The Kona Shoe count is done and will be posted by Lava Magazine soon. I won’t give any details of the count we did just give you some insight on what I see out there while counting. The most talked about shoe brand on this forum, Hoka did see a major increase over last year. Not the #1 or anywhere close that I’ve seen on hopeful comments but that is completely expected. This is event is International and the Hoka Love is not. Or I should say not yet.
Aside from that comment here is what I saw:
Fit - My gosh fit is a major issue and I see people running in shoes that simply don’t fit properly. Believe it or not it’s not usually in Asics, Mizuno, Nike, Brooks or Saucony. It’s not bad shoes it’s poor shoe selection. It doesn’t matter what the shoe is if it doesn’t fit properly it’s not right. Most of what I see is huge gaps at the heel with major heel slipping. The big driver in Hoka was the Clifton but it’s clear the Clifton is not for everyone. In fact I’d say close to 40% wearing it should have gone to the more stable Bondi or Huaka. If you over-pronate, the super soft Clifton is slowing you down. There is way to much inward crash on those runners (in the Clifton) which slows the foot speed way down. Your running would be much better served in something more stable (not as soft) and both the Bondi and Huaka answer that. While we saw lots of the crashing feet in the Clifton we didn’t see a single crashing foot in the other two shoes. Old Shoes - This is the World Championships folks. Those shoes you’ve been running in for 3 years now (even if you only race in them) are probably shot. You wouldn’t ride your bike with 3 year old rubber and the same should go for your feet.
Once the shoe count is published I welcome questions or comments.
Good point about the old shoes! I know folks don’t want to try something new on race day, but, shoes that are that old should have got replaced at least six months before the big dance.
Given the almost total lack of customer service in most running shoe stores these days, it’s not surprising to me that people are running in the wrong shoes or running in ill-fitting shoes. Heck, I probably am. Or could be. Typically, I pick up a shoe at the store, find someone to help(?) me, ask for a size, and that’s it. The good stores will let me run in the shoe outside, but nobody watches me, and nobody gives any feedback.
The worlds best amateur triathletes are racing in Kona. If they’re in the wrong shoes, I think retailers bear most of the blame. Or maybe shoe fitting isn’t as sexy as $300 bike fits.
The real simple test for you in finding good fit is this:
Put the shoe on but do not tighten or tie the laces.
Run around the store or if they let you run outside.
If the heel slips it’s not right for you.
If the heel doesn’t slip that’s good now you are looking for things that will pinch.
If nothing pinches (Fits too tight on your instep or to narrow in the toebox ) then using your thumb and index finger pinch the vamp or top mesh over your forefoot. If you can get a good grab on that vamp it’s probably not a good fit either.
Yesterday in a brand I won’t call out that runs wide I saw the forefoot of shoes buckling at flex. That mean’s there is too much room and most likely the foot is sliding dramatically inside the shoe.
If shoes don’t fit the foot well being too tight or too big around the foot the midsole is doing very little to help you out. We heard people literally sliding their foot on the pavement and saw what looks like from our vantage as people fighting against the shoe to move forward. Most of this is due to shoes that don’t fit properly. This race is hard enough (as is any Ironman) there is no point in making it harder. Poor fit on the run is miserable.
Personally I have a skinny foot. I can run in virtually any shoe on a day to day basis. I adjust with socks or adjust my head around the poor fit. But when it comes to strapping on a number I will no compromise Fit.
For me, I have high arch and thin foot, I don’t think feel the Clifton is that soft. I’ve been running in it for 200 miles so far. It feels like my Kinvara’s strangely enough, which I also run in. I run barefooted in both. My Hoka Stinson Tarmac, now that pair of shoes is ridiculously too soft, but I occasionally like that.
I have not felt like I’m medially rotating in those either. But I’m no expert.
I don’t like racing in the HOKAs, because, for me, they don’t drain very well, and get sloshy in the summer, with socks on or off. Also, they are not good with oder control, in my opinion, like other shoes.
I’ve been to the ‘best’ local running shoe stores and don’t feel I’ve ever had a good fit. I think I end up trying every shoe in the place and picking the one that feels the ‘least bad’. I have a narrow heel, wider forefoot, high arches (yet I’m told by the running shoe guys I over pronate) and not only is my big toe shorter than my second toe (i.e. Morton’s foot) all 3 of my toes except my pinky toe are longer than my big toe. It is so frustrating shopping for shoes.
I feel for you. You have to do the best you can which is what everyone must do. To be honest what I saw yesterday is people compromising fit for a midsole feel and I am not a fan of that. It just makes for miserable running in these conditions and over this distance.
On the selling side of the equation, I think you’re completely accurate; the trend I have noticed is definitely looking for midsole feel rather than the best combination of upper fit, midsole feel, etc. I think to some extent, that’s where Brooks has knocked it out of the park: the try-on feel of their shoes gives the impression of a higher-quality shoe out of the gate.
I was watching and kinda curious as to the impact of elasticized laces on a lot of these shoes, as I’ve never really found a shoe that fits as well as it originally did with regular laces. For my full I was planning on taking the extra 30 seconds to tie my shoes the way I like, have a secure fit in the mid foot/heel and a little looser up in the forefoot. For a half I think it’s a little easier to just roll with speed laces and fight the shoe a little bit.
Given the almost total lack of customer service in most running shoe stores these days, it’s not surprising to me that people are running in the wrong shoes or running in ill-fitting shoes. Heck, I probably am. Or could be. Typically, I pick up a shoe at the store, find someone to help(?) me, ask for a size, and that’s it. The good stores will let me run in the shoe outside, but nobody watches me, and nobody gives any feedback.
You obviously don’t live in Madison. Endurance House and Fleet Feet here are extremely customer-oriented and have treadmill gait analysis and offer many run clinics throughout the year. It’s a shame you don’t live near here-I think you’d be pleasantly surprised.
Good point about the old shoes! I know folks don’t want to try something new on race day, but, shoes that are that old should have got replaced at least six months before the big dance.
It’s not “new” if it’s the exact same model/revision. So if you’ve trained in Kinvara 5’s some of the time leading up to the race, getting a new pair of 5’s wearing then 3 or 4 times won’t kill you. Then you have a fairly new shoe to train in all winter and you can be reminded of you race every time you slide into them…
… or option 2, get a pair for only racing and only race in them except for short runs during taper.
I agree with you on the Hokas. I wear the Stinson Tarmacs for long/easy runs but having seen a photograph of my right leg (my uber-pronating foot) in them I saw, not just felt the complete collapse of that lovely squishy sole. I wear the Kailua Tarmacs for anything quicker and will probably try a pair of Huakas later as my racing season nears.
Given the almost total lack of customer service in most running shoe stores these days, it’s not surprising to me that people are running in the wrong shoes or running in ill-fitting shoes. Heck, I probably am. Or could be. Typically, I pick up a shoe at the store, find someone to help(?) me, ask for a size, and that’s it. The good stores will let me run in the shoe outside, but nobody watches me, and nobody gives any feedback.
The worlds best amateur triathletes are racing in Kona. If they’re in the wrong shoes, I think retailers bear most of the blame. Or maybe shoe fitting isn’t as sexy as $300 bike fits.
The local store I go to is great about this. They let you run outside, or on their indoor treadmill. They will watch you run and usually bring out 5 different shoes for the person to try on and take feedback on how each feels.
In general, no you don’t want more support you want less. We didn’t see any good examples Saturday of any glaring supination. But I want to explain something just a bit further.
The stress of running a marathon off that much effort is incredible. Most people run with some sort of compromised form and in Kona it’s called the Kona Shuffle. For many it’s the entire run. We heard last night that 397 or so runners qualified for Boston on Saturday. If I put my perceived memory hat on that’s probably equal to the number of athletes we saw with beautifully flawless powerful form. Everyone else was compromised by the effort. So in a compromised position, slight pronation becomes full on arch crashing “pain”. In a compromised state “Supination” looks a bit more neutral. Now back to the original note. We saw a glaring number of really tired runners crashing in and “falling off” the platform in the Clifton. The majority of the blame is the state of the athlete but the incredible softness of the Clifton sure looks like it’s just letting the foot do what it wants to do and it looks really painful and slow from my position on the sideline. We didn’t see any of that in the Bondi or the Huaka. It’s not because everyone running in those shoes qualified for Boston. It’s because those shoes didn’t further the compromised running form. In other words those athletes were just as tired but at least their toe off was still neutral. From that I deduct that light and soft is good to a point. Give up a bit in weight and soft feel and your run might feel better.
I was watching and kinda curious as to the impact of elasticized laces on a lot of these shoes, as I’ve never really found a shoe that fits as well as it originally did with regular laces. For my full I was planning on taking the extra 30 seconds to tie my shoes the way I like, have a secure fit in the mid foot/heel and a little looser up in the forefoot. For a half I think it’s a little easier to just roll with speed laces and fight the shoe a little bit.
This is why I use Xtenex laces. You can control the feel at each point. Not just the generic speed lace uniform tightness. Check them out, they are really great. Pain to get into the shoe the first time around, but so nice to have total control on how tight or loose to make each row of laces.
Sweet thanks for that. Hopefully they are better than the 19’s which have disappointed me somewhat. I have seen a picture of them and they are very pretty (which is the main thing of course).
I was one of the people where the Clifton worked for me BUT the toe box was too tight in the correct size and I ended up with extensor tendonitis after one run At least it was after my last race of the season.
It’s amazing how… ignorant?.. people are who fit running shoes to heel fit. This is a pet peeve of mine. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to a “good” running store to get fit, the salesperson brings out two or three shoes “oh these are perfect for you” and I have to say “the heel is too loose”. The invariably look at me like I’m being difficult. Alas, it’s tough for me to find a shoe with a wide toe box and a narrow heel.
At least it was after my last race of the season.