I've resumed taking ice baths after long runs.
The thought of ice baths may shock some people, but I reckon most have heard of Paula Radcliffe taking them and are now used to the idea. Well I thought I was used to them until Sunday morning!
The theory goes that they help recovery from training sessions. Any physio will tell you of the benefits of putting ice on an injury. Well if you consider the micro-tears that occur when you train hard (I can't help think of the Tiny Tears doll when I see that written), then it seems reasonable that if you treat them with ice they will respond in a similar fashion to a 'real' injury. I gather that there is also a flushing action that occurs when the blood vessels close down and force out accumulated toxins.
Well I 'did' the ice baths for last year's marathon training - a few kgs of ice in a bath of cold water - wearing several layers up top to keep warm - nice hot cup of tea - sit in it for 20-30 minutes - no problems. I had wondered though if I really had it cold enough as the ice melted almost immediately and the thermometer read a balmy 8 or 9 degrees. I felt quite comfortable sitting there listening to a favourite CD, reading a book or magazine. I came to almost enjoy them!
Then I saw Paula Radcliffe on the Frank Skinner show last week, and she said that she would tip an amount of ice "a bit bigger than that box there" pointing to Frank's props box next to his chair. "That's a lot of ice", I thought. She described how it was so cold it would make her bones ache! Hmmm!
So this weekend I thought I'd increase the quantity of ice. I have a domestic ice machine which knocks out about 1 kg of ice each hour. I left it running all day Saturday until I had a load of ice - enough to fill my picnic size cool box. Now factor in the very cold night, which meant that the water tank in the loft must have been a fair bit cooler than I've been used to, and this was going to be a new experience!
The bathroom scene that presented itself after my Sunday morning run was like something from Titanic. The ice covered the surface of the bath. I thought about waiting for it to melt, "to ensure the water was at its coldest", but in I got.
My God the pain! I certainly got the full Radcliffe! My legs went bright red. My feet felt like they were on fire. I had a magazine, but couldn't read it - I was too distracted by the indescribable cold. I had set the timer set for 25 minutes, but after 18 minutes I really couldn't stand it any longer. As I got out there was still unmelted ice in the bath!
I suppose it's a bit like banging your head against a wall. It's lovely when it stops! As the capillaries open and the blood flows in you can feel your legs recharging. All your aches melt away with the ice. It really is a nice sensation. My legs feel great today! I'm wondering though if it was perhaps a tad extreme for an amateur athlete such as myself.
Maybe a touch less ice next time?
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2 comments:
Tried my first ice bath yesterday - proper ice bath that is - with ice.
Actually not at all bad. 2kg of ice in it as well. Legs feel pretty good today as well - I'll definitely do it again :o)
These days I put 6kg of ice in and do 10mins in the ice, then 10mins in a bucket of hot water (unfortunately I don't have 2 baths), then 10mins in the ice again, and finally empty the bath and fill it back up with nice hot water. You can get quite cold if you just get out of the ice without a hot bath as the cold blood rushes around your body and chills you. I think 20-30 mins in really cold ice water could be a bit dodgy, even if supping hot tea - I was OK when it was just cold water, but that's too long for real ice cold.
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