Running Mania

Evening all,

I'm a person who's fingers and toes get really cold in Winter, and I've not been able to find the right gloves and socks for running. Do any of you have suggestions for gloves and socks that are really good for high negative temperatures?

Please advise

I have a couple pairs of Tek Organic merino wool socks. They have worked for me well into -30WC conditions. Pair those with GTX or Climate Shield trail shoes to keep the snow and wind out, and I do pretty well.

However, my hands get cold long before my feet do. These days, I'm forced to start wearing light gloves as high as +5C. A pair of wind shell mittens over top of silk glove liners used to work in the coldest parts of winter until a few years ago. Last year my wife bought me a pair of battery powered heated gloves with variable power settings. 50% setting is good for my hands down to -15C and lets the charge last for a few days' worth of runs. 100% setting will keep my hands tolerable for a hour in -30WC.

I agree about the merino wool socks.
For my hands, I wear cheap stretchy gloves, then over them a pair of lined mitts/finger gloves that you can flip half of them over when your hands get too hot. If it's really cold and windy then I'll also bring my jacket cuffs over top and run with my hands tucked up in there.
I'm usually good to the -30's.

Gloves: plan for two layers. On the inside, I have a bright yellow pair of thermal work gloves, such as can be found at a store like Mark's. On the outside, I have a thin pair of shell mittens from the Running Room or a thick pair of "Hot Paws" mittens which I got at Walmart. Occasionally, I've even used all three layers together (down to -50 WC).

Socks: either wear two layers or go with a very thick pair and keep your shoelaces looser than usual.

Put on all your running gear at least five minutes before you head outside so that you start out warm.

Icebreaker "hiking" socks on the feet. They are thicker and taller than the regular socks. I am still struggling with my hands these days. I never used to have issues keeping them warm. I have so many different gloves and mitts in my collection now but nothing works when it gets really cold.

Just bought 3 pairs that are 75% Merino wool/25% polyester - love them !

I love the Defeet woolie socks, but I do find that they get holes in them relatively quickly (with that said, all of my socks get holes in them, so maybe it's me... I've just recently started with the darn tough socks, which are *guaranteed* not to get holes.... we'll see if they can withstand me...).

And yes layers on the hands! When I lived in Edmonton I would wear a glove layer with a mitt layer over top. You can change layers as necessary. Some people will use hand warmers between layers too.