Another Snow & Ice Bath

We had some unexpected snow overnight Sunday which put sufficient of the white stuff on the ground to enable me do the snow bath thing again. As a warm-up I did a short 7k shirtless run first thing in the morning in quite slippery conditions. 

Temperature on the run was hovering around freezing point as I set out and did not move from that in the 50 minutes or so it took to run.  I stopped a couple of times to look at the snow laden trees as the sun broke through at dawn.  On the way back to home I made a detour to a clearing in the woods that I know would have a good depth of snow and stripped off to have a naked roll around in it.  Although cold on the skin the feeling of freshly fallen snow is quite difficult to describe.  Its like being caressed by dry water or soft foam. 

After my run I warmed up with a coffee and then set about filling the bath with 5 buckets full of snow and running cold water over it.  Once the bath was full I dispersed the ice, took the temp of the water (0C) and Set the timer for 10 minutes and got in.  I started to shiver a little at the 7 minute mark but that soon passed and before I knew it the timer was going off for me to get out. 

My hands and feet were very stiff as I was drying myself off but these seem to be recovering more quickly the more times I do this.  After drying and dressing warmly I made myself a cup of coffee and warmed up slowly while shivering quite a bit on the warm-up cycle for the next 30 minutes or so.  The shivering also didnt seem to last that long this time.  So maybe getting used to this cold water immersion really does help speed up your metabolism.  

Comments welcomed!