Are there any shoes out there right now that do not have a stiff heel counter ? I have some Nike Free's, Huarache's and Mayfly's (or is it Mayflies), but I wanted to try something else.
For the last few years, anytime I wear a shoe with a stiff heel counter, I get tremendous tightness under my foot and in the back of my leg in the area between my achilles (sp?) and calf. It feels so tight, almost like my skin won't stretch enough to let the lower leg muscles expand, and it's cuting off the bloodflow. I even get numbness after running like this for a while. I know the skin has more than enough elasticity, it just doesn't make sense.
I haven't found any other common factor other than the stiff rear part of my shoe. I know that doesn't make sense either, but when I wear shoes with a flexible heel counter, the problem goes away (or actually doesn't start).