Friday, November 18, 2011

Flashback Friday: Sockemetrics

If this were a Harry Potter movie, you might say my newest minimalist footwear have become "saint-like." But according to Barefoot Josh, my first pair of running socks are now "properly seasoned."

After last night's frigid four-miler, I discovered a hole in the heal of my left sock. This particular pair has now endured 16 miles of running. At $12 per eight-pack ($1.50 per pair), these socks have offered a value of slightly more than 9 cents per mile before showing signs of deterioration.

What I'm wondering, though, is if you can parse some knowledge about your running form by looking at the wear pattern of a sock, as you supposedly can by looking at the wear pattern on the sole of a traditional running shoe. That is, does this hole in the heal mean I'm heal-striking too much? And since it formed only in the one sock, am I favoring one leg over the other?

As I continue to search for my "one best way of running," as Alberto Salazar once said, I seek any clue that might hint toward a tweak in form, balance or cadence. One thing I've notice about running in socks is that my feet have a tendency to slide a bit, basically emphasizing the need to "lift up" and not "push off" during each stride. It's almost like running in sand.

On a completely different note, I've been adding lightpole intervals to my last two runs. While it's too early to glean the results, my average pace this week has been about a minute faster on the same route compared to prior weeks. If anything, it's probably just consistency, but the improvement is nice to see.

Back Talk
Wherein you folks need to step up your collective game because certain commentators are hogging all the space here

Jamoosh needs a bit of a clarification about my piles of exclamations: "Would you say you squealed like a little girl at a Justin Bieber concert or squealed like a little girl who has just witnessed her older brother doing something gross?"

Answer: I'd say it was more like a little girl who just found her favorite doll dangling by a noose.

Happy Hour is nearly upon us, teammates! Have a finely brewed weekend. Run well and drink well. Cheers!

6 comments:

Carolina John said...

haha, oh that's not a fun squeal. Have a great weekend Viper!

Anonymous said...

Excellence in Back Talk today. Of course, I am probably biased...

C said...

I haven't seen the last two HP movies. Blasphemy, I know.

Since you're the King of Thrift, are you going to sew up the hole and keep running in that pair of socks? You know you want to, you cheap bastard.

Happy weekend!

B. Kramer said...

Clearly, Xenia didn't click the link. Of course, I'm going to keep running in this pair, but I'm not going to bother sewing them up. Cheers!

Kelly said...

Are you seeing a similar heel wear pattern on your Altras? A work mate is concerned about heel wear on his VFFs, but doesn't seem to have a problem with it otherwise.

Junk Miler said...

I wouldn't worry too much about the holy heel. That's where the sock is stretched the tightest, compromising structural integrity and stuff.

The holy development pattern changes with each sock for me. I think there are too many other factors to learn any valuable info re ones gait from holy observations.