Or how I got tendinitis and haven’t lived it down since.

Some back story: I started getting back pain and I thought it was due to being overweight at 5’3/140 but suspected my self-diagnosed flat feet. Went to a podiatrist and I’ve worn orthotics for my flat feet since 2003. I wore them pretty much forever but in 2007 I heard about VFFs and got a pair. They are supposed to help with flat feet and will cure what ails you but alas, no. I ran two halves and a Tough Mudder in them and my arch remained flat. Other than my ankles feeling wrecked I didn’t really have any issues because I trained smart in them and worked my way up through the mileage.

So in February I got called out by Eric to sign up for the Dallas GORUCK Heavy in April and I did. I had run all of 20 miles for the month of February (up through November 2012 I had been averaging a weak 15-20mpw) so I decided to ramp up my running and rucking because I’m a bad ass, right? I switched back to my Vibram Five Fingers (VFFs) and dropped my mile time down to 9:xx/mile from a blistering 11’/mile. I also started rucking more and by the end of March it was 60 miles for the month like a dumb ass.

So that’s pretty much how you get tendinitis. Being a dumb ass. April rolls around and the day before Dallas Goruck Light I see a nice shiny red bump on my foot.

I’m no doctor but that ain’t right. I tape up my foot as best as I can and then head out to the Dallas Light and finish with no issues but the foot is still troublesome. I set up an appointment with the podiatrist who tells me to stay off my foot for a while and I get RXed some physical therapy. I finish PT but miss out on the April Heavy but manage another Challenge and Light before July’s Austin Heavy (of Doom). My foot held up fine until about hour 20 (which, to be fair, nobody is feeling peachy then) when I notice it kind of throbbing. Whatever, it’s 20 hours in and I’m not quitting. No real ill effects on the tendon but the rest of my feet aren’t so lucky.

So don’t run and ruck too much like a dumb ass and you’ll be OK is what I want to tell myself back in February. Heavy is all mental, tendinitis is all physical.