Latest Blog Update
Proclamation of Love
I must confess, I’ve had quite the affair the last couple months. It started with my across the world trip to Albania, continued across different time zones from Island Time to the East Coast, weekend to weekend, now it’s come to the point where I need my fix almost every day. You see, I’ve always been a cotton sock kind of guy. It didn’t matter the conditions. I guess you could say it was somewhat…unconditional love. I was in a way, married to them. I loved the touch, the feel of cotton when I was training, when I was racing, and for everyday hanging out.
Until September that is. That’s when I was introduced to Swiftwick. A sales rep came into the shop, brand new cadet cap with the Swiftwick logo smartly placed in an ever so hip position, touting the latest and greatest in sock technology. Jenny, our soft goods buyer, was talking to him and mentioned that I should get a pair. So I sauntered over, checked em out, and said “sure, I’ll test them out in my next race”. He didn’t know my next race was going to be the World Mtn Running Championships. They were the Swiftwick Aspire One sock.
When I put them on for that race it was like the sock became one with my foot. It was snug enough not to slip around, but not too tight to cut circulation off. It was perfect. But I still needed to see how they performed in a race. Needless to say, they performed amazingly well in conditions that would test any sock on the market. It was hot, it was technical, it was dirty and dusty. I was soaking wet and muddy and I never even noticed the socks. Were these the best socks ever or just a fluke?
I’ve continued to test the Swiftwick sock line out from the wool Pursuit line to the high performance no seam Aspire line. They are all amazing socks but for racing I still prefer the tight fitting no-seam Aspire One’s. They’re thin, don’t move a millimeter even in technical terrain, and the Olefin fibers wick moisture better than anything I’ve ever had on my feet. It’s all I race in now and all I train in.
At this point I even have a hard time going back to the old cotton standby for every day use as well…so I usually don’t. It’s only when I’m out of clean Swiftwicks that I revert to that old soggy cotton. Try em out. You’ll love them. Best… sock… ever!
