I’m planning a 23k run for tomorrow morning amidst some pretty serious wind and rain. (SIGH.) This will be my first long run since the half a few weeks ago, and I really feel like it’s time to get back at it. Also, due to my fairly constricting schedule, I can’t do this run on a different day. So, a-running I will go, in cold February rain. (Blerg.)
Anyway, now that my long run distances are above 21k (which always feels a little momentous to me since it’s an ominous halfway point), I’m really starting to concentrate on injury avoidance. I’ve been meaning to do doing some yoga once a week and have revamped my strength training to include more squats and lunges and this weird hamstring thing on the ball that I can’t explain.
This week, I stumbled across an article on ice baths (that I can no longer find). They sound… horrifying, yet are apparently really effective. I take the day after a long run off, but will be running 6k on Sunday. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t anticipating any pain or stiffness on Saturday.
Do you guys have any experience with ice baths? Do they cure day-after aches and speed up recovery? Or could I reap the same benefit from a hot Epsom salt bath (please say yes!)?
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I am also running 23K tomorrow, but I will skip the ice bath.
Enjoy,
Grant
I am also running 23K tomorrow, but I will skip the ice bath.
Enjoy,
Grant
I gotta tell you – I have foot issues and ice baths keep me running!
I’ve never done the ice bath thing, but at the end of my shower after a long run, I do put the water all the way to cold and run it over my legs for as long as I can stand it. I find it actually helps, so I can only imagine how effective it would be to actually do it right! Let us know how that turns out 😉
An ice bath is the key to me not looking like I’ve been out riding a horse for days. If I want to be able to walk, I have one.
Both folks I crewed for last year (June and Oct) on their runs of the Bruce Trail from end to end had an ice bath at the end of their day.
Crazy. No question. Absolutely ridiculous. I think ice baths are a scam invented by marketing/advertising suits with a sense of humour: “What insane thing can we convince runners to do next?”