Background:
By way of comparison, I had been running in my current Hoka Constants for about 450 miles. The Constant is Hoka's answer to the stability shoe, and I found them to be like a cross between the Hoka Stinson Trail and the Brooks Adrenaline. I mostly like them. The issues I had with the Constants were relatively minor: they have a worrisome pressure point on the right foot which never caused any real problems. More troubling, they are such a horrible shade of lavender that no matter what I wore, my shoes looked silly. #runnergirlproblems Hokas aren't exactly the sexiest running shoes on the market, so when you combine their clownshoe-shape with a ridiculous color, you end up with some pretty silly feet. #notcute So with the Constants starting to show some signs of real wear, I realized it was time to free myself from my purple prison and order some new shoes so I could break them in with plenty of time for a bunch of fall races. With that in mind, I ordered the Women's Hoka Speedgoats, in glorious non-purple coral and blue.
What arrived was something else. Something far more purple.
SERIOUSLY? THEY SENT ME THE PURPLE SHOES? As it turned out, the box was mislabeled - it said coral and aqua but contained the purple shoes. I was torn: I did not want purple, but I did want my shoes. I had to decide to either take advantage of Running Warehouse's return policy, or nut up and wear purple. So I choose to start wearing purple. Aside from their purpleness, the shoes look great. The grippy treads look like they'll grab the trail nicely, and with Hoka's signature marshmallow cushioning I won't feel every little pebble under my feet which is my big complaint about pretty much every other shoe. The placement of the Hoka name on the shoe is a little odd - I like it, but doesn't it look like it says HO HO? Or is it just me? #ordoesitsayOHOH
Initial Impressions:
I took them out for a short 4 mile run on pavement/park path just to see how they felt. Because I like to match, I pulled out one of my few purple tech shirts #InkNBurn and realized it actually looks great with the shoes. Will I grow to love purple? Doubtful. Maybe. I don't know.
I slip the shoes on and they fit true to size. My feet are not petite #yeti and I like my shoes roomy, and there's nothing unexpected about the general fit of the shoe. I have read other reviews that say the shoes feel sloppy or that the sizing is off, but that was not my experience. Perhaps I can attribute that to knowing Hokas and knowing how they fit on me. I immediately notice that they feel infinitely more breathable than the Constants, which is good. The Speedgoats have ample ventilation, while the Constants were definitely a little suffocating.
The shoes performed well on their initial outing on pavement/park path. I was most impressed with their grippiness: I crossed a few wooden footbridges that are notoriously slippery when wet, but the Hokas handled them well - no slippage, and no cause for slowing.
I checked my feet after the run and found no hot spots, no blisters, no redness, no negative effects. So far, so good.
Trail:
In the weeks that followed I had the chance to take the Hokas out on some trail, including the well-groomed trails at Minooka Park and the wild singletrack at Estabrook Park. They performed just as I expected: very grippy, and not too much play on uneven terrain. They handled roots and rocks easily. I did notice that the deep treads did pick up more than the usual amount of debris on the Estabrook trails. I found myself kicking off some excess mud more than I'd like.
Complaints and Concerns:
I do have a few concerns about the Speedgoats. I've read other reviews of them and haven't seen this mentioned so maybe it is "me problem" but the top of the tongue is inexplicably razor sharp and it jabs right into my ankles if I'm wearing no-show socks. The obvious solution is to wear higher socks, but I'm surprised that this is even a problem.
The other concern is that I'm noticing a bit of rub along my pinkie-toe on longer runs. I've heard that the toebox width is a common criticism with Hokas although it hasn't been a problem for me until now, and it only seems to happen with certain socks. Again, perhaps an easy fix just by figuring out which socks don't work with these shoes. I'll need to do some more experimentation.
Overall, I like the Speedgoats a lot and I'm happy with my purchase. Because of the toe/rubbing problem that I've developed I didn't trust them to run the Badgerland 24-12-6 (and really, I didn't need trail shoes for a track race anyway) but I am hoping to have them squared away for the North Face Endurance Challenge 50K in October.
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