Abstract Much effort over the past 50 years has been devoted to research on training, but little is known about recovery after intense running efforts. Insufficient recovery impedes training and performance. Anecdotal evidence suggests that cold water immersion immediately following intense distance running efforts aids in next day performance perhaps by decreasing injury or increasing recovery. The purpose of this study was to compare 5 km racing performance after 24 hrs with and without cold water immersion. Twelve well-trained runners (9 males, 3 females) completed successive (within 24 hours) 5 km performance trials on two separate occasions. Immediately following the first baseline 5 km trial, runners were treated with ice water immersion for 12 minutes followed by 24 hrs of passive recovery (ICE). Another session involved two 5 km time trials: a baseline trial and another trial after 24 hrs of passive recovery (CON). Treatments occurred in a counterbalanced order and were separated by 6-7 days of normal training. ICE (20:08 ± 2.0 min) was not significantly different (p = 0.09) from baseline (19:59 ± 2.0 min). CON (19:59 ± 1.9 min) was significantly (p = 0.03) slower than baseline (19:49 ± 1.9 min). ICE heart rate (175.3 ± 7.6 b/min) was significantly (p = 0.02) less than baseline (178.3 ± 9.8 b/min), yet CON heart rate (177.3 ± 6.3 b/min) was the same as baseline (177.3 ± 7.3 b/min). ICE rate of perceived exertion (19.2 + 1.0) was significantly less (p = 0.03) than baseline (19.8 ± 0.5) while CON rate of perceived exertion (19.5 ± 0.8) was not significantly different (p = 0.39) from baseline (19.6 ± 0.8). Seven individuals responded negatively to ICE running a mean 24.0 ± 13.9 seconds slower than baseline. Nine individuals responded negatively to CON by running a mean 17.4 ± 12.1 seconds slower than baseline. Three individuals responded positively to ICE running a mean 20.33 ± 6.7 seconds faster during second day performance. Three individuals responded positively to CON by running a mean 13.3 ± 6.8 seconds faster than baseline. In general, cold water immersion minutely reduced the decline of next day performance, yet individual variability existed. Efficacy of longer durations of cold water immersion impact after 48 hrs and on distances greater than 5 km appear to be individual and need to be further explored.
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