snowbath

[ilanarama]

Distance running makes the muscles in your legs heat and swell, and it's often recommended to soak them in an ice bath (which reduces swelling) after a long run or long, hard race. In the summer, I either stop at the Animas River (a little less than half a mile from my house) and soak my legs, or dump a bunch of ice into the bathtub and do it at home after any run 18 miles or longer. I've soaked in the San Miguel River after the Imogene Pass Run, and in the La Plata River after the Kennebec Pass Challenge. I think it helps, although it's not necessarily comfortable.

Of course, at the moment we've got a whole lot of snow on the ground (even though none has fallen in more than a week), so after a 19-miler on a cold but sunny Saturday, I made myself a cup of hot chocolate, put on a fleece jacket and a hat, grabbed a book, and asked Britt to shovel some snow onto my legs: "Just pretend we're at the beach and playing in the sand," I said. (He snorted, but obliged.)



It...actually felt pretty good! Not as bone-chilling as ice water, although I only lasted about 15 minutes despite being in the sun. 25° F, by the way, and propped up against the south-facing wall of my house. I'm wearing thin tights and a pair of nylon shorts in a (vain) attempt to keep my butt dry.

Comments

[libitina]

That's pretty hilarious. :)

[ilanarama]

I thought so!

[sara]

Is that a Diana Gabaldon novel you have there?

[ilanarama]

Good eye! Is it your amazing ability to make out the details, or the doorstop size of the thing that clued you in?

[sara]

There just aren't that many novels of those proportions in that particular color! *grin*

[halfpastmorrow]

Oh, hee. The very thought of that sends shivers down my spine.

[ilanarama]

But I bet you could do with shivers this time of year.

[(Anonymous)]

That is certainly true. It already 25 degrees and it is only eight in the morning, but the idea of a cold shower is enough to give me the shivers on days like today.

[blnchflr]

Aurgh, I would ignorantly have thought that'd make the muscles worse!

[ilanarama]

Well, have you heard the acronym "RICE" for injury treatment? Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. Icing muscles reduces the swelling, and long runs create all these microtears in the muscles, essentially injuring them on a small scale (with the idea that they grow back stronger), so the immediate thing to do (within hours) is to ice them. But then you take a hot bath or soak in a hot tub in the evening or the next day, and that helps soothe the muscles.

[blnchflr]

Well, have you heard the acronym "RICE" for injury treatment? Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. Icing muscles reduces the swelling, and long runs create all these microtears in the muscles, essentially injuring them on a small scale
Ah!

[luzula]

Hee, that looks kind of fun. Although I would sit on something more than thin nylon if I didn't want a...what do you call it? The kind of infection where it hurts when you pee.

*squints and tries to see what you're reading*

[ilanarama]

You must have some horrid beasties in your snow if you can get a UTI from sitting in it there. Never entered my mind it would be a problem.

And it's Diana Gabaldon's The Fiery Cross (the 5th book in the Outlander series) as sara accurately guessed above. I have mostly enjoyed this series but this particular doorstop volume is dragging and I just want it to be over.

[luzula]

Possibly it's a myth, but I've always heard that UTI:s are easier to get if you get your butt cold. It has (seemingly) happened to me once. *googles* Well, it figures--some say it's a myth, some say it's true.

[mtl]

Awesome pic, though rather uncomfortable looking. :)

[ilanarama]

It wasn't bad...for about 15 minutes. I was definitely getting pretty chilly once my hot chocolate ran out!

[(Anonymous)]

Been a long time since you posted this one... what have you been up to since becoming a partial snow-woman?

Eric W.