Day 21 & 22 - Early Days of Cold

Right now I am frustrated. Firstly because I cant find any really cold water and secondly because even the outside air temperature is also so high that even if I went naked outside it would take only slow walking at a snails pace to keep warm. It will be another full day before I can get back to some semblance of cold in the UK. I wonder if it will be shock to get into water at below 10C again because for 3 full days I will have been using water at more than 20C for my daily routine.

I said I would share some of my early day recollections of cold. Unlike toughness group owner Paul, I didn't have a father that initiated me into this cold therapy by dipping in ice pools. I do recall, however, some schoolday experiences of Physical Education (PE) sessions at high school when I was aged 11-13 years old. In those days it was common to only wear white shorts (no underwear) and plimsolls (no socks) to PE. I think the exceptions were when you played sports such as rugby or football out on the field rather than being in the gym doing vaults, bars or rope climbing etc. In the outdoor sports you could also wear a t-shirt. As I did not like football or rugby the only alterntive offered was cross country. My school was near a public park and the school perimeter fence was open to the countryside so the natural cross country route was along public footpaths into the park and back via a different route. It was normal not to wear a t-shirt when doing cross country, even in winter.

I never like running either so taking this option was always a bit of a last resort for me. I did occasionally enjoy it however in the summer or when the sun was shining on a crisp cold day. The route used to take in one or two stream crossings and when there was a lot of rain the fields and footpaths used to flood. I recall on one of those flood days being quite cold and when running with a mate he dared me to sit in one of these very cold wet puddles of water and mud that were in our path. I suppose I was bit gung-ho and did it. I recall it was cold and I got colder as I ran back to the school heading for the hot showers. Did it give me a rush - yes, I reckon it did because I remember doing it again a few times. But then again it wasn't often because I would try and get out of doing anything too physical at that age. I wish I knew then what I know now - I would not be so timid and would throw myself into it wholeheartedly.

If you have similar experiences why dont you share them with me and I will post some of your stories on my blog too. Send me a comment or an e-mail.

Temperature: 20C
Duration: 10 Minutes