Ice Ice Baby

Yep, this totally happened today. 

Maybe I'm a baby, but this week has killed my legs. I know that in reality it hasn't been that much working out; but paired with my {hilly} half-marathon Sunday and plane rides Tuesday, the load hit me hard this week. 

It wasn't until the two hour Yoga for Runners Seminar I took at White Orchid in South Tampa that I realized just how stiff and angry my body was! 

Btdubs why is yoga so hard?! The class was great, and I'm going to keep my eye out for a similar seminar. Might even have to drop into a class every now and then. To anyone looking for a new studio, from what I saw today, I totally recommend White Orchid! Our instructor was very friendly and helpful. I liked the seminar style because we were able to talk about what we were feeling, what we were looking for and were able to get immediate feedback from the instructor. I often dislike yoga because I don't feel as though I am able to communicate with the instructor during the practice.

 We did a lot of probing to discover if our hip flexors or hamstrings were the root of tightness (for me it's definitely the hip flexors!). We also found out if our IT bands were weak compared to our quads. Oddly, my right IT band is significantly weaker than my right quad, but it's not that way on my left!! Weird. 

After all that probing we went through a little over an hour of yoga. I'll ask again, why is yoga so hard? Nothing like not being able to balance on one foot to make a girl feel weak. To be fair, it was immediately after our 24 mile bike ride. Maybe not the best timing. 

I have a six mile run and more yards in the pool tomorrow, and I wasn't confident I was going to survive if I didn't take drastic measures tonight! 

{Aleve and Advil were not going to cut it.} 

Here's what my night looked like: 

My poor legs buying ice at Publix. They had no idea what was in store for them when we got home. 

I learned an important lesson. This is not the way to enter the tub!!! Had to hop out and try a new approach. My feet were too startled and angry to allow myself to lower into the tub. 

Why am I doing this again?! 

Definitely a better way to approach. Just lower yourself in all at once. 

Don't be surprised when the ice cold water is... COLD. Another tip - warn your roommate ahead of time of what you are about to do to yourself. That way she would be confused or alarmed at the shrieks coming from your bathroom. It wasn't that bad. When I was in Portland I remember a few track girls that insisted on shrieking and yelping for the full ten minutes they were in the cold tub. It really wasn't that bad. Once you are in it is actually kind of nice, it's the getting in that sucks. 

Even though it wasn't that bad, getting out was still a delight. Woohoo, survived my first ice bath! We'll see how I feel tomorrow, that will be the true test. 


After working in the training room last year, and being on the rowing team in college, I have a lot of experience watching other people take ice baths. I once tried to give my feet an ice bath, it was a miserable failure. Many athletes swear by the benefits of ice baths. Since cold water constricts blood vessels and decreases metabolic activity, it reduces inflammation and can increase the healing time of the micro-tears muscles endure during physical activity. You can read about it here, learn the do's and dont's of an ice bath here and get a more experienced ice bather's advice here.

Here's the workout that pushed my gams over the edge:

My garmin died with four miles to go : ( I had tried to charge it in the car on the war to St. Petersburg, but my charger is so fickle! Also I was annoyed by how very slow this ride was. I'm working to not be too hard on myself. This is my first week training on the bike (I've ridden a few times this Fall, but this is the first real training!), so I can't expect to be fast or to know what I am doing. But I wish I did! 

I can't get enough of this app. 

Also, how awesome is it that the PriPri is such a hauling machine?! 

So glad I don't have to deal with a bike rack. 

Ok. Thats about all I have to write tonight. It only took a week, but I think I already turned into this person:

Case in point, it is a Saturday night and the most exciting thing that will happen is the ice bath I took 30 minutes ago! I'm 25, in graduate school, and can't be bothered to stay up past ten on a Saturday night. And only stayed out until 10:30 on Friday night whose itinerary included a trip to the campus rec center for a salsa lesson. 

At least I took the time to put some make-ups on! 

Probably the most dressed up I've ever been to a campus gym. And I've been going to them since 2005! Professional student, anyone?

Love this place. Whoever invented line dancing is a genius. 

I only went to meet up with some other girlfriends who were going there after a birthday event. But they weren't going to get there until nearly midnight. This girl can't handle those late hours anymore! 

My new boyfriend. Hopefully he likes glitter and going to bed early! 

Cause that's where this little lady is headed right meow. 

xoxo Sweat&Sparkle 

Do you take ice baths? Do you use yoga to strength train ever? Dancing -- love it or hate it?