I'm sitting in Starbucks waiting for my car to be inspected. I'm reading SparkPeople and thanking members who have kindly commented on my blogs and/or given me words of encouragement. It's becoming one of my favorite pastimes, and yet I'm not enjoying it as much as usual today. The reason?
My legs are cold.
It's winter in Virginia (mild compared to where many of you live, so please just bear with this southern weather wimp!) The outside temperature is 19* F. When I got dressed this morning, I knew I'd be sitting in Starbucks while I waited. I opened my sock drawer and looked at my choices. I started to grab long socks but then thought, "Oh, I'll be running later, so I'll just wear the short athletic ones. I don't feel like dirtying extra laundry."
What a mistake! Every time someone opens the Starbucks door, the cold air comes rushing in and I feel that 19-degree air on the little strip of bare skin between the end of my pants and the top of my socks. Oh, why oh why didn't I wear my long socks?
Enough self-pity, here. It's really not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. But it nudged me to think about passing along this helpful hint for those of you who hate to have cold feet in the wintertime. My absolute favorite socks in the whole wide world are called SmartWools. I learned of them years ago just before my first winter ultra trail race. The race was Holiday Lake 50K, and you run through 4 streams... well, 2 streams - but you run the 25K loop one direction and then turn around and run it back the other way. So - 4 stream crossings.
The weather was slated to be about 10 degrees at the start. I had never run in such cold before and was a little concerned about what would happen to my feet after getting them wet. The running shop dude told me about SmartWools. I never realized that wool retains heat even when wet. Wow, what a great revelation! So I bought a couple pair of SmartWool ankle socks and yes, he was right. The stream crossings actually felt good on my feet - like a quick dunk in an ice bath, and then my feet warmed right back up. It was downright refreshing.
A few years later, I was at Dick's Sporting Goods and I discovered SmartWool ski socks and DRESS socks! Wow! So now we've all got SmartWools that are knee-length and mid-calf length. My kids wear them for marching band competitions in the Fall because that's one thing I remember being miserable about my own marching band experience - my cold feet.
Thanks to SmartWools, my family and I no longer have cold feet or legs... at least, as long as we wisely remember to put on the proper length sock for the activities of the day. The socks are quite expensive, so I generally buy them when I've got a good coupon at Dick's. SmartWools for a family of 5 can add up. Take good care not to lose them. Ours last for years and years. The athletic ones last me hundreds - maybe thousands - of running miles before finally becoming threadbare in the heel.
If you are interested in looking for SmartWools for yourself, go to Amazon and put it in the search bar. You'll see all kinds of socks in all kinds of lengths for all kinds of activities. Here are two direct links to the ones that we like to wear to church (and also on a daily basis) in the wintertime.
SmartWool Women's Cable socks
SmartWool Men's Dress Socks
Wow, I've never searched Amazon for these before. I just learned they have a whole lot MORE than socks... glove liners, long underwear, regular underwear, hats, balaclava, shirts, neck gaiters... oh my! I feel like I just found a treasure trove of snuggly goodness! Stay warm, everyone!
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