My son completed a certificate in sports science last year. We have just been talking about the benefits of ice baths so I just read out to him and my partner about Eden doing the cold water baths on her 3-day tour. (They know a few of you - like Eden - because of the simnilar interests in racing to me).

My son says that one school of thought says 30 seconds of cold, then 2 minutes of hot... repeated several times after a race... then ideally a massage after that.

He says (like Eden does) that the cold assists with the bruising/muscle tears... but he adds that doing the cold/hot/cold/hot thing helps to disperse the lactic acid - the change in temperature is the critical factor there.

I always try and give my partner a gentle leg rub (as opposed to a deep tissue massage) asap after a race. And if he is too tired to reciprocate, I self massage my quads. We always massage with arnica oil or cream.