As stores were opening back up for business this year I went to REI in the Chicagoland area to purchase one of my first pieces of gear for a possible March 2021 NOBO thru hike.

After trying on the HOKA's and the Ultra Lone Peak 4.5 I went with the Ultra's along with some trail weight Injinji socks. The next day after 4.5 miles I started to get a blister on the back of my left heel. Went back to REI but they convinced my to keep the shoes and tie a "heel lock" with the shoe laces. Something I never had to do with my New Balance running shoes. Sure enough it worked.

After several months of walking on trail between 5 to 10 miles every other day, I found the muscle on my shin would tense up and contract on about 10% of my hikes on mile 2. After much youtube diagnoses I was messaging/rubbing my shins and calves before and after hikes and I still had about 10% of my hikes shutting down at mile 2 because of the intense tightness.

After more researching I was starting to worry that my age was a factor and maybe I had a degenerative disease. After a morning hike got shut down at mile 2, I went back home and put on my old crusty New Balance running shoes and hiked 9 miles without any problems later than day.

Well, after a 7-mile hike this morning in my Ultra's I came to the conclusion that I was simply tying my shoe lace too tightly with the "heel lock" on my left shoe. What a stupid problem I created! It didn't feel that tight, but it was tight enough that I was constricting so much blood flow that I could see the veins on my shin bone bulging.

TL/DR: Tie your shoes correctly!