What is your preferred heel-toe ratio?

I've heard this line of thinking a couple times recently. I think it's interesting and may have some merit.

I think the part about training in 4-6mm is crucial. It'll increase strength through a wider range of motion in your calves, then when you switch to 8-10mm that's easier on them compared to the baseline of 4-6mm they're used to. Maybe forefoot striking in 8-10mm shoes results in less ground contact time then 4-6mm, idk?

Training in 4-6mm shoes is also useful if you race in spikes, those tend to be 0 drop. It's not such a big jump then. Just jumping from 12mm shoes to a spike for a race can go not so well. I know people who have torn their Achilles from this. Obviously this is rare. But being really tight, not stretching, training only in 12mm Brooks Ghosts, and not gradually transitioning to spikes but instead putting them on for the first time that season for your first race = torn Achilles tendon. This guy tore his in the first few steps of an indoor 2 mile.

Oh, I like 4-8mm, preferably 4mm nowadays.

messii wrote:The preferred median heel-toe drop on here is 6mm, but is that a common size in shoes?

Yes, there are plenty of shoes with 6mm.

messii wrote:Should your heel-toe drop be less in racing than in training? Eg. 4mm for racing and 6 or 8mm for training?

Sometimes the opposite. It depends on several variables, most significant being the runners biomechanics and specific race event.

messii wrote:Also, is there a go-to website out there that lists the heel-toe drop of most all modern running shoes? Or do you have to research each individual shoe individually?

Runningwarehouse has a very nice advanced shoe finder tool that allows you to select important specifications like: Drop, Weight, Stack Height, Ect...

Check it out.

messii wrote:Finally, does heel-toe drop (your favourite and your least favourite) impact positively or detrimentally your running form?

Certainly.

Example#1: A heal striker who was previously using a 0-4 shoe switches to a 10mm shoe. His heal is now pre-maturely making contact with the ground. The added braking forces from this could cause the runner to do a number of things to make it feel better like increase cadence to get ground contact closer to his/her body.

Example#2: A midfoot striker with appreciable hip extension using his/her prefered 8-10mm shoe. Switches to a 0-4 shoe and results in being "back in the seat" with minor anterior pelvic tilt and decreased stride length.

Example#3: A forefoot striker who was previously using a 0-4 shoe switches to a 10mm shoe. The new shoe causes pre-mature ground contact with the heal which results in him/her decreasing stride length and increasing cadence to avoid.

Example#4: A forefoot striker who was previously using a 10 shoe switches to a 0-4mm shoe. The additional strain on calf&achilles may cause him/her to reduce stride length and increase cadence.

These are just a few of MANY MANY scenarios. There are a lot of different biomechanics many of which respond differently to varying underfoot geometry.

Mahmood wrote:You are free (and encouraged) to go into some detail as to why.

I have no idea what my preferred heel-toe ratio is or should be.

If I had known all this 35 years ago would that had given me the extra 11 seconds I needed to get under 14 minutes in the 5000?

I've done a lot of workouts in Kinvaras (4mm) and Bostons/Adios (8mm). I noticed if I do too many long and hard workouts in Kinvaras my calf will act up. Switched to the Endorphin Speed (8mm) and haven't had an issue since. The speeds may be my favorite shoe of all time by the way. Excellent for workouts and long run workouts.

For easy days the trusty Triumph which is 8-10 is ideal. I like having higher drop shoes on easy days and lower drop shoes on workout days in general. I feel like higher drop doesn't tax the calf/achilles complex as much