Brooklyn Runner

I have to give it up for my friend, who is training for his first marathon. After hearing about how sore he felt after a long run of 15 or so miles, I asked him whether he had discovered the ice bath yet, and the next week he tried it and became a believer.

Ah yes, the ice bath! I know, it sounds a bit scary at first, but there is truly nothing like it when you are training for a marathon — especially in end-of-summer heat — and getting in those 15-, 18- and 20-mile runs. How the muscles ache, the knees can complain, and just about anything that is a joint can creak and become irritated from all that running.

The ice bath is the perfect antidote to all that. It was first recommended to me when I trained for my first marathon. And while the idea of getting into a tub of ice cold water with a bag of ice in there is daunting in any other circumstance, when you are doing those long training runs you will discover how wonderful it is. The coolness just calms everything down, helps soothe the muscles and reduce the inflammation from all the motion on those joints. There’s nothing like it – but I would say just about the only time when it’s fitting is after the truly long runs. Because let’s face it, those long training runs can be utterly grueling.

I’m not against just filling the tub halfway with cold water, and just dumping in a bag of ice. You don’t have to submerge your entire body in there, in my opinion. Just get the legs and all the joints covered. Sit there for 10 or 15 minutes. Maybe with a hot cup of tea. Relax.

And make your recovery so much nicer.