Hi Sally,
I don’t know if you’re still having issues several months later but it sounds like you need some other things to try to work on improving your ankle mobility! In addition to the good info in this post there are a few other techniques that might help. Rather than try and explain them all here, you can check out this article if you’re interested… http://www.colindiment.com/how-to-run-better-fixing-your-feet-and-ankles/ I think in conjunction with the good stuff Pete wrote here it’d help you! In the meantime I’d recommend holding off on running barefoot until you’re able to restore full ankle mobility so that you’re not setting yourself up for injury! Hope your running is going well!

Can’t reccommend it highly enoug

Kelly – do you have hallux rigidus? Lots of docs will rec a shoe with a stiff forefoot to help with this so that the big toe does not flex as much. Depends on what the actual problem with the joint is I suppose.
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I would say it depends on the source of the inflexibility. If there is degenerative damage (e.g., due to arthritis) inside the joint then simply trying to improve flexibility may not work. Hard to know.

I’m not generally convinced that medial posts are all that effective. There are lots of ways to make a shoe more stable, and there is no real testing protocol which is required to be met for a shoe to be classified as a stability shoe. In general, I’d say a firmer shoe is going to be more stable even if it does not have a post.

What trail shoes are you using now?

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Thanks James and yes, I’m hoping to experiment some this summer, even if it’s just starting with some strides. I live in Cleveland so still have to wait a few months for things to warm up…

I have run the most in the puregrit 1, then next the merrell mixmaster 2, then innov8 roclite 285 and the new update to the 295 is a recent purchase.

I’d forgotten about the whole winter thing!

Yep, winter is a problem I’m well familiar with right now. Third consecutive week where awful weather may knock out a planned long run…
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I disagree, in the glutes engaged mode, there is no dorsiflexion.