Ice Bath aka Torture

I've heard all of the benefits of the ice bath, but I tried it once and jumped out after about 15 seconds.  Holy crap, people willing do this?  I'm sure it would be an effective form of torture for our military. 

However, after hurting for nearly a week after the New Orleans half, I decided I would have to give it another try.  I'm proud to say I made it 15 minutes today!  Of course, I'd have gladly spent that 15 minutes running more, but I don't think it would have had the same effect. 

Here is my ice bath survival guide:

- A positive attitude - this is for your own good (definitely didn't have this on my first attempt)

- Warm clothes (t-shirt and my hoodie on top of it)

- Hot hands warming patch - ok this was probably overkill, but the first attempt was a disaster so this helped...it actually did a lot to keep my core warm

- Steaming hot drink - I chose pear tea...YUM

- Ipad and facebook (facebook could easily be substituted for Angry Birds)

I got in the tub with lukewarm water and gradually increased the water to all cold and started adding ice.  There is NO way I could get straight into an icy tub.  I stayed in for 15 minutes.  I've heard if you don't stay in a minimum of 10 minutes it's not doing you any good.  Since my first 2 minutes weren't really cold, I decided to stay 15 minutes. 

Now an hour later my hips, legs and feet are still cold despite being under a blanket for an hour.  I'm taking this as a good sign.  Hopefully, sore muscles are not in my future!