Do you/ should you wear sneakers with or without? If without then how do you keep blisters away?

Definitely with. I don't want to stink up my sneaks!

Definitely with socks, preferably 100% cotton.

Ouch! In my experience, and from what I've read 100% cotton socks are the worst blister makers because they do not wick away moisture and the fibers offer more friction than synthetics and animal fibers like wool, angora, and silk.

I love the feel of cotton, so I like high percentage cotton blends. Even just a little bit of synthetic moisture-wicking material makes a huge difference.

Because I'm so heavy, and have always been prone to blisters, calluses, plantar's warts and plantar's fasciitis, I am very, very picky about my socks and shoes. Calluses are supposed to protect friction-prone spots, but I always seem to get blisters UNDER my calluses, or the calluses crack and bleed. By

Hubby introduced me to running shoes and cross-trainers with flexible soles, and breathable mesh fabric, and my feet have never been happier (or more callus free). My many generations of walking sneakers had great support, but the all-leather uppers made my feet sweat and blister easily.

I felt kind of weird and embarrassed buying running shoes at first (as if everyone in the store was thinking, "What does she think she needs running shoes for, who does she think she's kidding?")

But luckily, happy feet have a louder and more persuasive voice in my head than rude, imaginary onlookers.

Definitely WITH. made the mistake of popping on my sneakers w/out my socks yesterday to do the treadmill and have big raw spots on the back of my heels and the sides of my little toes that are going to take awhile to heal

I buy the nike socks that wick moisture. And always socks. I think sockless would cause some stinky foot oder!

I can't imagine wearing sneakers without socks. Why would you?

I can't imagine it either. It just seems like runners don't wear socks. I'm not a runner yet so I'm gearing myself up to be one. It looks like they don't wear socks.

Are you sure they don't wear low cut socks? There are some shoes designed specifically for not wearing socks but they are rare. My husband is a runner and wears socks.

I was (am?? hmmm) a runner, for about a year before getting pregnant. I have never seen runners with no socks. Often they do where the low cut ones. The furthest I was running was about 7 miles, and I would never want to do that kind of mileage with no socks. One, it would create some awful blisters, and two, the stink!! I used the moisture wick socks, like I said. No socks, even with the mesh shoes would mean huge moisure build up in your shoe. The moisure on your feet would increase the issue of blisters. Like if you ever run in the rain, you are more likely to get blisters if you feet are wet. Wet skin is not as "tough", if I was put it that way. The goal is too keep skin dry...

However I see a lot of runners on forums (women) go without undies. Do NOT wear cotton undies to run!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I used to feel weird without undies, so I bought a lite weight microfiber type undies, and it did not hold onto moisture, so they worked.
You'll be surprised the "stuff" that works for some time on the treadmill does not work for long runs.

No socks in my Vibrams!

Jen

Well I would imagine that would be hard to do socks with those!!!

Well I didn't know that's why I asked. I'm glad I'm not considered uncool for wearing socks. I wear ankle socks buy the di have to be tall enough to cover my heel all the way up to the ankle otherwise I get blisters back there.

Definitely socks! I also like for my sock to cover the back of my heel where my shoe hits, so I buy the low rise kind. That's a split between the kind you can't see, and the anklet version. And I only buy moisture wicking socks, no %100 cotton.

Blisters are caused from moisture and friction - hopefully you've got shoes that fit well to combat friction (get a larger size than you normally wear so your feet have room to swell, especially in the toe box). On longer runs, I put Vaseline on the balls of my feet and big toe (where I'm most likely to get blisters). It helps keep moisture away from my skin for a while.

On long hikes, I do the Vaseline and I will change my socks every 5 miles or so to try to keep my feet dry.

not to hijack, but you aren't supposed to wear underwear?! Why not cotton?