If we haven’t noticed, especially if you experience ACTUAL cold weather, it’s winter time. If you have been running outside in the elements or if you plan on starting your training program soon, it might be a good idea to purchase some running gloves to stay warm and prevent cold hands from preventing your PRs. Fear not! We are here to provide some good ideas for you to implement to help keep your body heat working and to keep a steady blood flow. Below we will speak on ideas like gloves and hot hands hand warmers along with other specifications you might need to consider.
Choosing the Right Gloves
You may be newer to an area that experiences elements like snow associated with winter. We often think any glove will do but there’s many factors to consider. When wearing gloves, we don’t want to go the route of cotton as this typically retains moisture and thus doesn’t keep your hands warm once they start to sweat.
That being said, if the temperatures are 32 degrees or above, you have a little bit more leeway to be able to wear more knit gloves from Nike or these lighter gloves from Asics.
However, if the cold air is blowing with temperatures below 32 degrees, we need to keep the hands warm while running while you move them back and forth as you run. You will want to go with something warmer like the Salomon RS Pro Windstopper Gloves or the Salomon RS Warm Gloves. When temperatures drop below 32, we run the risk of limiting blood flow to the extremities. This occurs as more of your body heat is being applied to the trunk and torso area.
With more extreme weather events like below freezing or subzero temperatures along with windchill, layers are key. You may consider using the knit gloves as a liner to absorb moisture while putting the Salomon’s on top to blow the wind and precipitation. This will create a layer between your gloves that can stay warm.
Regarding fingerless gloves, mittens, touchscreen capabilities, and anything else, these are all personal preferences. Clearly, when it is that bad outside, the last thing on your mind will be what should be the playlist you want to change it to. Let’s chat next about hand warmers.
Upping the Ante for Warm Hands Using Hand Warmers
Some people have circulation issues or simply it is THAT cold outside that we must add another option to keep our hands warm. HotHands hand warmers can really increase your comfort level with some lasting anywhere from 12 hours to 18 hours based on doing some investigation. These are considered chemical hand warmers and are air activated warmers. This creates a long-lasting heat you can carry with you on your run. You may even carry them at other events like hunting, fishing, and sporting events. You just simply give these a shake and stick them inside your pocket. Some gloves even have a dedicated pouch you can stick them in.
We hope this helps give you some ideas of how to keep those digits warm as you carve through trails and roads during the wintertime. If you’re looking for other ideas in regards to clothing to wear in the winter time, we suggest checking out our blog post on that here.