ice and/or cold baths?

Real or imagined, I think I benefit from these.  My tolerance for cold is limited, but after this past Saturday's 15 mile training run, I walked straight into my house and filled the tub with cold water.  I hung out in there for about 10 minutes.  Then my boyfriend took a cold bath too.  

We both felt much better than we did after our Half 2 weeks earlier, when we didn't get a cold bath.  Of course, there were a million other things we did differently, and of course, Saturday wasn't a "race".

Anyone else do ice baths, or cold baths after a long workout?  Good results? No results?

Ice baths constrict the blood vessels, holding the lactate that is in them prior to the bath there and dormant. Once blood starts to circulate again, when body temps return to normal, the old blood with lactate in it is replenished by fresh blood that has no lactate in it. I HIGHLY recommend ice baths and take them often after big days of training. I would say I feel 80% better after taking an ice bath compared to a warm shower to just get clean after a big day. If you cant tolerate an ice bath, taking a very cold shower, then switching it to warm water for 3-4 minutes, then back to very cold, then warm about 3 times works well too. Good stuff... I am more timid of an ice bath than a 100 mile ride. It sucks, but is SOOOOOOOO beneficial...

Thats my 2 cents...

I too**** baths after my goofy 1/2 and fulls. I think it's a must after the half for the goofy.

Runners World had a report that cold tap water was as effective as adding ice in aiding in recovery. What I do is get in first and then start the water. It makes it gradual so there is no cold shock. When i did add ice it was during the filling phase.

My husband swears by them. He did black belt testing in 2007 (week long test, 8 hours a day for five days) and he would come home every night and do the ice bath, then cold shower, then warm, then cold. All of the black belts past say its what got them through the week.

I fully intend on doing it myself during my testing, even though it doesn't sound pleasant.