Xi'an's Og

The running shoe company Hoka (One One) is known *among runners at least) for its oversized soles that allow more cushion than competitors. (It was created in Annecy, French Alps, for local trailers, before being bought by an American group. The name of the brand means flying on Earth in Maori.) I had never tried any of their shoes, primarily due to the cost of the fastest ones, but in the days after Marseille-Cassis,  I saw an add mentioning a free return after a 30 day trial and thus decided on testing a (pricey) competition model, the Cielo X1. Advertised as the fastest in their collection (with no mention made of any car brand!)I received the package a few days prior to my Boulogne half-marathon.

The shoe is highly unusual (for me), in that its soles are far from flat and make walking with then unpleasant. (When I travelled to Boulogne, I had to jog to keep my [detailed] balance!) The design is intended for (aggressive) forefoot attack, followed by a bounce from the talon created by a massive carbon plate. The upper part is also original, with a light but tight slipper that stabilises the foot inside the shoe. When I first tried them (the day they arrived), I was most puzzled and did a first short 8km run to check I could at all run with them. And realised that even without trying, I was running at a higher pace, especially downhill. The next day, I pushed a bit harder on my 10km route and noticed the same improvement, hence got confident that I should use them for the Boulogne half-marathon. Post-race, I remain convinced them helped in keeping a below 4mn pace, if not enormously (with a 90 second gain compared with 2023), as my muscles started protesting about half-way. But the end of the race was not as dreadful as usual, possibly thanks to the shoes, possibly thanks to a higher training volume. Will I keep the shoes? At that price, I am afraid not! But this was a great experience (and I will keep looking for sales in the coming months).