Last month I randomly tapped on the brand partnership tab in my Instagram DMs — something I’d completely forgotten existed — and scrolling through, I realized I’d missed a surprising number of opportunities. But there were a few recent ones that had come in that week. The second one down was from KURU Footwear.
I was intrigued because I’ve tried a lot of athletic shoes and sneakers over the years, and almost none of them deliver on what they promise. . . which, for me, is supporting my left ankle, something that’s been bothering me since 2007. When I finally had X-rays done, I was told I had an extra foot bone causing the problem, scar tissue was building up, and I’d probably need surgery. Of course, I ignored all of that and continued hoping it would just heal on its own.
Fast-forward nearly twenty years, and I’ve lost most of my range of motion, a significant amount of calf muscle on my left side, and my right side has been picking up the slack, throwing off my hips, back, and stance. I’m in constant pain, I can’t walk barefoot without limping. . . and let’s be REAL HONEST, I can’t even wear most shoes now without limping.
That’s a hard pill to swallow. But it has me constantly searching for shoes that will actually support me until I finally give in and have surgery.
Enter HOKA. . .
For my birthday in June, I’d gotten a pair of Hoka Transport 2s after reading endless reviews raving about how comfortable they are/were. And to be fair, the sole WAS/IS comfortable — like walking on a little cloud. But there was zero heel support and no arch support for my bad ankle. Wearing them actually made my ankle hurt more than my old Adidas did. BUT I gave them a fair shot — wore them three separate times on my park hike — but each time I’d end up limping within 5–10 minutes and stay limping for the next 30–40 minutes of my walk. . . and my ankle would hurt after taking them off once I was back home. I didn’t get it. I even bought Dr. Scholl’s insoles to try to fix the Hokas — but with their already massive soles, that just raised my foot so much it felt like walking in platforms.
Soon after, summer hit 100° weather, so my daily walks paused and I moved to my indoor trampoline afternoon workout instead, which timed perfectly with my new puppy, Churchill. But I still needed a pair of walking/workout shoes, even for my trampoline.
Enter KURU. . .
When KURU offered to gift me a pair, I read their reviews and looked into how the shoe was actually designed. It took about a week of back-and-forth to land on a pair — my first color choice was out of stock, and I didn’t want black since my Hokas were black and I wanted to be able to tell them apart. I chose the icy blue, which turned out gorgeous and THE MOMENT I slipped my feet into these shoes, I could feel the difference, and my mind was blown!
Why the Atom 2s Blew My Mind. . .
My ankle is completely cradled — like it sits in a cup! It keeps my leg straight instead of letting it pronate inward, so there’s built-in support even without needing heavy arch support. (There’s still arch support too, it’s just not doing all the work.) That inward collapse is exactly what my bad ankle does, and these are the first shoes that have actually stopped it!
I’ve been wearing them daily since receiving them and use them indoors only on my trampoline, since I still haven’t been out for my daily walks yet (it has still been too hot AND I can’t leave Church or take him with me yet.) Not only do the shoes help correct my problem WHILE I’M WEARING THEM, it seems that it helps overall, once I take them off as well. The pain has subsided, I’m more intentional again about walking and using the muscles in this foot and calf instead of relying on my right leg, I DO NOT LIMP at all in them and I don’t have a random shooting pain where I have to completely stop and wait until it works itself out again to continue walking (as I have with every other shoe!). My only problem now is that I don’t want to wear these pretty blue ones outside at all because I don’t want to get them dirty and I want to keep an indoor pair separate from my outdoor pair, so NOW I NEED ANOTHER PAIR!
What I noticed when I recorded this video of how my foot sits in each shoe (photo still from it above) and how my ankle pronates in the HOKA’s but doesn’t in the KURUs, is partially because the HOKA’s have a lower ankle all-together. The shoe sits underneath my ankle instead of up and over it, which could partially be why they lack support… (this is not a post to bash HOKA’s, they are insanely comfortable, but don’t work for pronation or heel support the way the KURU’s do). Because of that, I’ve listed my HOKA’s for sale on my Poshmark – along with so many other amazing items!
On the Gifting, for Transparency. . .
For the record, KURU never asked me to post anything. When a brand gifts you something and you genuinely love it, sharing feels like the right thing to do — not an obligation, just common courtesy. Also, I LOVE to share when something truly works for me or when a product is as good as they say they are! I posted a photo to my IG stories when I received them and KURU asked to share it. I told them I’d rather just post properly to my feed and tag them so they’d have a better piece of content to share. That was almost a month ago and I’ve been wearing them daily since!
At that point, I asked them about another pair, the Kuru APOGEE Luxe, because I was genuinely curious if all of their styles had the same support AND because they looked a little less athletic, I thought they’d work better with streetwear outfits. . . AND Kuru sent me those too! (Amazing brand = Amazing people behind the brand~!)
I will say though, that while the APOGEE Luxe are good, they don’t quite grip and lift the heel the way the Atom 2 does BUT they’re still a fabulous option for a non-athletic sneaker for walking that relieves pain and keeps my ankle supported.
I’m telling you guys, I’m so happy to finally be able to walk without pain or hiding a limp!
I want every style in every color for the rest of my life!
If you pronate inward or deal with something like plantar fasciitis, I genuinely think these are the shoes for you. My hips feel better. My body feels aligned. I want an “outdoor pair” and an “indoor pair” so I never have to take them off.
This is the shoe I’ve been looking for since 2007, when this ankle problem started. I probably need surgery eventually — I really don’t want to deal with that — but weirdly, wearing heels and rollerskating (with their built-in heel lift) used to keep the muscle engaged without pain. The last five years of not skating, plus too-hot summers to walk in, let that muscle basically disappear. But for now? I’m not kidding — these shoes are doing more for that leg than anything else has in years.
PS. I’m having a Major and I mean MAJOR closet sale on Poshmark!
Posts you might be interested in reading on my Substack. . .
1. My current closet
2. The Closet Purge I’ve Been Threatening for 10 Years!
3. Hello, Amore! I finally changed my last name!
