Heel drop 12mm vs 10mm

yes

yes, if you keep running like someone walking, but fast, you will continue to get achilles issues.

Heel striking is never legitimately good form. You should change to a forefoot or midfoot strike instead of changing shoes

Well I don't wake up and try to be a heel striker, it's my natural form. I've experimented with trying a different strike but it's never felt natural and is really uncomfortable.

I'm surprised when people suggest "just change your strike" really?

10 vs 12mm isn't enough to make a difference. I've run in Brooks models for many years and race in Vaporflies without issue.

How is this going to help the achilles issue?

2mm seems indistinguishable. I'm curious about the production variability for stuff like heel drop. Is your tracksmith shoes really something like 10mm +/- 1 mm? But I get your concern. At the master's level small changes can make a difference. I guess let us know how it goes.

(This is coming from someone who went from a 4mm to 12 mm and now hasn't run for 9 months due to knee issues)

Yes, it might increase your chances of Achilles issues by 2mm, which is only a small amount of Achilles issue.

As much as some have been dismissive you're right to be a bit cautious. A 2mm difference may not seem like much but it's about the range of motion that your achilles isn't having to go through currently. If you're injury free today I would just switch them out progressively over 6 weeks or so, run a quarter of your runs in the 10mm shoes for 2 weeks, then half for 2 weeks, then 3 quarters before you do everything in the lower drop.

It's not worth taking risks with a low blood flow tendon later in your running life.

Excellent idea!!!

Thank you