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!

Snow Run

The first snowfall of winter started overnight last night and it was still lightly falling when I set off for my normal morning run today. Temperature was around freezing with a light westerly wind, so not too cold compared to some mornings. Great to get out and feel the snow on my shirtless body. Just a pity you cant run naked!

Snow still on the ground

It's nearly a week since the snow arrived and it is still lying on the ground and quite deep in a number of places.

I went out for a run on Tuesday and Wednesday morning this week but the footpaths next to the road were very slippery and quite dangerous so it took me around 4 minutes longer to do my normal 7k route. Once you get off the slippery concrete and tarmac surfaces the snow is much easier underfoot. As it is a holiday week I have been running slightly later too and have met up with a few different people than normal. All have been friendly and none have said anything about me being shirtless when out running in the snow. I will run again on Friday and then again on Sunday 26th.

On my run yesterday I did stop for a couple of minutes on the final leg of my run and had a quick, naked roll in the snow. What a great feeling! If you have never done this before you must really try it.

I will try and take the camera along tomorrow and post a few pics of my route so you can all see how pretty it looks - a great inspiration to keep me running.

Happy Christmas Everyone!

Day 20 - Another European City

Well, an 8 Minute 9C shower this morning followed by 2 minutes outside standing barefoot in the remaining snow left in the garden - all this ahead of getting a taxi to the airport to get to a European city. On arrival I checked the temperature of the cold water from the tap - very disappointing at almost 20C. I was hoping it would be colder. I guess that means a long soak in as cold water as I can find for my bath tomorrow (or maybe a lot of trips to the ice machine with the waste basket to get it colder)

Seeing as there will not be a lot to report te next few days (on account of the water temp being too high) I may recount some of my early experiences of cold.

Taking the advice of Paul I calibrated the thermometer this evening. A glass full of ice with cold water in abouot a 50/50 mix. The thermometer read zero or just below so probably a 0.5C to 1C inaccuracy but I think this is OK for my general purposes here. I guess for the 79p I bought the thermometer for you cant expect scientific accuracy to a tenth of a degree can you?

Also have a question for you experts out there: If you have a cold bath or shower first thing in the morning is it cheating to have a hot one later in the day?

Temperature: 9C
Duration: 8 minutes

Day13 - Snow!

Well, Snow overnight - most in nearly 20 years they say (about 8 inches here)

Start the day with a barefoot walk in the snow in the garden wrapped only in a towel then come inside for a cold shower (5 minutes). Get dressed and down to work. No exercise, didn't need to warm up.

Boring day really. Went for a walk tonight in the snow (9pm) - about and hour of which 20 mins was shirtless. Found an open space in the field where I stripped off completely and rolled and lay in the snow for a while. Covered my body too by scraping the snow from around and let the cold soak in. Great feeling, have to do that again, and soon.

Heading off on a business trip so dont know if I'll get a chance to post tomorrow.