Socks

I have a sock problem. You would know it by taking a look at my sock drawer. I have a problem getting rid of them too. My favorite running socks have now all got holes in them, but when I tried to replace them, the replacements sucked. The last few weeks my big toe has been getting blisters from rubbing against the toe next to it (this is new, and weird) so I've moved back over to toe socks. So now I need to invest in toe socks.

But today my mission was arm warmers and steak. I'm running a marathon in Sacramento on Sunday and it'll be around 41 at the starting line...probably around 50 by the time I finish. I will be running in shorts and most likely a tank top. This is why I can't live anywhere cold. I'm slower in pants (for real) and I can't stand material in my armpits when I work out. Of course for a lot of cold weather training runs (and on rare occasions, a race) I do wear long sleeves. I get cold easily, I have Raynaud's, I really do need to keep myself warm. But everything warm is uncomfortable to work out in. A mile or two into a run, I wish I wasn't wearing sleeves. And it's too cold to take my shirt off (sometimes my belly is red from the cold when I get home, even though I had a shirt on).

Anyway, so I decided I need to get arm warmers for this race... and I've been craving steak for days.

Let me just say, I've worn arm warmers for cycling and I hate them and love them. I love them because they work: they're warm, easy to take off, and easy to stow in a pocket. You can take them off with your teeth while riding (I still can't ride with no hands). I hate them because of my left arm that is usually very sensitive to having something wrapped around it. You'll have to look back to 2009 in this blog for the whole story, but for a short recap- my collar bone and first rib crushed the vein in my arm and caused a blood clot from my elbow to my collarbone. The rib was removed and a portion of the vein was grafted from my leg to my shoulder. The problem is, veins harden after having a big huge clot in them for months (most likely years) at a time. I don't think it was practical for the surgeons to replace 12-14 inches of vein.

It's completely functional now but minor swelling does occur on occasion and then just passes. But sleeves...sleeves will most likely never be comfortable for me again. Or bras. But I live in a world where I occasionally have to wear both or at least one. I like loose sleeves. Those are ok. Lightly fitted ones feel restrictive and make me very agitated. It's crazy.

But I can't run in 40 degree weather in shorts and a tank top. My body is not built for that (Google Raynaud's). So arm-warmers.

They make commercial arm warmers, which is what I was looking for. Target didn't have them. Road Runner Sports said they'll likely get them in the next few days. Sports Basement pointed me to cycling sleeves (which I own). I will most likely ditch these things partway through the race, so I don't want to pay $40 for them. I want a cheap pair. A few bucks that are fine to toss to the side of the road and never see again. The guy at Sports Basement suggested I just make a pair with socks.

So I went to Marshall's for socks (after buying steaks at Trader Joe's). Really I was only supposed to buy one or two pair. But apparently I love socks. So many cute, soft, pretty, awesome socks. Seven pair. I do not intend on making all of them into arm-warmers, but maybe a few. Since I'll most likely be tossing the first pair, I'm going with the no-sew option. If I end up liking them, I might do a couple with some actual effort.

These might not look like much, but let me tell you why I love each and every one of these pair (there were literally hundreds of pairs that wanted to go home with me today).

First of all, who doesn't just absolutely love polar bears?

 

The blue pair is like a sweater (think I'll use this pair for the race this weekend).

The middle knee high has an amazing texture that will probably look super cute on either my arms or my legs.



And the two on the right are just incredibly soft.



It breaks my heart to cut holes in any of them, but it also excites me to think some of them will be given new life as amazing arm warmers. I kinda miss the days when I would wear knee high socks with boxer shorts. I'm wondering if, at this age (35), I can run around in shorts and knee-highs. I'm not much of a skirt person so that whole cute skirt and knee-highs wouldn't really do it for me.


So here is race day arm warmers! All I did was cut the tip of the toe off.

Not too bad for a 30 second job. And they are not highly uncomfortable. There is the little heel that is unimpressive.

But, they are warm. Merino wool. Made in Italy.

I will also have gloves that I will toss, probably 3-4 miles into the run. They are also cheapies- from Target. And they have some holes in them. I bought some replacements for future runs. The little 3 for $9 pairs. I will probably also wear the liner pair I have underneath them, that also has a hole in one of the fingers.

When I ran Boston, I bought a whole pre-race outfit at a thrift shop. Before the start, you ditch your clothes into special areas to be donated to charity. Maybe some lucky person will find my holey gloves and sexy arm warmers and be a little warmer this winter.

Yes, people really do run like this.