Compression Socks, what's the go ? Part 1

Everyone's talking about them - compression socks.

Making an appearance for probably the first time in triathlon during the 2007 season, their use has become increasingly more common during races and training around the country.

So what's it all about? Well go grab a cuppa and get comfortable, YoYo's not afraid to try out the latest things, so naturally he has already 'done' compression socks (training AND racing).... so here's the low-down...

Let's take a step back for a minute and look at the evolution of equipment in this sport of ours.

Twenty years ago there were guys doing Kona on standard road bikes, 7 speed and no aerobars. Then the Scott Aerobar came along and revolutionised the sport of triathlon. Indeed it was triathlon that fed this technology to it's bigger brother in cycling/time trialling, not the other way.
I don't recall exactly who it was but it was either Lemond or Indurain who first utilised a set of aerobars in an ITT at the Tour d'France - yes, previously they would just ride their day to day road bikes ! Crazy, huh ?!?

When I first started doing triathlon in late 2001, the idea of riding steep was just filtering down into age group triathlon, and the concept of having a dedicated Time Trial/Triathlon bike in your quiver was the ultimate luxury and considered quite an excess.

These days, you're the odd one out if you DON'T have a TT bike to roll around on every once in a while, in addition to your normal training bike.
And as for aerobars, well, back in 2001 a bullhorn with barend lever setup was considered to be quite 'trick', whereas these days such a setup wouldn't even raise an eyebrow in fact, it would more likely be seen on a 'lower spec' bike.
It took a few years for the whole TT specific bike thing to catch on, just like it's taken a few years for the whole one-piece integrated TT bar setup to catch on and become the accepted 'norm'.

In 2005 I raced IM Western Australia. On the bike I wore an LAS Aero TT helmet, and subsequently copped a fair amount of grief from my coach and training partners for wearing such a weird looking "sperm hat".

Even as recent as then, not many age groupers were wearing TT helmets, maybe because they had not reached true mass production by the main manufacturers at that point, but it seemed alot of competitiors just couldn't get past the 'look' of a TT helmet, 'it makes you look like a tool' they'd say.

Then all of a sudden the majority of pro's at the majority of IM and HIM races around the world started rolling out of T1 with TT helmets on. Limar were the first to cotton on mass-production wise (at an affordable price), with Bell and Giro following suit.
Nowadays at any given IM race in the world, I'd estimate at least 60% of the field would have to be wearing TT helmets.

They have pretty much become course de'riguer.

In 2007 Australian Pro triathlete Pete Jacobs set tongues wagging at the Quelle Challenge Roth, when he placed 3rd and set the fastest run of the day (2:44), wearing knee-high compression running socks.

Now, these socks are nothing new, but rather just new to the masses, particularly the australian masses. Such socks have been used by American football, baseball and ice hockey players for some years, which is where I was originally exposed to them.

The use of similar types of socks has also been common in the elderley for some time, as well as frequent longhaul travellers, as an aid
to circulation in the lower legs.

Pete wore a pair of 'CEP' brand socks, however 'Skins' also make a compression sock, as do sportswear apparel giant 'Nike'.

Stay tuned for Part 2 - Anything could happen - The Results !!