18th May: Kit

Us runners can get easily excited about the smallest things… The CTS Pembrokeshire marathon trashed my final surviving pair of Trekmates socks that I have been running in since I started on this odyssey - purely using these because they were a pack of 3 good quality hiking socks I had acquired to walk up mountains, and my Scots blood forces me to make use of what I have before spending on a replacement. As a consequence I have now been faced with a dilemma in the form of acquiring some new ones... Whoop-te-effing-do I hear you sigh, but it seems that sock choice is pretty important for us who hurl ourselves up and down hills of varying sizes just for fun.

For the first time in my life I've gone for some proper running socks... You can tell just how proper they are by the fact they have an L an an R written on them so you get them on the correct foot... It seems that gone are the days when I were a lad growing up and you just put on a pair of tatty old footy socks to go for a muddy run and were done with it. Times have a changed and it seems socks are more than just an acrylic tube to cover your feet. My eyes have now been opened to the plethora, nay the miasma of socks designed purely for the purpose of running.

As you start you trawl for them, questions just leap out at you: Do you go for double lined or single, wool or acrylic, long or short, even what kind of running are they for, pavement, trail or fell, do they need to be waterproof or not?.. It seems you need to have a very specific idea for what purpose before purchasing.

The core of my running is 'trail' so I looked at socks specifically for this and I prefer something with a not of length, so they touch the base if your calf at least - after all you don't want ticks chowing down on your ankles! I certainly did not want waterproof as they would hold any water in rather than draining away or wicking it.

The experience of others is a great pointer when looking at kit, and previously I have been recommended by Luke Carter to give Ashmei socks a try. When recommending he did insert the caveat that they are not cheap and to buy them as a 3 pack to reduce the unit price. He also mentioned that he has been using them for a while and found them fantastic and had not suffered from any blistering at all and they have been terrifically hard wearing.

Looking at my trail shoes of choice, More Mile are the manufacturer, so I thought I would look at their wares, knowing that Pini likes their sock offering.

So I have made a decision and purchased 3 pairs each of Ashmei trail running socks and More Mile Montana fell & trail running socks - with the cheaper More Miles to be used for general running & 10k’s and the Ashmei’s for marathons and ultras... Exciting all this sock talk innit!

More Mile Montana.

Ashmei Trail Running socks.

Mentioning the 'u' word I have sorted out some more kit for the looming Classic Quarter Ultramarathon in the form of a different Camelbak pack. This time I have gone for an Octane 18X. This is a size-up from my current Octane XCT, so as well as having a larger stowage capacity for clothing and food, it retains the zipped pockets on the waist band that are so handy for race fuel, the emergency whistle and the pocket on the shoulder strap that I use for my camera… Rather than paying for a new one I managed to snag one off eBay at the third time of trying as it is not something that wears out! As well as ultras, I also intend on using the pack for the round Isle of Wight ride I’m undertaking a matter of two weeks after my debut 'u'.

Camelbak Octane 18X

I’ve also entered myself in to the inaugural running of the VE3K challenge in the fag-end of September, which is an ultra running up and down all 4 of the peaks over 3,000ft high in England. In anticipation of this I have splurged on a proper waterproof lightweight breathable jacket for this and all other forthcoming winter runs when my black Regatta jacket expires… What I have opted for is the Montane Atomic:

So there's been a little updating to my kit list, although I will not be putting them on the tab at the top of the blog just yet until I have used them - as they are only to feature once I have used and approved of them all.