Next up, a 20 miler this Sunday as I continue training for the Los Angeles Marathon. Last week I came out of my 19 miler unscathed. With the exception of a little chaffing under one of my arms and a tiny bit of tightness in my quads, I felt absolutely amazing. This isn’t always the case for me. After my half marathon race experience a few weeks back, I was hobbling around the office for days.
So I’ve been doing a bit of research about the benefits of taking post run ice baths. Brrrrr… I’m a California girl through and through, the thought of sitting in a bath tubs with some ice cubes is not my idea of a good time. The only ice I want in my life are a few large chunks bobbling around in my cocktail if you know what I mean. Anyway, in all seriousness, there’s a ton of research to back this whole ice bath thing up – who knew! I’ll have my freezer working overtime this weekend in preparation for my first ice bath!
Here’s an excerpt from an article I found on Competitor.com:
An ice bath causes the blood vessels to tighten and drains the blood. Once you step out of the cold, ice infested water your body begins to warm and new oxygen filled blood begins to flow throughout your legs. This helps nourish the cells and flush lactic acid out. Some athletes help the recovery process by doing more than just stepping out of the tub; they have a contrast bath (warm water), just to be sure muscles warm back up.
