Week 2: First Real Week of Training
‘full of doubt’
Dr. Ray McClanahan
Before getting into the week I want to mention the person whose thinking underpins this whole experiment.
I first saw Dr. Ray McClanahan about twenty years ago for plantar fasciitis. He’s a sports podiatrist based in Portland, Oregon, and the inventor of Correct Toes — silicone toe spacers designed to restore natural toe alignment. More importantly, he’s one of the few podiatrists who treats the shoe as the problem rather than the foot. He’s also a serious runner himself — he ran a sub-14 minute 5k, which back in his era was an exceptional mark in North America.
I saw him again last August when my heels were at their worst. I basically couldn’t walk barefoot without Hoka slides. That visit was the turning point. I broke the Hoka slides addiction, went barefoot only in the house and Birkenstocks everywhere else, then gradually added Escalantes for walking and 4mm drop Altras for running. What I’m doing now — transitioning fully to zero drop — is the next step in a process that really started last August.
I’m planning to see him again soon. When I do, I’ll report back.
Week 2: Day by Day
Monday 22 minutes of easy trail running on the trails around Victoria, BC — mix of hiking and running, big climb and descent. Heel pain 3/10. Calves working on the uphill, felt good on the descent. Right side slightly worse than left — the first asymmetry we’d seen, probably just daily variation.
Tuesday — Island Endurance First quality session of the experiment. A 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 fartlek with the Island Endurance crew — one of Victoria’s strongest running groups. Held back effort slightly — the mechanics in zero drop don’t feel fully natural at higher intensities yet. Running fast down stairs hurt the heels. Overall 3/10 and back at baseline. A solid return to structured work.
Wednesday 40 minutes easy trail on Vancouver Island. 4/10 — a normal day-after-fartlek response. Calves and soleus stiff but manageable.
Thursday — Mt. Doug/PKOLS 3.8 miles, 53 minutes, 1,266ft of gain on Mt. Doug/PKOLS — one of Victoria’s most iconic trail running destinations. The steep initial climb was the hardest part — straight uphill in zero drop really loads the soleus and achilles insertion from a cold start. Warmed into it as the run progressed. Glutes noticeably sore afterward — the posterior chain is waking up and doing more work than it was in heeled shoes. 4/10.
Friday — Best Session of the Experiment 2.97 miles with 10x100m fast sections at the reservoir in Victoria. Pain came in at 2.5-3/10 — the lowest reading of the experiment. The fast sections felt smooth and natural. Something is starting to click mechanically at higher speeds in the Escalantes.
Saturday 4 miles, 41 minutes, 518ft gain on Victoria trails. 4/10 — but context matters here. Two hours of yard work beforehand added meaningful load before the run even started. Non-running activity counts.
Sunday — First Proper Long Run 76 minutes, 1,165ft of gain on the trails of Victoria, BC. The biggest effort of the experiment so far. 4/10 during the run, with tired and sore calves and soleus afterward. The post-run thought: if I were starting a 100k feeling like this, I wouldn’t feel good about it.
What the Week Showed
The biggest thing that happened this week was that running started feeling normal again. More than that — I’m actually enjoying how I’m running. The mechanics feel right. Light steps, natural cadence, connected to the ground. The legs are working super hard, noticeably harder than they would in conventional shoes at the same pace and volume. That’s the adaptation tax for zero drop. But the way it feels to run is something I want more of, not less.
The lowest pain reading of the experiment came on the fastest session — 10x100m efforts at the reservoir. Short, quick, light steps in zero drop seem to suit the mechanics well. That’s consistent with the theory.
The biggest challenge remains steep uphill on cold muscles. The insertion gets loaded hard at the bottom of the range before things have warmed up. This is a pattern worth watching.
The glute soreness on Thursday was a good sign. The kinetic chain is shifting — load is being distributed differently than it was in heeled shoes.
Where Things Stand
Five weeks to Sooke Hills 50k on May 30th — a classic Vancouver Island ultra held in the hills west of Victoria. The goal for that race isn’t a performance — it’s to get there with manageable heel pain, run in the Experience Wild (4mm drop), and gather data on how the heels respond to race distance.
The adaptation is happening It’s just slower than I’d like.
Morning stiffness and pain: 1-10 scale. All running in Altra Escalante (zero drop) unless noted.
