Running Cadence

I managed to go nearly a week between runs, from track last Wednesday to late Monday night. I intended to run Saturday, but ended up running errands and changing out the cockpit on bike #2 (still a work in progress). On Sunday, I rode 100 miles from Houston to Livingston to support the first leg of the Brick for Women, in which a guy is cycling from Houston to Little Rock, AR, and then running the Little Rock Marathon to raise money and awareness for women's support centers. (that's me leading the pack)

On Monday I had a Houston Racing meeting, and I was pretty bummed because it looked like I was going to end up going a week between runs (not a good idea), but I got home and my cadence sensor had come in, so I went for a run in my neighborhood at 11:15 pm. My default cadence is somewhere between 165 and 170 steps/min, but I managed to maintain 176 or so throughout my run, mainly by focusing on pumping my arms. The run was pretty tough on my calves; I don't think all of the time off was particularly good for me. I focused on shortening and quickening my stride, and was surprised by how tough it was. Monday night run: painful, frustrating, slow.
Wednesday night I went to track practice and found that forefoot running is a lot easier when I'm running fast. Nonetheless, I felt pretty darned slow. My fastest mile was in the 6:48 range, and it was tough! I did manage to maintain a cadence around 180 from the start until my cadence sensor died (hopefully it's just a dead battery).
This morning I got up and did a brick at the park. I rode about 13 miles, easy, and then ran 2 miles. The 2 mile run was actually pretty effortless and relatively pain-free.
The feet are at about 85%. They seem to be getting better since the tennis playing mistake a few weeks ago, and night-time icing definitely seems to help.