14 replies to this topic

[HeidiTheTortoise]

Hi,

I have noticed quite a lot of people run with no socks. I would be interested to hear from people who successfully do this. Why do do this, or not do this? My first reaction is that I would get blisters but this is obviously not the case for some.

Tks
Heidi.

[Sharky]

Hi Heidi

Beats me too. If I run for 10 minutes with no socks I have blisters. Maybe if you get used to it your feet toughen up?

Are you sure these people aren't wearing ankle socks? I wear them and you can hardly see them

Sharky

[Leofisio]

I have blisters WITH socks... I would imagine without them...

My dream is to run barefoot sometime in the future... maybe to run without socks would be the first step.

Leo

[Colin]

Been running without socks for over 30 yrs. I get no blisters. When I started out with socks back in 1977 I got blisters same as everyone else over a certain distance. Then I noticed that a lot of the experienced runners were sans socks, spoke to a few of them, tried it and when you have a shoe that fits as it should, doesn't have hard stitching inside etc it is much , much better than with socks.

Firstly, your feet don't slide around, there is no interface between (socks) that could cause problems, one less material that causes friction etc. The foot-shoe interface is minimal.
You will know its the rght shoe when you run in it first time.

I won't mention brands, but some of them are poorly stitched inside.

Last year at Canberra I showed a few doubters after the race - they were surprised at the good condition of my feet.

The only problem is that your shoes become very smelly and they need to be aired quite a bit (mine stay ouside) and a wash more frequently.

Try it.

cheers

[miners]

I've been a fan of the no-socks as well, but it's more as a result of competing in Tris, than being a devout follower of the Book of Colin. Despite my best attempts, I'll still generally wear socks for 90% of training runs. But I regularly run up to 10km, and even half marathon in Tris without socks with few problems

[DontStop]

Used to do probably half of my 120k weeks sans socks, and had no problems at all (aside from the stinky shoes already mentioned). Never blistered, but you have to be really careful to choose shoes that have no sticky-outy bits inside them. After a time, I pretty much reverted to socks for training (the stinky shoes really started to piss-off my housemates) but always raced without socks. Made me feel faster.

I reckon now that socks are made pretty well, and are seriously low-cut, there's less imperative to go sockless than there might have been back in the day.

Pro's to going sockless:
You feel fast.
Less fabric to bunch/rub/weigh you down if wet.
Greater 'feel', especially on the track.
I personally think it's a better look.
You save money.

Con's to going sockless:
Your shoes will really stink.
You have to be a bit choosier with your shoes.
If you get any little sharp stone in your shoe (which can happen on compacted gravel) it's more than a mild irritant.
Cold in winter.

[Peterhorse]

Ah yes... that three letter word, starts with S and ends with X and it's better when there's two. Can still be good with none though

So now i'm a no socks for tri's convert and also don't wear any for wet days. A couple of times i've got annoyed with my sox and stopped, taken them off and tossed them in the nearest bin.

I have 2 older (>1000k) favourite pairs of shoes that i keep for my soxless days. They sleep under the house with the mowing shoes due to the pong as mentioned above.

One brand beginning with A seems to give me blisters every time, despite their popularity with runners and CRs on the annual poll.

My sox get so sweat laden and heavy when i finish longer runs that you got me thinking though Colin... less weight and discomofrt possibly for longer runs, so might test it out more. Couldn't be worse than the 4-5 black and blue toenails i lose every season.

[Gerbs]

yes i too am like Colin ( in only this respect) and run with no socks. Yes shoes smell. however once a week they go in the washing machine and come out smelling nice.
i have run marathons halfs and 10 ks without sox. I havedone 6 x 6 foot marathons with out sox. i have never had ablister without osx. I have had blisters when i have run with sox. Why this is the case i have no idea.

With out sox the feeling is fantastic and you feel lighter.

Go soxless and enjoy !!

[LaurenR]

Hi all,

I run without socks in triathlons, but keen to try for normal runs too.

Can you name some brands that work well for you? I.e. good stitching, no sticky outy bits etc.


Cheers,
Lauren

[Colin]

miners, on Feb 2 2009, 05:00 PM, said:

I've been a fan of the no-socks as well, but it's more as a result of competing in Tris, than being a devout follower of the Book of Colin.

?????

At the risk of another such reference, the sticky-outy bits are more prevalent in the shoe with alphabet character stated by PH.
The shoe starting with N has no inner stitching and an inner liner...there may be other brands too.

cheers

[LaurenR]

Ah cryptic brand names! Love it.

Though we're allowed to mention brand names that work well for us aren't we? Not like we're trying to sell them or advertise them (or bag them out). It's just giving other runners some ideas of brands that seem to cater better for sock-less runnners

Blisters are the things that drive me nuts about running so I'm always on the lookout for shoes that other people recommend.

[miners]

Colin, on Feb 3 2009, 02:14 PM, said:

?????

At the risk of another such reference, the sticky-outy bits are more prevalent in the shoe with alphabet character stated by PH.
The shoe starting with N has no inner stitching and an inner liner...there may be other brands too.

cheers

heh - just haven't been able to give up my asics completely - hence I still wear socks for much of the time.

however, I'm also a pegasus wearer same as yourself - and yes, they're not too bad with the inner design

Pearl Izumis and Zoots are also good with the seamless inners

[AlunDavies]

LaurenR, on Feb 3 2009, 03:45 PM, said:

Ah cryptic brand names! Love it.

Though we're allowed to mention brand names that work well for us aren't we? Not like we're trying to sell them or advertise them (or bag them out). It's just giving other runners some ideas of brands that seem to cater better for sock-less runnners

Blisters are the things that drive me nuts about running so I'm always on the lookout for shoes that other people recommend.

Adidas Adistar, Supernova and Ride are all seamless on the inside but going sockless wasn't my motivation for getting into them.

I have been thinking experimenting without recently but haven't got around to it.

[Paul Every]

I race sockless in triathlons up to about a 12km run. 21km or above I wear socks.

I have never tested what happens around 15km or above without socks. For all I know it could be quite comfortable and I may be a potential adherrent to the gospel of Colin.

I wear Brooks Addictions and have very few issues with blisters even racing the longest distances.

[MizukiNoguchi]

If i care about the result or even the quality of the training session, i'm always without socks.