Will be doing Wildflower Long Course and I’ll need every short cut to break 5 hours.
To this end - is it worth the ~30 seconds to put on socks for a 1/2 Ironman? For an Olympic?
Why do you need 30 sec to put socks on. Rub them inside with some body glide and practice putting them on. Even with wet feet you shouldn’t need so much time.
Putting socks on (quickly) could cost 15 seconds. A blister that alters your stride or stops you all together will cost a lot more.
I don’t think I have ever worn socks in Oly (haven’t done one in years), but always in a half. Best of luck on breaking 5!
You can also roll them then you just roll them onto your feet. I would say it depends on if you’re usually getting blisters or not when you don’t wear socks. See Emilios’s rule number one, don’t do something in a race you haven’t done it in training.
Will be doing Wildflower Long Course and I’ll need every short cut to break 5 hours.
To this end - is it worth the ~30 seconds to put on socks for a 1/2 Ironman? For an Olympic?
1/2 Iroman…yes for the run only
Olympic…no for both but you have to have a pair of shoes that you know you can run sockless. If unsure it only takes me about 15 seconds to put on socks.
If you put on socks and come in at 5:00:29 we’ll give you a pass 
Yes on socks for Oly and 70.3 (for the run, not the bike), for me. I’d say it takes me under 10 seconds (more like 5) to get both socks on… I accordion them up and rest each one on top of the corresponding shoe opening. I put body glide on my heels, around toes, etc before the swim. Needless to say, I do bungee laces instead of regular ones on the shoes to help that next part go quickly as well. Now, this is assuming little short socks – not compression socks, which would for sure take a lot longer.
My advice would be to test your racing shoes barefoot for various distances, and if it at possible to test them soaking wet. When you race, assuming it’s hot, you’ll dump ice and water all over yourself and they will get very wet.
Going barefoot, I’ve had horrific blisters that sidelined me for two weeks and no blisters at all, with the same setup only different shoes. I’ve also worn socks and developed crippling blisters, because the wetness changed the dynamic relative to my everyday runs. YMMV
cant comment on 70.3, but oly’s I have never worn socks. as mentioned you really need to test your shoes, preferably after a bike session. you’ll know within 15 minutes or so if shoes will give you a blister or not, at least that has been my experience.
70.3 - Socks on the run… always.
Oly - Yes and no. Actually debating on wearing socks or not for St. Anthony’s this weekend. Last year I was an idiot, and didn’t train w/o socks, and went sockless for the run. It destroyed my run and my feet were shredded… cost me a PR. Went to Medical after race and poured blood out of both shoes. I have trained a little w/o socks this year but probably not enough to warrant it. I may… MAY… put KT tape on my heels and pray it works. But right now… I’m wearing socks. All that being said… I’ve done plenty of Olys w/o socks and have been fine.
yes for bike and run. It doesn’t take me that long to put them on
I must be in the minority here, I never wear socks on any distance, sprint all the way through full IM. But I had issues with my feet that went away when I went sockless.
Out of curiosity… what issues went away went away when you went sockless?
Will be doing Wildflower Long Course and I’ll need every short cut to break 5 hours.
To this end - is it worth the ~30 seconds to put on socks for a 1/2 Ironman? For an Olympic?
You are doing something horribly wrong if it takes you 30 seconds to put on socks. I always race in socks (run only). Pre-race I will put the socks on my feet and roll them down like a condom, and put them just sitting on my shoe. When I get to T2 I run in barefoot, toe goes into the sock and I just roll it up. Takes me less than 5 seconds total.
I have come into T2 with a group of guys, none of which put on socks but I did, and left T2 with them.
Done right it shouldn’t cost you anything at all.
It was counter intuitive but when I first started running every time I would go over 3 miles I would have pain in my feet similar to Morton’s Neuroma, I tried all the tricks for that and it just would not go away. One day I just went for a run with no socks, and I never had the pain. Never wore socks again since. I will say I am very careful on the shoes I buy now to make sure the seams in the shoes do not hit my foot in a place that would irritate.
Interesting… glad it all worked out for you.
For myself personally, 1/2 yes, olympic no. It only takes me about 15 seconds to get my socks on (I only wear them for the run btw). In an Olympic that’s 15 seconds that I’m just not going to be able to pick up “because of” the socks. In a 70.3 the extra bit of comfort for me = lower RPE = I should be able to pick up more than 15 seconds on the run by pushing a touch harder. YMMV
nothing new on race day
if you’re going to go sockless on the 70.3, make sure you run sockless as much as possible during training.
Not for an olympic, but yes for a 70.3. Seems to be the breaking point for enough blistering to screw up training a bit.
Depends on the shoes… when I was wearing the old Newton Gravity’s, I went sockless 100% of the time, training and racing all the way up to IM. I still race Sprint & Olympic sockless in Newton racers, but the Brooks I wear for longer distances (HIM & IM) destroy my feet if I try and go sockless. I just fold the socks in half and they pop right on, it literally takes under 10 seconds total to put both socks on. Long story short, train the way you want to race to test it.
For me - I never wear socks in short course races (sprints and olys) but always for 70.3 and IM.