By Pickle
When I turned my barn into a gym, I invested in a secondhand ice bath. I was never so happy I had done that as I was now. I knew there’d be a shit-ton of inflammation in my tendons, muscles and joints since my body had been put under so much duress. Pulled apart so unforgivingly!
I’d never endured any “test” so tough or extreme before, so I didn’t even bother to strip off before plunging myself into the bath of frigid water. It felt like a billion tiny sharp needles jabbing my body as I lowered myself in, but once submerged, it began to numb some of the pain. My endorphins were already in high gear from the torture. There was no other word for what Steve had made me endure, but the freezing cold water seemed to make my brain kick-in and deliver a more healing type of euphoria. I stayed submerged for five minutes before slowly climbing out, looking like a drowned rat. I took my wet clothes off and hung them on the line in back of the house. When I finished, Steve was already sitting in an Adirondack chair, again swallowing down a beer.