Ice Bath

I have been stockpiling ice. Odd thing to stockpile, I know. Some people won't pay for water (Isn't that right, Alex?), I won't pay for ice. It just takes buying 5 ice cube trays and staying on top of emptying and refilling. Besides, when you live out in the boonies, buying ice is not an easy task.

So, my ice bath took about 18 trays of ice. That's right 18 trays.

I finished up my 2 hours and 12 minutes on the elliptical. I had a blow out of my FuelBelt - which I will be figuring out how to fix over the next few days - I used Chomps and felt so much better once they kicked in. I am beginning to believe that what I call "I am nauseous" could really be "I am hungry." I used 6 hand towels, 2 change of clothes (yes, I stopped in the middle when I had to reprogram the elliptical and changed my clothes), 2 Halo headbands, 30 ounce Gatorade and 16 ounces water and one potty break.

Once I was done, off to the tub I went. I started filling it with all cold water. What with it being summer and all, the cold water really isn't cold. I got the ice from the freezer - 3 1 gallon ZipLock bags filled with ice cubes.

Getting into the bath with just the cold water was not bad. I was shaking a bit, but not shivering. Then I added one bag of ice at a time. I added the ice to the tub at the place right in between my calves. Once all 3 bags were in, I was shivering. I couldn't keep my arms and shoulders still. It is a little amusing. I filled the tub a bit more, so that the water level was up past the pubic line.

I stayed in there for 18 minutes. I had planned on 15 but I lost track of time. I started letting the water out - there was still some ice in the tub. Standing up was something I did not look forward to and it was amazingly easy. I then took a warmish shower.

My legs felt beyond awesome when I was done.

I then put on my sneakers with the new orthotics - I was up to 3 hours yesterday. I did some housework until the 3 hours was up and then did my entire stretching routine, starting with only 5 minutes on the elliptical as a warm-up. I was no where near as tight as I was for days after last week without the ice bath.

I am a HUGE fan of ice baths.

Can you believe that?

When Doreen told me she did them last year, I was like WTF? You will never catch me doing that. Kinda like I told Tribe that running a marathon was insane and that no body (distinct from nobody) should ever do that.

Ha!