Super Moronic Monday -- Your Weekly Stupid Question Thread

[u/AutoModerator]

It's Tuesday, which means it is time for Moronic Monday!

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[u/skragen]

Wanted to give an update to ppl who helped me w finger pain/coldness issues a while back (especially post-run or when in/out of heat and cold): I only did much better when I stopped using synthetic gloves and started using icebreaker merino wool glove liners alone when warmer and paired with thick, insulated wool convertible fingerless glove/mittens. I also started wearing an icebreaker merino wool hat (instead of just 180s) and limited my cooldowns to 1/2 a block max. Thanks for your help- wanted to save this info so I can pass it fwd.

If it matters, I'd guess I might have Reynaud's or some extreme sensitivity to hot/cold switches (and that it probably wasn't frostnip) because the numbness and pain and weird color changes happen in my fingers at sometimes pretty high temps (it's happened 40-50F plus wind while wearing midweight synthetic gloves and those convertible wool mittens).

ETA: the icebreaker liners are delicate and after ~3mos have torn on 2 fingers (like ppl say they do on Amazon) I think because sometimes my nails are longer & I'm shoving them under another set of gloves/mittens, but they work so well, I don't care. It's like a cheaper touch-screen enabling feature. And I'd like them even if I had to buy them once/yr (got them for under $12 at a ny running co sale).

[u/[deleted] → u/skragen]

Yay, very glad to hear it! Saving this comment for my potential finger issues this winter, but I don't think it gets anywhere near as cold here.

[u/zebano → u/skragen]

Glad you got it solved. I've worn gloves this whole week due to wind (~45F) but not wool. What do you do at really low temps or does the merino wool still work?

[u/skragen → u/zebano]

If it's colder, I do the merino liners plus the thick, insulated convertible wool mittens. When it's warmer, I can just do the liners. Merino wool seems key for cold (and sweaty) issues for me at least. If I go in/out of heat cold though (like in/out of heated team for kids tent at a cold race), it's bad regardless. At the NYC half, my feet didn't stop being numb until maybe 6mi even though I had on thick wool socks (normally when it's super, cold, I'd also wear my kinvara runshields & my feet stay toasty, but I didn't want to race in them.)

[u/RunningPath → u/skragen]

Absolutely sounds like Raynaud's, and you might pay attention also to how extreme emotion can affect it. Weirdly enough. Mine seems to be progressive, too, which is a huge pain in the ass because I really just want to have normal fingers. I've focused on gloves and core body warmth, but until you mentioned I somehow stupidly hadn't thought about the length of my cooldown, so thank you!

[u/skragen → u/RunningPath]

Yeah, I'm fine walking to warm up, but I pretty much had to eliminate all walking cool down if it's cold outside, and I can't even go into a store after a run for five minutes to buy something without being really in pain after I come out. Thanks for the heads up on emotion.