Get Your Head Into the Post-Game

I've always heard it said that the pros work hard at their training and even harder at their recovery. Doesn't sound right. Recovery is just sitting around and resting right? Well, it's been a month since IMTX and recovering has been a lot harder than I thought. Not just getting rid of the post-race soreness and feeling fresh again, that part for me took about 3-4 days, I've had the hardest time keeping myself from pushing forward and continuing my training program. I kinda got hooked on the 1-2 hour workouts. It makes you feel good about yourself and the weight-loss benefits are unmistakable. In my case, I absolutely have to take 1-2 months off of running completely. I ran on a sore achilles the better part of 3 months leading up to the race, and now I can't seem to get it to go away. I know the best solution is complete rest. The mind-games have been horrible. Every evening I think about the training I should be doing, I fear that I am losing fitness every waking moment that I'm not exercising. What's worse... I'm a comfort eater, and without my daily endorphin fix, I find myself going straight to the fridge. I guess working hard at your recovery is more of a mental exercise than anything... create a plan, stick to it while listening to your body. I really want to go for a run tonight... but more importantly, I want my future to consist of pain-free running. So, I'm going to focus on enjoying my family and my friends and remind myself of all of the things I used to feel like I was missing out on because I "had to train for the ironman."