Monday, March 23, 2009

Ice Bathing Works

I am 6 days away from running my longest race ever, the Around the Bay 30k in Hamilton, Ontario, and I am so excited I breath, see, hear, feel, think - running every minute of the day.

The Sunday before yesterday, I ran my longest LSD ever, 26 kilometers much faster than the last one. Two days after, both of my feet, the inside below the arch were hurting I had to shorten my tempo run from 10 kms. to 7 kms, and on grass instead of the road. My running the 30k race seemed to be in jeopardy.

I usually use cold water and ice for joint and muscle pain after my long runs for 5-10 minutes depending on my tolerance level, and it varies day to day. A Pinoy ultramarathoner blogger, Rick suggested 15 minutes of ice bathing after a long run, to be repeated when needed, and basically, that was what I did, 2 or 3 times a day in the last few days. Boy, and how it has helped. Cold water immersion or an ice bath is a more popular therapy used by ultramarathon runners after a long run to promote recovery. It supposedly slows down metabolism which reduces swelling and muscle tissue damage.

On Friday, I did an easy run of 6 kms. and there was only a little discomfort in the same problem spots of my feet. Yesterday, two runner friends and I did 16 kms. , on a route with a few hilly portions and I finished the run pain free. I still continue ice bathing my legs and feet every day, specially now that I know it really works. Every long distance runner should try it.

For this week, I plan on running no more than 15k total in 3 sessions (6k, 6k, 3k)until race day.

2 comments:

  1. Hey. I too am running my longest race ever this Sunday at the Around The Bay 30K road race. I have been looking forward to it since I signed up way back on April 18th 2008. I know you will do great. I am so looking forward to hearing the cheering during the run. Have heard about so many people that have run this race in the past and how enjoyable it is to run. I ran my first 5K race at last years bay race, and cant believe that I am about to run the 30K. Again good luck on the race, and maybe see you there.

    Michael

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  2. Hi Bong. Good luck in the Around The Bay this coming weekend. This is one race that I hope to run in the next year or two. I'm told it is one of the oldest races in North America.

    Anyway, good luck to you and make sure you're hydrated!

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