Platza Anyone?

After a tough 3/4 of a season of racing followed by a short off-period, I decided to treat myself to a trip to a Russian Bathhouse as a way to reinvigorate myself for the upcoming final months of the race calendar.
I chose the oldest Russian and Turkish bathhouse in New York City, and together with former soigneur and team confidant Thomas Shiefer, set out to spend an afternoon in some serious saunas.
Once we picked up a large bottle of water from a couple of old Russian women near the entrance, Thomas and I headed to the locker room and then downstairs to the sauna area. The bathhouse itself is in an old building near the lower east side of Manhattan, and is comprised of several different types of saunas, an ice bath/pool, rooftop sunning area, and massage rooms.
We immediately jumped in the ice bath which is a 4 ft. deep pool in the center of the bathhouse with water which could'nt have been warmer than 50 degrees, it was possibly the coldest liquid I've ever jumped in.
Then we sampled each of the 5 saunas over the next hour, before Mukhar approached us and gave us the hard sell on a Platza treatment. Mukhar was in a navy blue robe with a tan towel wrapped around his head and a pair of Crocs on his feet. Originally from Uzbekistan, he convinced us we needed to receive Platzas from him before we left.
Thomas and I continued to enjoy the saunas and ice bath for another 30 minutes or so and then found Mukhar for the Platza, which consisted of an intense rubdown with an olive oil based soap, a beating with oak branches, a rough and brief massage, as well as a brutal stretching followed up by more beating. All of this in the Russian sauna room which was the second hottest room in the bathhouse.
When he was finished with the final beating Mukhar ordered me into the ice bath and then placed a dry navy robe on me and sat me down before rubbing his hands through my hair repeatedly. This ritual was repeated on Thomas, and was pretty amazing to both witness and endure.
After another few sauna visits Thomas and I ventured up to the roof to relax and unwind from the Platza. On the roof we saw several old Russian men laying out sunning themselves, and we relaxed on a bench for a little while before heading back in for a final sauna in the Aroma Therapy steam sauna.
A short rinse off followed and we were out on the street feeling like we'd just ridden a century with no water. My legs cramped the rest of the night, as I tried to down enough fluids to return them to normal. Nearly three hours in a sauna will do that to you I guess. Thanks to Thomas for discovering the gym known as the Russian and Turkish Baths and taking me to experience a Platza.