Thanks, OakLeaf -- this is all very interesting. My walk-around shoes are very uncomfortable, and I walk just about everywhere. I'll have to improve those -- they are an old pair of poorly-fitting running shoes.

This morning, I ran for 2 miles in my newly-configured current running shoes. I put a small, 2-3mm moleskin pad under the insole beneath my big toe. I do wear custom orthotics. They are half-sole, and I'd just cut an old insole in half, leaving 1" of overlap at the midsole (probably very bad) so I put a full, flat insole in the shoe and put my orthotic on top of that. The ball of my right foot almost immediately cramped, but relaxed after a mile. I was definitely aware of the moleskin padding, and things felt... different. "Better" will remain to be seen, especially since I have a 10K race on Monday.

I got my first custom orthotics in 1996 after developing a stress fracture on my second metatarsal. I'm on my third pair and am surprised not a single podiatrist has ever mentioned Morton's Foot -- and that every pair of orthotics has focused exclusively on the heel and arch area of my foot, not the forefoot. I was reading "The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook," and when I got to the Morton's Foot section, I felt like was reading about myself. I have all the classic callus patterns, pain in many of the referral points mentioned, and, of course, a freakishly long second metatarsal!

I have been doing much with the Pose method over the past year, which also made me realize how unbalanced I am in regards to my forefoot -- when I deliberately try to land evenly on all my metatarsals (not easy), I notice an **immediate** decrease in pain.

I have my first trigger point therapy session on Friday and I'm very curious to hear what the therapist says about all my self-research.

Yet one more reason barefoot running might be a complete disaster for me. Oh. Well. Somewhere, out there, there's a secret to pain-free legs...