Comments on: Run Recovery: Ice Bath

By: The Cold Truth: An Ice Bath After a Run May Not Do What You Think it Does - TheRUNiverse.com

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:28:39 +0000

[...] never done it. I know a lot of people who have. Fellow The RUNiverse editor, Jill, has done it–she blogged about it years ago. The theory goes that ice baths, or cryotherapy if we are going to be fancy about it, [...]

By: Jill

Jill — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 02:06:01 +0000

If only I had a “local river” here in the desert!

By: roland

roland — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 03:02:31 +0000

I prefer going to my local river and just chilling there for a little bit its just enough to make you shiver for a solid fifteen minutes and there’s nothing like cold running fresh water, being in nature and feeling mud and/or sand in your toes.

By: Jill

Jill — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 23:30:10 +0000

That is a good switch. I kind of like feeling all hardcore plunging into the ice.

By: Larry

Larry — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 10:23:36 +0000

I would change one thing. The order of when you and the ice goes in. I would put you in the water first and then put the ice in. You won’t get the initial shock.

By: Jill

Jill — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 01:12:50 +0000

Hi Malynda,

Yeah, you could ice bath every day if you really wanted to! (Actually, taking a cold bath/shower at bedtime is supposed to be a great way to get you into a deeper sleep!) The numbness stage is when the ice/cold no longer feel quite so extreme. It doesn’t necessarily mean you go completely numb, just when you’re to the point where the temperature is no longer completely shocking to your system. Good luck with your training and ice bathing!

By: Malynda

Malynda — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 00:36:33 +0000

Thanks for the wonderful post!! I sat in my very first ice bath last night… I sat in the tub for 20 minutes and can’t think of a time when my legs went “numb”… I added one 20 pound bag to the cold water, but maybe it wasn’t enough? Oh well! I’ll try it again after my next long run!!
Also!! I ran 11.5 miles yesterday morning, did the ice bath last night and am wanting to run tomorrow… is it ok to ice bath again today?

Thank you!!
Malynda

By: Kellie

Kellie — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 16:29:57 +0000

Love this post! I’m glad to see I’m not the only crazy runner out there that takes ice baths. None of my running friends here take them, but I feel like it’s such a great part of my recovery.

By: amyreinink

amyreinink — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:27:19 +0000

Sounds a lot like my ice-bath routine! I wear my heavy hooded sweatshirt from high-school cross country, and rely on a cup of green tea. I also need some good reading material to occupy me — I try to save the latest “Runner’s World” as a post-run reward for just that reason.

For all the burning, pain and numbness, nothing works quite as well for getting rid of the sore spots!

By: Jill Will Run

Jill Will Run — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:38:04 +0000

Claire: You’re right, the sooner the better… but getting in an ice bath within 2 hours after running would be fine. I know some runners wait until the evening after a morning long run, however I find that my legs start feeling better once I’ve done the ice bath so I can’t imagine delaying that improvement for so long!

After my marathon in November I didn’t get in an ice bath for about 3.5 hours after the race and it still helped immensely. I think the optimal window would probably be within 4 hours of completion, but anytime during the following 12 hours would help.