Last year, just before Ironman Coeur d’Alene, the clasp on my Ironman necklace broke. In a frenzy, I had to rush to get it fixed before my race because having that necklace is one of my various superstitions around Ironman events.  Another has to do with my socks. I’ve worn the same multi-colored flower socks for all five of my Ironman events. I have one pair for the bike and another for the run. More accurately, I had one pair for the bike and another for the run. Last night, I discovered a hole in the heel of one of my socks – one of my lucky socks. Shame on me for wearing them so much. I should have saved them for my races. What do I do now?

I immediately got online and searched the Sock Guy website for my lucky socks. My first Ironman was in 2008, so they are at least seven years old. I figured the odds of finding the same socks were slim, but I had to look anyway. Of course, they weren’t on the Sock Guy website. So then what? I did what any reasonable triathlete would do: I took a picture of the sock and emailed the Sock Guy, explained my crisis, and asked them to please check to see if they have a stash of my lucky socks somewhere. Now I wait to see what I hear back.

I also sent a text to Jeanie.  “Oh no! There’s a hole in one of my pairs of lucky race socks!” She and I have discussed my lucky socks before, so she responded calmly with her wisdom. “Sounds like it is time. Time to break in a new good luck race sock!” She then suggested I wash the old pairs with new ones to rub the luck off the old and onto the new. That was actually quite a brilliant suggestion.

If I’m not able to locate my lucky socks, I might quit wearing them in the meantime and just race in them in June with a hole. Or I might buy a new set of matching pairs and do what Jeanie suggested to transfer my good luck. But I really want my lucky socks. I need my lucky socks. If you see a pair (or two or four) of my lucky socks somewhere, would you please let me know? I’d be forever grateful.