Anyone familiar with HOKA One One shoes

Someone more familiar with shoes and gait should chime in, but I can speak to the shoes themselves.

I just got a pair. To me, they have a similar feel to running on a treadmill. They won't be my full time shoe - for me they will likely be for recovery runs, and possibly some long runs once I get used to them.

There's an awesome thread over on SlowTwitch with a lot of input and responses from people with similar issues to yourself, and it could be helpful.

Search around a bit and you can get them much cheaper. I have a pair of the Mafate 2's from backcountry.com that I got for $120. They also pop up on the about once a week for $65, but in limited sizes and sell out in minutes.

I use mine for long trail runs and while the day of, my legs feel about the same as in my brooks puregrits, the day after, I feel much better. These shoes are great for fast recovery. I also like the fact that I don't have to pay so close attention where I land.

Since they are actually a very low drop shoe (around 6mm) you'd get some strain on your Achilles tendon and calf muscles the first few weeks.

Just got a pair of the Stinson Evos and LOVE them.  I was sold after seeing a bunch of them at the Wild Hare 50k/50m last month, and then reading about people raving about them on ST.

Also a bunch of folks on the Tejas Trails FB page (which you should check out since you're a local) have been raving about them recently.

They are a different feel I will admit.  It's like having two giant tempurpedic mattresses on your feet.  But the cushiness is so nice.  I've done a few 10-13 milers in them and felt good so far, but haven't done my long run (30 miler) in them yet.  I'll let you know after Saturday what I thought... if you can wait that long.

Also, I had noticed that a bunch of folks were saying they were getting 800-1000 miles or more out of them.  That was a big selling point for me.  If I can get 2-3 times more miles out of a shoe than I've been getting out of my Kinvaras (300-400 miles at most), it's worth twice the cost.

Love my Hoka's. They look funny, but they work for me. They do 2 things for me: one, because of the 4cm drop, my heal striking is reduced, it puts me in a better position to run. Two, and this is the part I love, it absorbs the pounding from running. I've worn a variety of Brooks shoes for years, still run in them for short runs, and have loved them. When I run 4-6 miles over my lunch hour, when I return to my desk job, after sitting for an hour doing work, I've always been stiff. That's what happens to me when I'm 57. With the Hoka's, I have none of that stiffness. I can feel in my legs that I've had a workout, but I'm just not sore. I was not aware of the impact when running when I wore my Brooks. Now that I've switched to the Hoka's, when I switch out to my Brooks, I can feel the ground radiating up through my legs and hips. It's pretty remarkable. I do get questions about the shoes and everyone thinks they're heavy because of the look, but they're no heavier than my Brooks. I'm a convert.

Robin