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The first time I ever saw socks with toes, I thought that they were the strangest things I’d ever seen. The last time I’d seen socks with toes, I was thanking God that I remembered to bring them for the event. Granted, the first toesocks that I ever laid my eyes upon were rainbow-striped and paired with flip-flops and the most recent pair was a set of compression toesocks that had just run with me through seven miles of military-inspired obstacles, but it’s still a heck of a change of heart.

I’ve been curious about the merits of compression athletic wear for some time now, and when I received a pair of Injinji’s Ex-Celerator toesocks, I was eager to see what all the hubbub was about. Utilizing AIS (Anatomical Interface System) technology with a graduated compression, the socks provide more compression at the ankle which gradually decreases as the sock moves up the calf, which facilitates blood flow from the feet back to the heart.

I’ve run the socks through a pretty tough gauntlet, culminating in Bear Valley’s Tough Mudder race, and the Ex-Celerators performed admirably. Injinji’s individual toesleeves are the brand’s most noticeable trait, and as a guy who gets a lot of blisters between my toes, the sleeves are a no-brainer. Despite the fact that my feet were soaked by about ten minutes into the three-hour event, my feet remained blister-free.

Also, the socks dried fairly quickly. There was no shortage of barely-thawed water in Bear Valley, and I ended up falling/jumping/slipping into water or mud every half hour or so, and the CoolMax, Lycra and Nylon material managed to dry out between each soaking. Here's a short clip of the first time I got soaked:

The race consisted of several ascents of black-diamond ski runs, which meant an exhausting amount of time chugging uphill on my toes. My calves should have been fried during the race, but the socks' graduated compression provided a consistent squeeze on my calves which left me feeling supported and surprisingly fresh throughout the race and really seemed to keep soreness at bay in the aftermath.

The Ex-Celerators enjoying a well-deserved rest.

At $38 a pair, these socks aren't cheap, but considering how good I felt in the days after the Tough Mudder, the Ex-Celerators felt like a steal. 

Give them a closer look over at Injinji.com.

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