I have to admit of all the running essentials that I love to try out, the one I pay the least attention to are my socks. Of course, I wear compression a lot when I run but if you go look in my sock drawer right now you will notice a ton of mismatched, various brands and odd color socks. I’ve just always ended up choosing the cheapest socks and then using them until holes start to form. Then, throwing them away.
About a month ago I tried out Injinji for the first time.
I remember the “toe sock” craze back when I was in high school but until now I have never tried out or even seen a “toe” running sock. I was skeptical at first because to me it seemed a little over the top.
Here is some background information on Injinji as a company:
“Performing since 1999, Injinji is a sock company dedicated to the health and performance of feet. We believe that Injinji socks can truly benefit people in every athletic pursuit and make the journey of life a bit more comfortable for everyone. For us, starting from the ground up just makes sense since our feet play such a vital role in almost everything we do.”
I agree 100% that your feet are so vital, especially to running. You have to take care of the things that can effect your running the most. I know the smallest blister or issue with my feet can cause pain, discomfort and make my running unenjoyable.
Let’s start off with why did they pick the toe sock.
As they state on their website, the 5 toe sleeve design and superior fiber construction provides:
- Proper Toe Alignment (makes for healthier happier feet)
- Superior Moisture Management (drier and less smelly feet)
- Better posture, better balance (you get full use of your toes!)
- Blister and hotspot protection (relieve some of that foot pain)
- Tactile feel (enabling natural feel and movement in any shoe)
It seemed to me they had a legitimate argument so I decided to try them out for myself.
I’m not sure I could ever quite get into wearing toe socks everyday. I don’t know if it is because I have an oddly small pinky toe but I struggled to get them on at first. Check out my duck feet below!
However, according to Injinji this is a common frustration by their users.
“It will take a few extra seconds to properly fit your Injiniji Toe sock onto your foot. Right out of the package, the toe compartments are flat and have yet to form to your particular toe shape. Once you have worn and washed your socks once or twice you will find that the sock material has a memory and your toes will slide into the pockets with relative ease. Make sure you “set” your toes into their individual sleeves before you pull the sock over your heal.”
I have worn the socks in total probably 10-12 times and while I have noticed it got easier to put them on, I don’t think they are at the point where they “slide on with relative ease.” It’s not a deal breaker just an inconvenience on some days.
I tried out the Injinji Trail 2.0 Midweight Mini-Crew. I normally prefer socks that come down lower on my feet so if I were to wear these every day for running I would invest in their Run 2.0 Midweight No-Show sock. That is completely personal preference.
The Injinji 2.0 Trail sock is a mid-weight sock with mid-foot and heal padding. I think this is one of the reasons they are so incredibly comfortable. The slight addition of the padding allows your foot to sit much more comfortable in the shoe.
I also noticed that the sock adjusts easily to any shoe you choose to wear.
One of the standouts with Injini socks is the COOLMAX fabric. The basic idea behind the COOLMAX fabric is that it keeps the moisture away from your foot keeping them cool and dry.
When you first feel the sock itself it is thick. Much more so than the normal socks I choose to run in. I automatically assumed before trying them out that my feet would be hot and uncomfortable throughout the run. To really test out the COOLMAX fabric I wore them on an indoor treadmill run. I figured wearing them in sub-zero temperatures would not be the best test.
To my surprise my feet never got warm, stuffy or cramped. I barely noticed the socks and if it weren’t for the fact that I was purposely paying attention to them for the review I wouldn’t have even remembered. To me that is a sign of a good running sock. You want to forget they are even there. Watch out…duck feet again.
The pair I tried out are technically “trail” socks so one day while I was babysitting I took them out for an hour walk to see how they would perform. They kept my feet incredibly warm and were very comfortable when walking around. I was also wearing them in snow boots instead of my typical running shoes to avoid slipping.
They never irritated my feet or got too hot. I have worn wool socks before in the snow and even though they keep my feet very warm, often times it would get too hot and uncomfortable. I never had this probably while wearing Injinji.
If you are looking for a good, fun and alternative sock then Injinji socks are for you! It works great for running, hiking, or just out walking. They passed all the tests with flying colors and I will continue to wear them throughout my training.
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Want to try these!
They are awesome! You should give them a try 🙂
I got these for my brother when he used to wear Fivefinger shoes. He would blister pretty badly, and I think the socks helped a bit.
I have never had a problem with blisters when I wore them! They are great.
We have them in our store, but I guess I always thought they looked so goofy, that I couldn’t do it. I might give them a try!
I thought the same thing before trying them out! Let me know if you do 🙂
I LOVE Injinji socks. I was never “into them” until I kept getting blisters on the tip of my second toe and losing my toe nail. I LOVE THEM NOW. I don’t get blisters any more and haven’t lost a toe nail since I started wearing them. I like the “no show” ones. They are super easy to get on. I also have a pair of the compression Injinjis. LOVE THESE too.
Really appreciate your honest and fun review! 🙂
I would assume these are best suited for things like the Vibram Five-Fingers shoes … I never liked the feel of those so I didn’t buy them.
I am so lazy dressing to go running, putting on compression socks is already a hassle (not to mention all of my sub-zero layers!) … I couldn’t see myself making use of these much. But that is just me.
Haha yeah I had that trouble as well. I am a little too lazy sometimes to take the time to put them on!
This is quite a common misnomer about toe socks. Injinji Toe Socks can be worn for any activity and with any type of shoe. I have never worn the Trail Sock but the “no show” sock is VERY easy to get on. Remember don’t put them in the dryer. If you are this could be part of the reason you are “struggling” to put them on. 🙂
Thanks for the info – I really didn’t know. Why would you wear them in general instead of standard socks?
It is funny – I am definitely very careful with laundry and my running clothes … probably more than my work clothes! 🙂
Well as Sara stated in her review Injinji can offer you the following:
Proper Toe Alignment (makes for healthier happier feet)
Superior Moisture Management (drier and less smelly feet)
Better posture, better balance (you get full use of your toes!)
Blister and hotspot protection (relieve some of that foot pain)-
Tactile feel (enabling natural feel and movement in any shoe)
The Blister protection was a BIG one for me. I used to get a blister on my second toe when running more than 13ish miles. And then of course the toe nail would fall off. But since using the Injinji toe socks I haven’t had this issue at all. I just ran Houston Marathon in them and didn’t get 1 blister. GASP!!!!!! That is like unheard of!!!!!!!
And I agree on the “careful with running clothes” I treat them as if they are “Fragile”. 🙂
Thank you for this! That may have been the problem!
Thanks again – honestly when I see ‘the company says’, I really read ‘blah, blah, blah’ 😉 I mean, most fitness companies play pretty loose with the truth in their ‘sponsored research (see Mizuno’s recent stuff), so why would I trust their actual PR?
So it really comes to personal experiences such as yours that make the difference. I don’t tend to blister too badly, and have only ever lost one toenail … but for people (like you) who DO deal with it … these must be a great thing!
Thanks for the perspective – as I always say, sometimes the comments are the greatest things on blog posts!
That very well could have been the problem! I usually try not to dry them but sometimes certain items will slip in.