Brooks Ghost causing strained feeling in plantar area next day

Exact same thing happened to me. After the Ghosts messed me up, I used Asics Cumulus religiously for a month and everything is fine now. Lost roughly 3 months of progress with the recurring flair-ups, until the Cumulus resolved my issue. Felt like some nerve was inflamed in front of my left heel and was sensitive to finger pressure. Switched over to Saucony Ride last week and did a 5k today, but changed out the inserts, so it has no pressure point near my heel inside area.

By the way, an

8 mile 'power walk' seemed like icing on the cake, as far as 'curing' the issue (using Asics).

I believe it's YMMV. I had no problem with Ghost 15. But I had problem with VF. I think if you notice a shoe acting up your arch area, it's best to stop wearing it. There is no real pattern to this. Some shoes doesn't work for some people.

That is the sign of PF developing. You did good switching out the shoe that was causing it.

Why are ASICS Cumulus “crappy”? Actually find the newer versions quite good.

Actually I love them, and think they are an excellent shoe for the price (it's really easy to get earlier models for $60 and they are good for at least 400 miles) but they definitely give off hobbyjogger vibes.

Wow - thank you for posting that, pretty much my exact same problem. It's definitely more of a nerve or bruising type of feeling at the front part of the heel before the arch. I've had plantar fasciitis before when I worked as a waiter in college, this is a different type of sensation. Looks like the Ghosts will be relegated to walking or maybe short 3-4 mile recovery runs.

Now that I think of it, I do notice that the Ghosts feel like they are pushing my left arch up a bit.

Back to the Cumulus it is. I know they get a bad rap for being old man hobbyjogger shoes but I keep coming back to them even as a sub-2:45 marathon runner, they've literally never caused an issue for me, and they are easy to find for $60-70 and have a respectable life expectancy.

Thanks again for sharing that.

The shoe brand probably doesn't really matter. Just a matter of putting in inserts that don't have unnecessary thickness so that it presses on that nerve. I iuse old cheap Saucony 'everrun' inserts. The white foam piece and the grey foam and cloth piece. They never wear out! They provide a relatively flat footbed surface that feel right for my high arched feet.

Fisky provided some instruction on how to modify inserts for proper comfort a while back. Once you figure out the feel of what works for you, it doesn't matter what neutral running shoe you use. You can always modify. But factory inserts with "slight stability" - meaning extra thickness in the rear arch area - nead to be thinned away with wire brush in a bench grinder.