- Altra Lone Peak as the daily shoe. These have become my new Cascadia; decent tread, very roomy in the toes with good protection. They need a dark color scheme though.
- Try to keep the elbows moving back straight. This helps to keep the legs/knees aligned.
- Quiet mid-foot landing. This avoids sole pain and plantar fasciitis.
- Picking the heel up and letting it float forward. This also helps with the landing.
- I've relaxed on the cadence a bit since I find that the last two points keep the knees happy.
- Alternate day running.
- Mixing up the activities, i.e. riding, walking hiking, etc.
It's interesting the way the things I've discovered that help me, interrelate.
For example, I've tried various cadences, mostly quicker, and it probably worked because it encouraged the other aspects of form, yet I've found it's not as much as a prime mover as I once thought.
Also, keeping the elbows going and picking the knees and heels up slightly also seem to reinforce one another, as they do when you're running hard. Duh.
Zero Drop
I was worried that minimal or zero-drop on minimalist shoes might aggravate my plantar fasciitis, but that has not been the case. I do feel it a bit, but it never gets bad, and if I feel it during a run I just soften my landing and/or stretch.
Incidentally I'm disappointed that the MT110 (not zero-drop, but close) offers so little toe protection because it's a great shoe and it's probably my all-time favorite in terms of ground feel and comfort during a run. But I won't risk another toe-almost-broken episode on technical trails with rocks or roots. A month later I still have pain around the joint tissue, and I'm certain I strained ligaments there.
I'm Back
Best of all, running feels safe and maintainable again (i.e. I'm not hurting my body and accumulating a bunch of problems). I feel like I'm back up to where I was last spring. Rock on.
