Sunday, July 16, 2006
spas are better hot
I made the mistake of telling Hub about a thread on the ausrun forums about the benefits of ice baths immediately after running to aid in recovery. So, given that our hot tub is broken (don't ask - what is it with tradies who don't bother to let you know what the HELL is happening?) at the moment, he has taken to giving his legs a good dunk when he comes back from a run.
Of course I am a huge baby about stuff like this. But it is an offence to the honour of my family (or maybe it just pisses me off) that I am made to look like a wimp by refusing to do this.
So yesterday was my "long" run. It was drizzling and when I left the weekender I hadn't decided whether I was going to do the long run or a shorter one. But it occurred to me that I might have the chance to explore some tracks that I hadn't got to yet. So long run it was. I trotted from the weekender down to the beach and ran along the foreshore. Gorgeous run. It was wet but not too cold, and I managed to keep the legs turning over.
When all said and done, I ran for 40 minutes and felt pretty good, even despite my choice of route which meant that my out and back course had a huge hill to conquer about 5 mins from home. I didn't measure, but based on my ordinary training pace, would have been 5K or thereabouts.
And all of that was a much smaller accomplishment than forcing myself to stand in an icy cold hot tub when I got back. Ouch. It might not be as good for recovery, but I will prefer it when I can come home from a run and have a good soak in the really hot water (incidentally, while it doesn't heat, the bubbles still work. So I could have relaxed and experienced the icy massage of the bubble jets, but I am not crazy. Maybe I will tell Hub that people on the messageboards advocate this practice and see whether he takes the bait).
Of course I am a huge baby about stuff like this. But it is an offence to the honour of my family (or maybe it just pisses me off) that I am made to look like a wimp by refusing to do this.
So yesterday was my "long" run. It was drizzling and when I left the weekender I hadn't decided whether I was going to do the long run or a shorter one. But it occurred to me that I might have the chance to explore some tracks that I hadn't got to yet. So long run it was. I trotted from the weekender down to the beach and ran along the foreshore. Gorgeous run. It was wet but not too cold, and I managed to keep the legs turning over.
When all said and done, I ran for 40 minutes and felt pretty good, even despite my choice of route which meant that my out and back course had a huge hill to conquer about 5 mins from home. I didn't measure, but based on my ordinary training pace, would have been 5K or thereabouts.
And all of that was a much smaller accomplishment than forcing myself to stand in an icy cold hot tub when I got back. Ouch. It might not be as good for recovery, but I will prefer it when I can come home from a run and have a good soak in the really hot water (incidentally, while it doesn't heat, the bubbles still work. So I could have relaxed and experienced the icy massage of the bubble jets, but I am not crazy. Maybe I will tell Hub that people on the messageboards advocate this practice and see whether he takes the bait).