My Experience with the Hoka Rocket X2: A Runner’s First Venture into Plated Shoes
I’m cruising along at the end of a 20 minute tempo, feeling amazing, feeling like I’m floating on clouds and these plated shoes are perfect for me, but I can’t help but wonder if the rubbing on my achilles is causing a blister or not…
The Hoka Rocket X2 represents my first foray into the world of plated running shoes. After putting in about one year of serious running training, I decided it was finally time to try plated shoes to see if they would make a meaningful difference in my running speed and comfort.
I had heard a great line in a David Roche interview, where he said “Plated shoes are fun, if nothing else I wear them to enjoy running fast even more” (paraphrased) – so I thought it was time to give them a try.
The reason I chose the Hoka X2s was straightforward: I went down to my local running store, tried on several pairs, and the Hokas felt the best. I had previous positive experience running in Hoka shoes—my first Ironman run was completed in Hokas, and I had enjoyed those shoes. The Rocket X2s are very colorful and light, and I was excited to put them to the test.
Hoka Rocket X2 First Test: Mixed Results with a Learning Experience
My first test with the shoes was during a long run that included a mix of tempo runs and threshold runs. This workout was designed to test out different running paces and see how the shoes felt across various intensities. Since I had not yet completed my lactate threshold curve testing at this point, I ran at a slower pace than what my tempo should have been, but it felt really good for the tempo effort—a positive sign.
As I was running, I noticed the back of my heel slightly rubbing against the shoe. I wondered if this would become a problem, but after covering about 12-13 kilometers and still feeling great, I figured the rubbing wasn’t significant enough to be an issue.
My plan was to transition directly from the tempo into threshold work, going from about 4:30 per kilometer up to 4:00 per kilometer for some shorter threshold intervals. However, as soon as I picked up the faster pace, the blister on the back of my foot broke, and the sudden pain sent me hobbling home to treat the new blisters.
I thought, “What have I done, I can’t return these shoes…”. This is not the first time I’ve done this to myself, maybe I’ve finally learned a lesson!
Despite this setback, I hadn’t written the shoes off yet. While I changed shoes and patched up the blisters to finish my run, I thought about how to further test the shoes and determine whether these blisters were going to be a persistent problem or just a minor setback.
Second Test: Problem-Solving with KT Tape
A few days later, once the blisters had nearly healed, I conducted my next test using KT tape in areas where blisters had formed. I had never used KT tape before, but based on my research, there were plenty of examples of runners using it for blister prevention in their shoes. I was confident this approach would help me enjoy the Hoka X2 plated shoes.
Fortunately, I was right. My next run in the Hoka shoes was wonderful. I completed a 24-kilometer long run with a fast tempo interval and came home feeling great and genuinely liking the shoes.
Overall Experience and Recommendations
Since purchasing the shoes, I have run roughly 100 kilometers in them, wearing them specifically for tempo and threshold efforts since you don’t want to run exclusively in plated shoes.
I would recommend these shoes if you’ve run in Hokas before and the heel design doesn’t bother your feet. If you haven’t tried Hokas previously, I would be more cautious. If you really want to try them, I suggest doing your first runs on a treadmill so you could potentially return the shoes if they cause blisters like they initially did for me. If you want more information check out Hoka’s website there are the Rocket 3 avalible.
The Performance Impact
I believe these shoes have added a small amount of speed to my running. Going from non-plated to plated shoes, you really feel the bounce when taking off, and this is especially noticeable when you switch back to non-plated shoes—they feel flat compared to the responsiveness of plated shoes.
The shoes are enjoyable to run in, and if you haven’t tried plated shoes yet, I’d recommend giving them a try to make running more fun, especially during those fast efforts.
