August 2010

I have a friend.

She runs.

But only with her bag.

(Sounds like the start of a really bad joke, doesn’t it?!)

When I’m talking bag, I mean bag. Not some simple contraption wrapped around her waist, but a mammoth hip pack that includes two bottles of liquid, pepper spray, keys, cell phone, food, ID, and a few other essentials.

If she doesn’t have something that’s supposed to be in her pack, she can’t run.

I know her issues. I used to be there. I was a pack runner, music runner, drink runner, bathroom runner, good luck shirt runner.

I was one of those girls who couldn’t step out the door unless I had everything in place.

The problem? When those things weren’t in place, I couldn’t run, just like my friend.

I’ve worked hard on giving up the things I thought I Had to Have for a run, and I’ve worked instead on just running.

For the longest time I couldn’t run without my pack. I gave up the pack, and now can’t run with anything tied around my waist, even during half marathon lengths and more.

I thought for a while I had to run with music. Then I realized it was nice to have some silence in the morning.

This summer I got into a “I have to have” a certain type of drink when I ran. What if I got overheated? What if I lost too much sodium?

Then I had a conversation with a doctor whom I was interviewing for an article I’m writing about IBS and running, and she said, “People have been running for centuries without,” sugary electrolyte replacements. That’s not to say you shouldn’t prepare for the heat, of course. Living in the south means running in thick humidity many months of the year, and I am a sweater – I need something to keep my body in balance when it comes to liquids and running and fluid replacement. But that doesn’t mean for every four miler I need to be sucking on a blue drink. So two weeks ago I gave up my sugary sweets unless I’m doing over 10.

I also got into the habit of stopping after every 2 miles for a drink this summer. I thought I needed to do this, because of the heat, but then I realized this was just another “I have to” that had become habit.

Do you have an “I have to” set into your workout routine, and if you do what is it?

Ice Baths – A Cold Piece of Recovery You Don’t Want to Miss

Name something cold, loved by long distance runners, that’s great for a post-workout recovery.

And it isn’t this . . .

As I have dealt with this hamstring issue now for almost a year (diagnosed as tendonitis about six months ago), I’ve researched a variety of techniques to keep my muscles stretched and healthy, so they don’t seize up on me again.

So far, things have worked. I roll my muscles out daily, sometimes twice a day; I do yoga several times each week, along with three days of pilates class, also which incorporates stretching (though I have to say I stay in it because I love the hardcore core workouts!); and I have been sitting on ice.

Ouch.

I have to admit, it took me a while to get to the point of facing the last option. I had heard of people doing ice baths after long runs, and I”d laughed at them. Ice baths? Put on a pack, I thought. Why subject my already sore legs to searing ice?

Because, I found out, it really seems to work.

The idea behind ice baths is that it will reduce swelling and help get rid of lactic acid, which will minimize the pain you might experience the next day. Then the warm blood flows through the area you’ve iced and it helps to keep the toxins out of the muscles.

It doesn’t take a lot of ice, and every runner performs an ice bath differently. I tend to draw a cool water bath and then drop in a few bowl fulls (and I’m talking a big brownie mixing bowl) into the water. Then I sink in. If I need more ice, my kids love to run down and grab some.

I’ve heard to sit for about ten minutes, and I do 10-15. Since sitting in an ice bath is similar to applying ice to sore muscles, the same theory applies. Be careful your skin doesn’t begin to get ice burn – bright red, numb, etc. Some runners sit in the bath wearing leggings. I go without so I can get the full effect, and I have never had an issue with a burn on the skin – but, it is possible, so the first few times test it out by sitting for a few minutes and then checking your skin.

For me, I believe it has helped my tendonitis. I haven’t been sore (knock on wood) since I started ice baths a few weeks ago. I do them now on any run 5 or more miles; I feel that because I’m likely to swell anyway with the issue, I may as well prevent it as best I can before I jump in the bath. Besides, putting an ice pack on the fronts and backs of my leg and then alongside my knee would take forever; why not jump in the bath and be done with it in 10 to 15 minutes?

Do you ice bath? If so, how often, and what is the mileage at which you decide to hop into the tub with a few cubes?

Let Go of the “Have tos” and Run!

Ice Baths – A Cold Piece of Recovery You Don’t Want to Miss

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