Recently I had Victoria Lavinskas, the physiotherapist at Totum Life Science, analyze my gait, shoes, and running, and she advised me to wear more flexible sneakers. I land on my heels and stiff sneakers with lots of cushioning—which I had believed saved me from injury—actually may be teaching my feet bad habits. She recommended I wear more flexible shoes and, as the New York Marathon is approaching and I’m deep into my marathon training, I knew I also wanted a super fast plate.
I haven’t run a marathon in a year. New shoes are serious business.
Mach X 2 is inspired by HOKA’s Cielo X 1, and is a formidable race shoe. It weighs 9.2 ounces and has a 5mm heel-to-toe drop, neutral and lightweight, with ample but not obscene cushioning. The foot, like Victoria told me I wanted, is close to the ground, thus responsive. I felt fast in the shoe but also alert. It’s important not to obsess over your stride, but neither ignore it. You need responsiveness.
And, with goal races approaching, you need it now.
My long runs now are topping out at 33 kilometres and speed work is often involving hitting my 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon paces, all in a series of reps. I work my shoes hard and do a variety of workouts: maybe 90 kilmotres-per-week. I need something to both handle the mileage of the long runs (which will get me ready for the marathon) and speed work (which will make me fast for race day).
I always thought, as I age, that I need to increase my cushioning, but that actually might not be the case. Victoria wants me to pay more attention to my running: my cadence, my foot falls, the volume in which I land against the ground. Big foam covers up a lot of my sloppy tendencies. Mach X 2 by HOKA allows me to absorb the pounding my old bones feel more now than they did five years ago. But also keeps me in pursuit of the younger racers before me at the Wednesday night workouts at BlackToe.
HOKA is known as a disruptor in the shoe industry.
Since launching in France in 2009 and being acquired by Deckers in 2013—the company that also owns Teva and UGG—their oversized midsoles at HOKA transformed footwear, and helped do away with the barefoot running revolution. But HOKA has also been involved in their own revolution and their newest lines, like the Cielo X 1, contain carbon-plates and show how the company has iterated in their ten-plus years. HOKA still makes running shoes with big foam, especially their distinct Bondi and Clifton lines, but the Mach X 2 is different. The heel contains voluptuous foam. But it’s integrated into the shoe.
The result being a fast, flexible, streamlined run.
I’ve been wearing HOKA since their inception. And I’ve worn minimalist, carbon-plated shoes since they were introduced by Nike in 2017. The Mach X 2 from HOKA is a giant step forward for the company.
In my marathon training, let’s hope, they’ll also be a giant step forward also for me.
For more information on the Mach X 2, see Hoka.com. The line is currently in stock at Running Room, Altitude Sports, Boutique Endurance, Maison de la Course, Kintec Footlabs, Boutique Le Coureur Nordique, Culture Athletics, Bushtukah, Bourque, BackRoads Brews + Shoes, and Forerunners.
Victoria Lavinskas is available for running assessments at Totum Life Science, 445 King Street West, www.totum.ca.
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