The Underwear of the Feet

Since I covered the feet in the last gear blog, let's keep in that same general vicinity & talk about socks.  I have learned more about socks in the past few weeks than any person ought to know!

All socks are made, somewhat, alike.  There may be subtle differences in fabric content, individual toes, colors, size, etc.  When most people are told to think of a sock, they think of the plain white tube, 100% cotton or cotton & a small percentage of some other material that helps it keep it's "springyness."  That's what I thought of anyway.  I mean, how hard could it be to throw on a sock & hit the streets, right?  WRONG!

While, yes, you technically can just throw on any sock, one of the fundamental rules of running comes into play... please remember this rule, as you will see it again, SEVERAL times throughout my journey.  Cotton is the enemy of all runners... well, more precisely, cotton & moisture are the enemies.

See, cotton rubs the skin.  That's all fine & good until you add some moisture.  Any moisture will do, sweat, rain, sweat, mud puddle, sweat, spilled water that you were trying to drink while running, sweat... see a trend developing here?  Literally, any moisture will cause the cotton fibers to GRAB your skin, creating friction.  Friction creates blisters, or in other cases, the dreaded chaffing action that most folks from the South know from trying to enjoy a day out and about during the summer humidity.

To keep my feet from looking like a couple of chewed up pieces of meat, I, once again, headed off to my secret shopping spot, the Internet, and took a stroll down the sock isle.  That's when my jaw hit the floor!  A quick search of Amazon.com for X-Sock will reveal this beautiful pair of socks.  These are Swiss "Engineered" socks.  They have every bell & whistle that could be thrown into a sock.  At almost $50 PER PAIR, these are the creame de la creame of socks.  Everything about this sock was designed with the runner in mind.  I may look dumb, but I'm no idiot.  There is only so much that can be done to a sock that hasn't been done before & that isn't offered in your everyday pack of Hanes or Fruit of the Loom.  With Under Armour & Nike, and every other shoe company jumping into the sock business, I refuse to spend $50 on a pair of socks & decided I needed to do some more homework. 

I hit the forums and found a reasonably priced sock that sounded like it was right up my alley... in fact, Amazon.com was offering them at a discount when I ordered them too!  Bonus!  So, I got the Wright Sock Running II Anti Blister Double Layer Sock.  Very nice sock if I must say.  As the name implies, these socks have 2 layers.  An inner layer that is "hydrophobic" - I didn't know socks had the capability of having a mental status such as phobias, but I digress - and an outer layer that helps to regulate the foot's temperature.  Plus, they have some other otions too, but they are a little boring.  I won't bore you with a picture of my ordinary white sock!  LOL!

I will, however, throw up a shot of another sock I am trying out.  So far it is performing okay at my shorter distances.  It's the Nike No-Show Anatomically Correct Running Sock.  Yes, I said anatomically correct.  No, not male/female, but rather left/right.  Each sock has a little L or R on it to make sure you are putting the correct sock on the correct foot.  They are specially made to support the foot, and only the foot they are intended to support.  A Right sock will not line up with the arch of the Left foot to support it.  Odd, yes, but they also offer extra cushon where you need it.  While not double layered to prevent blisters like the Wright Sock, these aren't made out of cotton.  They use Nike's patented Dri-Fit fabric... some type of lycra derivative.  The jury is still out on these for anythng much over 4 miles, but they are cheaper than the Wright Socks & available at the BX here on base, which makes them convienient.

See, who knew there were so many options when it comes to socks!  This is just a drop in the bucket too!  A search of Amazon.com leads to over 4000 results for "running socks" and I am sure 4000 runners will give you 4000 different reasons why the sock they use is better than everyone elses.  It all comes down to what feels good on your feet & what keeps your feet healthy enough to run another day!