The Love of Your Leg: Injinji’s Ex-Celerator Performance Toesock

The new rage in sock wear is compression, helping your lower legs circulate valuable bodily fluids up and away versus making your foot a storage jug. Injinji leaps to the front of the field with their entry, the Ex-Celerator Performance Toesocks.Simply stated, there’s none better. Why? Well, what about a sock that helps you race AND recover? By stimulating circulation with their graduated compression, your lower leg doesn’t gather fluids, reducing swelling and muscle exhaustion , a double duo solution.

Fast or slow on snow or dirt trails, you know that feeling where legs are heavy and won’t move. And that is just the start line. . . .

In traditional Injinji style, each of those little tootsies at the end of your foot has their own pillow wrapping them individually, protecting them, cuddling them — what the company calls a five-toe-sleeve. And your toes show their appreciation for that by not burning  or creating crippling pain that hobbles your race.

Wearing them in prerace test sessions and then in the Wild Duluth 100 km trail endurance race, an event sure to challenge every body part God ever conceived, I can tell you they work and work good. Climbing and descending, descending and climbing — seemingly there are no flat sections of this race though they tell me there are — the socks stayed firmly in place, never slipping a fraction except when an errant branch reached out and tried to rip them off. I pulled the attacked sock right back up, and it never moved again. If you have ever had socks slip down your calf, you know how comforting that security is.

Swelling was nonexistent during or after the race. My lovely spouse made me remove them before bed, not that they needed washing or anything after that grueling Superior dirt, but it gave me a chance to get them freshened up in order to wake up and wear them again to help recovery and protect against soreness.

Injinji calls it DOMS — Delayed Onset Muscle Soresness — a condition the Ex-Celerator attacks through its four level gradual compression from the ankle up. Even the arch gets in the game with a 3 Ply layout that further helps in circulation and assists in keeping everything in place along with a non-slip heel, too.

And check this out: these are stylish, well designed footwear that look good in casual and dress clothing, too. Cross your legs, and none of that leg flesh flashes the masses, as these socks extend right to the knee joint. CoolMax FreshFX material wicks and helps reduce foot stinky, something your trail friends will be forever grateful you’ve (finally) reduced.

You say you never gather fluids in your foot outside of the trail? I take it you’ve never flown in one of those winged contraptions they call aeroplanes, either. The fact is as one ages, and remember that’s not a bad thing — you aren’t aging, you aren’t running on snow or dirt — standing upright gives even more opportunity for liquids to gather in your lower legs. Sitting in a chair or airplane seat does the same. These socks will solve your problem.

Check this out: The American Podiatric Medical Association awarded this product with its Seal of Acceptance, an honor recognizing the benefits the Ex-Celerator Performance Toesocks provides to consumers and podiatrists.

How will your feet reward you? From the long promise Injinji has made, and performed, you can count toe blisters and hot spots as a thing of the past.So now Injinji has solved lower leg soreness and pain. How can they help us further? By developing a sock-type band that will fit around the quads and hamstrings that will reduce their soreness, too. After the Wild Duluth trail endurance events, a competitor could use that help.

Available in black or white. $38 (and worth every penny)

Where to buy: go to www.injinji.com and check the store locator. In and around most towns, there will be a retailer for their products. Otherwise, you can buy them directly from the company.

write phillipgary@snowshoemag.com

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About Phillip Gary Smith

Phillip Gary Smith, Senior Editor, published "The 300-Mile Man" about Roberto Marron's historic doubling of the Tuscobia 150 mile endurance snow run. He publishes "iHarmonizing Competition" on various forms of competition, including drag racing, his favorite motorsport. Earlier, he wrote "HARMONIZING: Keys to Living in the Song of Life" as a manual for life with chapters such as Winning by Losing, Can God Pay Your Visa Bill?, and a young classic story, The Year I Met a Christmas Angel. His book, "Ultra Superior," is the first written on the Superior Trail ultra-distance events. He mixes writing with his profession--the venture capital world--a dying art. He is a creator of CUBE Speakers, a group espousing themes in "HARMONIZING: Keys" in a unique way. Currently, he has two books in the works. Write to him at Phillip@ultrasuperior.com, or find him on Twitter or Facebook @iHarmonizing.