Not All Socks Are Created Equal

What a difference a week makes! Last week we were in a deep freeze. A week later it rained for over two days. Now we are in a netherland of higher than normal temperatures, mostly cloudy skies and humidity. At least this is weather we are more accustomed to here in South Central Texas, though I am surely not the only one who hopes the cold and dry will return in time for next weekend's 3M Half Marathon in Austin.

It's a challenge, but I am continuing to keep my feet on the pavement even through the less than fair weather. A race looming on the horizon almost always gets a runner's attention. It's why I always try to have events lined up - I respond to deadlines. Without them I am apt to get casual about running and I really can't afford to be any more casual than I already am. That's why I ventured out a couple of days ago to log miles in the rain. Had it been really cold and rainy I likely would have retreated, but the air was around 50 degrees and the rain was more drizzle than drops. However, it had been raining at that point for a good 36 hours. Puddles were frequent and deep and for that reason I suited up in old shoes rather than the new Nikes. I figured 5 or 6 miles would be my limit and there would be little harm in running in the recently retired shoes which had carried me through last November's Rock'n'Roll Marathon.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I don't have cold weather running gear. It's not something we have to gird ourselves for in this part of the country. Likewise, I don't have wet weather gear either. It's not like we are in the Pacific Northwest. Here rain is only an occasional nuisance. Nevertheless, it's something I wanted to figure out, just in case.....you never know what you might get on any given race day and with the Texas Independence Relay now only 8 weeks away I want to have a tested plan for dealing with wet weather running. So I dug deep into my closet for an old windbreaker I had purchased 25 years ago when I moved to Mexico City. The need there was to stay dry during the inevitable showers of the rainy season. Amazingly, and despite the garment not being any reputable brand I could recall, this windbreaker worked fine for me in the modest rain of the other night.

Cotton sweat pants and two layers of technical shirts, a long sleeve over a short sleeve, kept me warm, especially the upper torso. However, the most important clothing I wore for that wet night run was a great pair of wicking socks. It's funny, I just read from an amazing ultra-runner's blog a comment about his brother, who had come to run some miles with him. He remarked on the cotton t-shirt his brother ran in, along with his cotton socks, describing this as vintage '80s running attire. Yes, I remember, and thank goodness I now know better. Some of this knowledge I picked up during my pre-runner days. Hiking and backpacking gear has also migrated towards engineered synthetics and wicking blends. These things really do work and I encourage anyone who is serious about running to outfit themselves in good gear. I currently have three favorite pairs of running socks, and I think they are all made for the "Sock Guy", a company which specializes in high quality socks for runners and other athletes. I came away from my recent rainy night run with my sweat pants soaked from the knees down (a city bus had driven by and splashed me) and with water logged shoes. But my feet were relatively dry and comfortable. The wicking works.

Two of my three favorite pairs of socks came from the Texas Independence Relay. They have also rewarded the runners of their events with very nice wicking t-shirts. This is a model which more race organizers need to follow. How often have we come away from events with cotton t-shirts, sometimes not even very well made? Kudos to Carroll Voss, who has always made a point of giving good quality shirts to his race participants. This was not always the case with the pre-Rock'n'Roll San Antonio Marathon. On the other hand, the Rock'n'Roll finisher shirts are first class (3M Half Marathon, pay attention!). In a moment I will climb down from my soap box, but not before noting that race directors could do wonders in educating runners by spending just a little more on the shirts. Please, please, no more cotton race rewards. Not all fibres are equal, nor are all socks equal. Do yourself a favor and buy a few pairs of socks from the Sock Guy. You won't regret it.

Fair Weather Runners Anon

Hi. My name is James and I'm a fair weather runner.

How many of us are there? We claim to be runners, even addicted to running, yet when the weather turns into serious heat, or numbing cold, or the wind blows strong, we take the day off. A day then becomes two days, or even a week if in the middle of a Texas July heat wave. We lose our gumption and find ourselves drifting out of running shape, often at times critical to training for the next race. I'm guilty, and that's why I've joined Fair Weather Runners (FWR) Anon.

Summertime in Texas can ruin one's best intentions. Those who are not afflicted with FWR syndrome can get themselves up at 5:30 AM to go run while the temp has dropped to 82. I don't run early in the morning. Instead, I look at the 99s or 100s on the thermometers and say no, maybe tonight at midnight. In truth, that's when I do a lot of my hot weather running. If ever I cross paths with the "real" 5:30 AM runners, it's because I'm just finishing a long 15 or 18 miler and they are just starting.

As hard as it is to run in high heat, it's even tougher for me when the air begins to chill. I'm more likely to run with the mercury at 100 than at 40, especially if that's 40 with a wind blowing. I just don't seem to have it in my constitution to run in such brutal conditions (lots of snickers from the Yankee runners). Give me a nice Fall or Spring day, 50 degrees, and I'm in Heaven. Too bad, but Heaven only lasts a few weeks where I run. Here in South Texas we endure Summers which are 5 or 6 months long, then we get the bookend seasons of Spring and Autumn, maybe 2 months total. And finally the north winds begin to howl and its Winter for a couple of months. But wait, let me do the calculation: 6+2+2=10. Hmm...where did those other two months go? It's math like this that keeps me running at a 10:30 pace rather than 9:30. It's a disease, yes the dreaded FWR affliction.

That's why I finally joined FWR Anon the other day, and it's why I ventured out this afternoon while the temperature hovered between 32 and 34 (that's Fahrenheit, thank you). You know, it wasn't too bad. Of course, the wind had stopped blowing and the sun was trying to melt the overhead clouds. Seven miles I logged. Here's how. Layers. I don't own cold weather running gear, so I improvised. My ensemble started with cotton long johns under cotton sweat pants. This worked today because the humidity was very low. Up top I wore an underlayment of my favorite new garment, a snug fitting Under Armour short sleeve shirt engineered for warm weather. Over that I wore a medium weight long sleeved shirt made of a cotton/polyester blend manufactured into a "Dri-Balance" fiber. Finally, a third layer of a wool vest which I've owned since I used to live in Mexico. The proverbial cherry on top was a wool/acrylic blend stocking cap. As we hear about everything else, the Devil is in the details. I wore thin, tight-fitting gloves which were passed out at some cold weather race within the past year or two. I don't know what they are made of, but without them I don't think I would have managed the 7 miles.

I swear by so-called technical apparel. Years ago I would run in cotton, mistakenly believing a natural fiber was better than polyesters or acrylics. I no longer make that mistake and I would recommend to anyone serious about running, biking, swimming, whatever your sport, that you spend the extra money on a good "wicking" fabric. It's one of the best things you can do for yourself. So why am I running today in cotton long johns and cotton sweat pants? Because I've never invested in cold weather running gear and, of course, the fact I've just admitted: I'm a Fair Weather Runner. I'm out of the closet!

Will today's run at 34 degrees turn things for me? I want to say yes, but I know like any other "addiction" there will be relapses. I may fall off the wagon tomorrow. On the other hand, with the 3M Half Marathon two weeks away, I can't really afford to go missing on my favorite running routes. And now that I've got at least one layered ensemble that works I'm more likely to press on through the cold week ahead.

It's times like this that I recall talking to a Minnesota runner one January as we ran side-by-side at the Black Gap 50 in Big Bend. "What's it like to train in Texas in the Summer?" he asked. "Tough," I replied. "I never go out if it's hotter than 98." (Almost true. Last Summer I did one afternoon run when it was 102.) The Minnesotan responded: "My running buddies and I have a deal that minus 18 is our point of no-go." I was too stunned to even ask why it was -18 and not -20 or -15. Even today, as I go boldly into the less than fair weather of 32 degrees, I know that confronted with 20 or 25, or a North wind of 25 mph, I'll tumble quickly and without ceremony from the wagon of Fair Weather Runners Anon.