Ice Baths, Foam Rolling and all the fun ways to get rid of the pain!

Running everyday can get painful. Sore muscles, cuts and bruises, foot aches and shit splints are just some of the common injuries for long distance runners. After mile 3 you usually can't feel anything, but once you stop, you feel it all. So what is a runner to do? Well, there are a lot of options to help deal with the pain. NSAID's (also known as your standard, over the counter pain relievers) help but are not good for prolonged use. Kidney disease and hypertension are just two of the side effects from long term use. Thankfully (kinda) there are many other options to deal with the pain besides the I'm going to just suck it up attitude many of us have.
Foam rolling is one of the unique ways to deal with the muscle soreness you experience. This is also pretty painful. Many runners will tell you they have a lovely name for their foam roller. Usually it involves four letter words. The basic goal is to roll back and forth on this lovely contraption to lengthen and stretch out the muscle. While this sounds relaxing, think yoga. Trust me it hurts like a bitch and you curse the poor roller until your done. Then it becomes you new best friend until your sore again. Curse and repeat.
Ice bath, think bucket challenge without the fun of knowing your doing it for charity. Plus you sit in it and get hypothermia. It's not like you just dump it on you, you literally sit in it for 20 minutes. Yeah if you can't find your inner strength after that.. Not sure you shall find it! I have cursed the world, men and even candles during this process. I have silently sobbed begging for it to be over, but what a difference it makes. So if you ever want to see me cry like a baby, come watch an ice bath.
There are many other affective pain relievers such as heat packs, stretching out prior and good shoes and equipment but at the end of the day... It's really impossible to avoid. Running that many miles your bound to get little annoying injuries. So next time you see someone barreling down the road, know that it might not be a rainbow at the end but a torture session in a bath tub!
Less than 7 weeks to NYC! It's time for all the crazy last minute shenanigans to begin, plus tonight an ice bath! I'll be cursing the world while others party on this Friday night!