Sockless Wonder

I sat down in the locker room at Gilruth last night and started pulling my running clothes out of my bag.

Running skirt? Check.
Tech tee? Check.
Hat? Check.
Sports bra? Check.
IPod Shuffle? Check.
Garmin? Check.
Shoes? Check.
Socks?
…
Socks??
…
I forgot to pack socks!

Dilemma. I have never run without socks. What to do? Finally I decided to go for it and see if I could run comfortably without socks. After all, most top triathletes do it, and if I discover that I can go sockless, it’ll save me another few seconds in transition. (Not that a few seconds makes a difference when you’re slow like me, but hey.) I was planning to do 3 miles, so I thought I’d just go as far as I could. If I felt hot spots on my sockless feet, I’d stop and walk back.

Amazingly, going sockless wasn’t a big deal! It felt a little weird, and I don’t plan to do it often, but I could certainly do a sprint triathlon without bothering with socks. I got one hot spot on my right index toe, but it was the same blister that formed on Saturday when I was wearing socks.

I ran my 3 miles outside, starting at about 6:00. I am still stubbornly trying to fight the heat, but thankfully I survived. There was a bit of a breeze that made things bearable, and I’m happy to report that I kept a relaxed pace and didn’t take any walk breaks! (Walk breaks have become pretty standard for me in the heat.) I finished in 34:00 for an average of about 11:20 per mile.