When running in the rain, I seem to prefer light weight or thin socks. If I go thicker then I go with smart wool.

I like my balegas, but my feet get hot in them. I am sure if I had a thinner pair I would be happy with them in the rain.

I will sometimes slather on some aquafor, but I am not convinced it does anything.

Blistering may be a shoe fit issue too. I wear my shoes pretty loose, which you would think could cause rubbing. For me, I prefer some movement in the shoe vs them being tightly strapped to my foot.

All this to say, I think it’s pretty individual (although there are some best practices). I would experiment a bit. Run in the rain or step in a stream during training to test what works.

Rain is tough. Have you practiced by running in rain?

Heavy moisture in the shoes is a great way to start a blister. This can happen in heavy rain and it can happen on a hot day when you pour water on your head at every aid station.
There’s not much room in the forefoot of your shoes to allow your foot to breath or to swell. I say that because the insole of that shoe is 2mm thicker than standard and Nike did not adjust the fit accordingly. Personally I took the insole out and replaced it with a pair from a different Nike shoe to give my toes more space. Next you put a cushioned sock and a Balega. That particular sock is thicker than most thick socks.

In any race you do I’d suggest a thin sock instead of that thick shock. The thin sock won’t hold the water and your feet will have more room to breath and swell.

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Dave Jewell
Free Run Speed

properly fitting tight socks and running shoes.

It also helps to be actually running, and not shuffling. Ie. pulling back when you contact the ground instead of having your foot slide forward from hitting the brakes each step.

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

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Smartwool type socks are all that I use. I do a bunch of trail running where feet are always wet due to stream crossings/ect and no problems ever. also use my trail socks for swim run with no blister issues.

Second smart wool socks or feetures

I wear SLS3 compression socks for most races, and they are very tight, thin and wicking.

So - you don't get the sliding around of the socks, that tends to cause blisters, even when wet.

example: I wore these socks for SOS last year, and kept them on the whole time.
This included 4 runs sandwiched around 3 swims, so my feet, socks, and shoes were all as wet as humanly possible for the last 3 runs.
Zero blisters.

I own Balega socks (altho I don't wear them all that often anymore), and think those were probably the worst-case scenario for you for a wet day.

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float , hammer , and jog

Injinji toe socks. I've run for 10 hours in the rain with them and not a single blister. Maybe not the best option for transitions, they're not the fastest socks to get on. lol But they work!

For traditional socks, thin wool socks are better for wet conditions.

Train with wet shoes and socks on occasion. If that means running in the rain, going through streams rather than on a bridge, soak shoes with hose before running, etc.

As long as my shoes fit well, I don't get blisters when it's wet and I've run a 100 (one hundred) miler with wet shoes and socks and had no blisters. I don't think the socks matter much, I've had no problems with Swiftwick, Drymax, Stance or even cheaper Adidas and Nike socks.

My guess is that you either just have soft feet that need some conditioning to toughen them up or you have shoes that don't fit well and something is causing excess friction (sliding around or something rubbing).

As others have said, it is likely just toughening up your feet by running more. When I used to be a runner, it was almost impossible to get blisters because I ran all the time and my feet were pretty used to most shoe/sock/weather conditions.

These days, since I run only sparingly, each new run can bring on a host of discomfort!

vaseline, lots, around toes and any place else that can chafe or blister. With the the vaseline, my feet will slide around a bit more inside the shoes. I don't want to snug the shoes up too tight, so i put up with a bit of sliding. Better than trying to run with blisters.

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run well, run happy
george

Breathe


Autocorrect is making you look like an idiot

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Isn't vaso water-soluble? So rainwater would dissolve it? I forget

I think BodyGide is waterproof

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Properly prepared - and in the right mindset - running in the rain can be pretty fucking fun



As I posted on my old blog, many MANY years ago


YMMV

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

no, vaseline isn't water-soluble. (or if it is, it takes a very, very long time :-) vaseline is a poor person's body-glide. people used to say that it would eat/corrode/harm a wetsuit, but I have used it pretty frequently to reduce chafing from my wetsuit and not seen any deterioration in the suit.

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run well, run happy
george

Swiftwick socks have worked well for me in a few wet races and a ton of VERY sweaty workouts -- long runs on the Gulf Coast in midsummer, when you get as sweaty-wet as if a thunderstorm passed.

Apart from being lubes, Vaseline/Aquaphor have the added benefit of coating the skin and keeping the water from pruning your skin as much, because pruning skin is very prone to blistering or tearing. I don't use lubes often because I don't love the slippery feel. They're petroleum-based, not water soluble. I use a lot of baby powder on and in between my toes as a friction defense, which I prefer to the petroleum jellies. Baby powder works well in the rain, but not as well as the heavier lubes.

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<The Dew Abides>

Thanks & thanks. Like I said, I forgot

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin