos!"