New Socks
For years I’ve been running in TwinSkin, I haven’t been blister free the entire time but they really have served me well. Don’t fix it unless it’s broken they I hear you say? Well that’s probably sage advice, but there is method in my apparent appendage madness. You see, Badwater is blisteringly (deary me Ben…) hot and I need to think about that quite seriously.
Whilst the Twinskin is a great sock and has taken me through numerous ultras, they are thick and that extra insulation has been playing on my mind recently. I am trying out some new socks, the DryMax - well known in the USA and ultra running circles they promise a particularly “dry” foot experience. With the amount of sweat in the shoe expected in Badwater this seems to make sense to me. The fibres are hydrophobic, they don’t so much wick the moisture away as repel it.
Time will tell if they work, I will put a specific update here after the Autumn100 in a couple of weeks where they are going to be tested in anger.
“Dry” and blister free - let’s see how we get on…. to be continued.
.. continued 14th October
I’m not sure if it’s Christmas or Easter writing this after completing the Autumn100 but I am sure of one thing - the DryMax socks are brilliant. I’ll write up a full race report when I am able to think straight, but in the meantime. Here is a look at some of the conditions:
A little damp in places
The DryMax delivered, of course my feet got socked during this little stint but were soon back to normal.
I was pleasantly surprised at the aid station. After the above I had always planned a shoe and sock change, the remainder of the course up on the Ridgeway was meant to be dry - that turned out to be a lie, but never mind.
My feet were “dry”.. well not perfectly dry but not trench-foot like either, the socks had certainly done their job. The rest of the race had numerous feet-wet patches and after 100 miles.. I was blister free. Not only that but I felt confident in my sock choice throughout - having one less thing to worry about is a big deal in Ultras.
DryMax… I am converted.
https://www.drymaxsports.com/