Not long ago, John declared me an athlete. I am not sure I agree with him, but I will take it as a compliment. It didn't happen after a PR or a race or even a particularly awesome run. Nope...it happened on a day when I didn't think twice about lacing up my shoes and heading out the door for a four mile run just like any normal morning. It just happened to be that on that particular day it was pouring rain. And then when I got back, I sat in a bath of freezing cold water. So, I guess if running while nearly ruining my ipod and then torturing myself afterwards makes me an athlete, an athlete I am.
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| At least one of us is looking cute! (For some reason, Everly really wanted a picture with me after I ran in the pouring rain.) |
After
taking some time off, I have slowly been making my comeback from being injured and I think it is going relatively well. What I initially thought was a hamstring pull may actually be sciatica or some other nagging ailment. As awful as it may sound, I am convinced that soaking in an ice bath (or REALLY cold water bath, sans ice) has helped me remain pain free over the last month or so. The time off also helped, though it definitely put a kink in my training plan. I am finally beyond my pre-injury mileage; yesterday I completed a nine mile long run for the second consecutive week. I have some good and bad runs recently, but for the most part my confidence is up. Less than a month to go before the race. This "athlete" might just be ready!!
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| No ice in this bath, but trust me, it was cold! |
What does the ice/cold water bath do, Joyce? Contract the muscles and reduce swelling?
ReplyDeleteI thought it was cold to put my one foot in a garbage can of ice and water...until I got into a real ice bath. I do have a fit when the kids try to fish out the ice cubes then touch my warm arms. I will say that I am having great results from it and my legs feel very invigorated later in the day; John's foot surgeon was stunned by how quickly his foot healed, he attributes it to the ice bath. We fight over ice in our house!
ReplyDeleteYes; From what I understand, it is basically the same thing as icing, but on a much grander scale. Honestly, I don't know all of the theory behind it so much as I just do what I am told. :)
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