Hoka Arahi

One of the best things about working in a specialty running shop is that occasionally the shoe companies will float shoes to store employees as a way to help us articulate how awesome the shoes are to our customers.

I picked up a pair of Hoka One One Arahi seed shoes at the running store a few weeks back. I was pretty excited, since my current experience with the Hoka Infinite (their first actual stability model) is outstanding.

The word on the Arahis is largely positive—very lightweight and responsive. It’s a stability shoe, but a closer relative to say, the Brooks Ravenna than the Adrenaline. One difference is the Arahi has developed a new concept by providing stability through use of a “J-Frame,” wrapping the heel from the outside (lateral side) around the back and up to the midfoot on the medial side.

 

So I took off on my favorite five-mile time trial route in my brand new wheels. This route is sidewalk nearly the whole way with very little traffic coming out onto the busy morning road. It’s mostly downhill for the first half, but the fun ends when I turn uphill and into the theater parking lot. I do a brief circle around and then cover the same ground on the way back. I use it as a way to track my fitness level.

The first few miles were as uneventful as you’d ever want them to be. I always say the highest compliment you can give a pair of shoes is that you barely notice you’re wearing them. That’s what I felt for the first little bit, until I felt a burning sensation on the balls of both feet. I’d never felt that in any other pair of shoes and it was the last thing I was expecting.

This feeling was more about discomfort than actual pain. It didn’t get any worse so I was able to keep doing my thing. The run itself was a good one. The only Strava segment I have is about 0.6 and a slight uphill and ends at a traffic light which then begins another climb. I run quite often, just not where a lot of other runners go, so there aren’t a lot of comparisons with others.

I took the Arahis out again on Wednesday of last week and the same thing happened a few miles in—this feeling that my feet were on fire. I’d taken off in a new pair of Adrenaline 16s a few months back and felt that the toe box was a little narrow at first, but then I got used to them and of course they’re wonderful. That’s what I was thinking would happen on my second trip in the Arahis. No dice. I am still hopeful that it’ll be different.

Otherwise I’ll have to look at options. Arahis are stability shoes so I don’t want to use inserts. Perhaps a second pair of socks or even a little body glide-type lubricant. Heat means friction, which in turn means movement. I do have plenty of lace left over so another choice could be to minimize said movement by using that last pair of eyelets.

I have fresh rubber and I will come up with a solution in order to make them perfect.