Health & Fitness
Ice Bath: Get In, Get Out, Get On With Your Weekend
Distance runners have a good friend in the ice bath: it promotes healing and helps with swelling. And who can't use a cool down in this heat? So take an ice bath and get back to having fun!
I try to make my training schedule as unobtrusive in our lives as possible. Each week, the alarm goes off a bit earlier, so I can manage to fit in more miles before work.
The weekend is where it gets tricky. I have no issue with getting up at 5am on Saturday or Sunday, but....let's be honest. Sometimes, you have social engagements. And seeing friends is very important. On Saturday night, I got to bed around 11, and woke up at 6:30. I was on the road by 6:45. I had 16 miles on deck and we were anxious to get to the beach (we had a 40 minute drive) and get parking. The pressure!
I've been running my Sunday long runs about 1 minute slower than race pace, though yesterday, it was a 46 second difference. Had to get home a little faster, you know.
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I've been a bit more sore as I'm on my second week of New Rules of Lifting for Abs. If you haven't checked out the New Rules books, I highly recommend it. (I finished New Rules of Lifting for Women in the 2009/2010 winter). The Abs version is geared a bit more towards those who don't lift as a primary workout. So it's perfect for say, my marathon running self.
Anyway, the benefits of an ice bath are plentiful: it cools you down, helps with muscle swelling, and stimulates muscle tears to begin repair. Michael fills the tub with ice cold water and I jump in. For extra credit (read: for those without circulatory issues) add ice (you can get a party bag of ice, or if you have a fancy fridge, employ your ice maker).
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Sit in there for 10 minutes, and you'll be overjoyed (I just know it!) with how much better you feel in such a short amount of time.
We left for the beach about 35 minutes after I got home. I also want to recommend getting in some protein and carbs right away. I run with a couple of Gu, but when I got home, I drank some chocolate milk (my current obsession) and had some whey protein isolate (I love Jay Robb lately) with BCAA and almond milk. I am all about healing it up ASAP.
Honestly, I had no soreness this morning (in time for 3 miles and New Rules of Lifting for Abs session 1A) and we made it to the beach about 15 minutes before parking filled up. I'd call that a total win.
