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Expert
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 Bronze member | Sounds like a stupid question, but most triathletes I've been watching have not been wearing socks after the swim to the bike/run. I couldn't find anything on the net to reference an advantage except for a quick swim to bike transition. For whatever reason, is there a physical advantage, preference, or mental advantage to this? Since I've been training, I've not wore socks because that is what I see others do, but for the first time in my life my feet stink! Is there any tips to avoid this (besides cleaning REALLY good after my runs) because the sweat is still in the shoes. Yuck! |
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Extreme Veteran
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Location: Fridley, MN, USA
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| I would love to be able to go straight from swim to bike to run sockless, as it would quicken the transition, but I can't run sockless! For some reason my feet blister very easily. I found myself pulling on socks in T2 at my last sprint because the thought of blisters in the next week's run made me cringe 
But if you can pull it off, go for it! |
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Veteran
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| In the triathlon training class that I took, I believe the person who came in to demonstrate a transition was not wearing socks and he said that instead of using socks, he lubes up his shoes... in all the blister prone areas so he can just slip them on his feet and not worry about drying his feet off enough to put socks on. Usually, without socks, you can step on a towel, quickly wipe off whatever dirt or sand, and slide your shoes right on... it probably is just a time advantage. |
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Elite
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 Silver member | I've gone sockless without problems on short bike courses, but the one time I did it for the run (and it was at a sprint, so only 5K), my time dropped quite a bit from what I expected due to blisters. So I would rather sacrifice the 20 seconds to put my socks on. And FWIW, I was talking to some other people after the race who I had beat on the bike, but who smoked me on the run, and they told me they have a friend who's done Kona and few other big races, and who always goes with socks for comfort. Of course, we were all BOP'ers, it might be different if you are in contention for hardware. |
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Expert
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Silver member | Second the hardware remark. I'm a sock fan. Though I never seem to get all the dirt and gunk off so I'm trying a different tack this week, sockless for bike, figuring my feet will dry out, gunk easier to come of and sockless on the bike it's not so blister prone. i'll probablyl Body Glide up the inside of the shoes to be cautious. Then for the run, slip on socks. I don't care if it's a 5K, I went sockless one time, and had even done the BG thing and it was awful. the 3.5 seconds it took to slip on the socks are de minimus for a BOPer like me  |
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Master
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| I never wear socks on the bike. I train that way, and I race that way. It speeds up my T1. Plus, my cycling shoes are very well vented, so they help dry out my feet while I am on the bike. When I get to T2 my feet are dry, and it makes it easier to get my socks on.
In T2 I always put on socks. I figure that the time I spend in T2 putting on socks is made up on the run because my feet do not bother me. My average time in T2 is 40-45 seconds, so I really don't think shaving 10-15 seconds by not putting on socks is really going to help with the bottom line.
Definitely practice putting on your socks and shoes. That practice will help speed up T2. |
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Champion
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Bronze member | sharp4850 - 2008-07-24 12:59 AM I would love to be able to go straight from swim to bike to run sockless, as it would quicken the transition, but I can't run sockless! For some reason my feet blister very easily. I found myself pulling on socks in T2 at my last sprint because the thought of blisters in the next week's run made me cringe But if you can pull it off, go for it! x2, I have weak feet I guess.... |
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Champion
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 Gold member | Big difference between sprints and olympics and longer distance races. The advantage is quicker transitions. In a sprint, 20 seconds can be a lot of time. It doesn't matter if you're competing for podium spots or not. Most people are there to get their fastest possible time, and transitions are part of that time. If you're just there to finish, do whatever will get you to that goal. In the end, you do this sport for your own reasons. Listen to the advice of others, but do whatever makes you happy and remember to enjoy the experience. |
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Location: Alabama
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| When I started running and doing tris I used to wear big tube/sweat socks. It never occured to me to wear anything else. Trying to put tube socks on wet feet killed a lot of time! I never liked going sockless becuase of the smell and becuase of blisters. I now use ankle socks that I can put on very quickly. ~Mike |
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Master
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Location: Chapel Hill, NC
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| For me, I can do a sprint without socks. And I won my AG by 7 seconds in one race, so that choice was worth it. I did get a bad blister on my heel, but I did not notice it until after the race, so it did not slow me down.
I have tried going sockless in Olympic races, but the blisters were killing me by mile 4 of the run, and that definitely did slow me down. Not worth saving a few seconds in T1. I had practiced a 4 mile sockless run in training and was okay - got blisters, but they didn't bug me till I stopped running. But those extra 2.2 miles made a huge difference.
I like the idea of lubing the inside of your shoes. I might try that idea.
Above all else, don't do anything in a race that you have not thoroughly practiced in training! |
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Master
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Bronze member | I use ankle socks, rolled up and ready in T1. I sweat too much not to. |
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Expert
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Silver member | My preference is no socks for sprint and Olympic, socks for HIM and IM. Generally is saves me about 10-15 seconds but I also make sure to practice running and biking w/out socks prior to actually doing it in a race. |
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Veteran
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| I have practiced running with out socks and now I rarely wear them at all. It took a little while for my feet to build up. The last race that I wore socks on they were soaking wet and I got a blister. Now I actually prefer running without the socks now... The shoes and feet are sinkier though. |
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Pro
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Silver member | No socks on bike, yes socks on run. I plan on working towards no socks on the run, but that will take time. I think on a HIM and IM I'd go with socks anyway, but for sprint and oly I want to work up to sockless running.
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Expert
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| I don't use socks on the bike or on the run for a sprint or oly. HIM and my upcoming IM I will put on socks in T2.
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Bronze member | I haven't worn socks on the bike since... 1990? Even when I was racing USCF, and socks were "required" per the racing rules, I never wore them (and never got called on it either). But running... It's really shoe-dependent. I prefer to not wear socks, and I am very careful about the shoes I buy to make sure that there aren't any seams that will cause blisters or overly rough collar material (something Nike really had going for a while). Mostly I can get away with no socks on the run, but I race Oly and shorter. I'd have to REALLY trust the shoes (and take them the distane in training) before I'd go sockless for a half-IM... Assuming I ever race that far. Shoe stank? Sure. But if YOU can smell them, you're DEFINITELY not going fast enough...
Edited by briderdt 2008-07-24 4:02 PM
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Master
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Location: Canton, Michigan
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Silver member | I'm a sweathog and wear socks for all bikes and runs in training or racing. I have a pair of Under Armor footies that work real well, but started trying Smartwool socks after reading Coredumps race report from IMCDA on how well they worked for him. They cost a few bucks but are worth it.
I find either ones great regardless on how wet your feet are and actually have raced some rainy events in the last two years where I changed socks in T2.
If you plan on trying sockless, try it in training and make sure it all works for you. |
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Veteran
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| Funny I stumbled upon this discussion. I am wearing a b lister the size of Texas on my right instep as a result of running w/o socks. I have just purchased a good pair of insoles and should have done that from the start. I am getting ready for my 1st oly August 9th and I hope these new insoles work because I hate trying to get socks on my wet feet. If I ever do a 1/2 IM or bigger I agree that I would probably go with socks because the way I see it, you are ot losing that much time putting them on. Good luck and be safe. |
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Pro
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| docswim24 - 2008-07-24 1:55 PM
My preference is no socks for sprint and Olympic, socks for HIM and IM. Generally is saves me about 10-15 seconds but I also make sure to practice running and biking w/out socks prior to actually doing it in a race.
+1 - although I don't practice without I just go for it. |
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Veteran
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Location: Medical Lake, WA
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| DerekL - 2008-07-24 5:02 AM Big difference between sprints and olympics and longer distance races. X2 Take a look at my RR from last Sat. to see the result of no socks at a 1/4 Iron race. The xtra 20 seconds in T2 would have saved me probably 3+ minutes on the run. Here's what my shoes looked like after the race w/ no socks.
 (bloody shoe2.jpg)
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 bloody shoe2.jpg (56KB - 12 downloads)
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Socks or No Socks?
