I wanted to pop in for an Exercise Tuesday post. Immediately post marathon Iron Woman and I each took an ice bath.
Ice baths are one of the craziest good weird things I've ever experienced. It was frigid cold. I could hardly stand it, but it literally only took 5 seconds when I placed my back in the ice, before I felt this wave of heat that felt so good throughout my body. The point of an ice bath is so vasoconstrict your blood flow to help with the abuse and pounding that I had placed on my body for 5+ hours.
"The ice bath is thought to constrict blood vessels, flush waste products and reduce swelling and tissue breakdown. Subsequently, as the tissue warms and the increased blood flow speeds circulation, the healing process is jump-started. The advantage of an ice bath submersion is that a large area of intertwined musculature can be treated, rather than limiting the cold therapy to a concentrated area with a localized ice pack." -Andy Schmltz 8 Ice Bath Dos and Don'ts
I believe the ice bath is what helped cut down on initial soreness. We ate a good healthy meal for dinner but, we did celebrate a little with some wine. Not to much, because we were exhausted, but we toasted to our success of marking something off our bucket list.
If you're not runner you might not have heard of Hal Higdon. Hal Higdon is, I would say, somewhat famous in the running community. He has a very popular and very successful program for walk running your first half marathon. It's a great program and if you are thinking of running a half, I highly suggest reading up on it.
Hal recommends that for every hour of running your do, that you take that much time off from any exercise activity. On his website he also recommends what he calls Zero Week, which is where you've officially completed your training and now you need to rest and recharge.
Free bird, Iron Woman, and I haven't really done in the way of exercise in the last 9 days. I've done two yoga sessions through YouTube. I love Yoga with Adriene, if you are looking into some light exercise or are interested in Yoga, check out her channel.
She has a range of videos to help with all levels of fitness. I will want to run again soon, if my blistered and dead toenail on my big toe will let me. There was...drainage today, EW! I had a dream this morning about running with Iron Woman. Boy did it feel good. I love what running does for me. I'm also looking forward to hitting the weighs again too. I'll be looking at programs to incorporate and start soon.
The biggest thing is not letting the post race blues get you. It's a real thing. Once you complete a goal you kind of wander aimlessly through your next phase and sometimes stop altogether. I'll want to do another Memorial Day Murph. I will run a 5k next Sunday, with Iron Woman. Not sure I'll register for the race yet or not, but I will run with her. I would also love to complete a Tough Mudder this summer. I won't be down for long, that's for sure ;)
This time I want to be smarter about training and diet though. As much as I buckled down, I still felt as if I could have done better. That's the point though isn't it? Keep trying till you find success.
Alright readers, I am off to bed. I hope whatever you are doing whether it's exercise, diet, or mindful meditation I hope you are well.
Blessings,
A
Ice baths are one of the craziest good weird things I've ever experienced. It was frigid cold. I could hardly stand it, but it literally only took 5 seconds when I placed my back in the ice, before I felt this wave of heat that felt so good throughout my body. The point of an ice bath is so vasoconstrict your blood flow to help with the abuse and pounding that I had placed on my body for 5+ hours.
"The ice bath is thought to constrict blood vessels, flush waste products and reduce swelling and tissue breakdown. Subsequently, as the tissue warms and the increased blood flow speeds circulation, the healing process is jump-started. The advantage of an ice bath submersion is that a large area of intertwined musculature can be treated, rather than limiting the cold therapy to a concentrated area with a localized ice pack." -Andy Schmltz 8 Ice Bath Dos and Don'ts
I believe the ice bath is what helped cut down on initial soreness. We ate a good healthy meal for dinner but, we did celebrate a little with some wine. Not to much, because we were exhausted, but we toasted to our success of marking something off our bucket list.
If you're not runner you might not have heard of Hal Higdon. Hal Higdon is, I would say, somewhat famous in the running community. He has a very popular and very successful program for walk running your first half marathon. It's a great program and if you are thinking of running a half, I highly suggest reading up on it.
Hal recommends that for every hour of running your do, that you take that much time off from any exercise activity. On his website he also recommends what he calls Zero Week, which is where you've officially completed your training and now you need to rest and recharge.
Free bird, Iron Woman, and I haven't really done in the way of exercise in the last 9 days. I've done two yoga sessions through YouTube. I love Yoga with Adriene, if you are looking into some light exercise or are interested in Yoga, check out her channel.
She has a range of videos to help with all levels of fitness. I will want to run again soon, if my blistered and dead toenail on my big toe will let me. There was...drainage today, EW! I had a dream this morning about running with Iron Woman. Boy did it feel good. I love what running does for me. I'm also looking forward to hitting the weighs again too. I'll be looking at programs to incorporate and start soon.
The biggest thing is not letting the post race blues get you. It's a real thing. Once you complete a goal you kind of wander aimlessly through your next phase and sometimes stop altogether. I'll want to do another Memorial Day Murph. I will run a 5k next Sunday, with Iron Woman. Not sure I'll register for the race yet or not, but I will run with her. I would also love to complete a Tough Mudder this summer. I won't be down for long, that's for sure ;)
This time I want to be smarter about training and diet though. As much as I buckled down, I still felt as if I could have done better. That's the point though isn't it? Keep trying till you find success.
(photo credit in photo)
Alright readers, I am off to bed. I hope whatever you are doing whether it's exercise, diet, or mindful meditation I hope you are well.
Blessings,
A
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